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Charles Stuart

Also known as: Murder of Carol Stuart, Stuart case

Active

1989–1989

Region

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

State

MA

Kind

Single

Status

Identified, never tried

Victims

2

On October 23, 1989, after a childbirth class at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Carol DiMaiti Stuart, 30, was shot in the head in her car in Boston's Mission Hill. Her husband Charles, who was also shot, told police a Black gunman had carjacked them, setting off an aggressive manhunt of Black men in the neighborhood. Carol died hours later and their son Christopher, delivered by caesarean section, died 17 days after. In January 1990 Charles's brother went to police with evidence implicating him, and Charles jumped to his death from the Tobin Bridge; police then said he had become their prime suspect. He was never charged, and in 2023 Boston's mayor formally apologized to the Black men wrongly targeted by the investigation.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Carol DiMaiti Stuart, 30 · October 24, 1989

  An attorney who was seven months pregnant with her first child.

• Christopher Stuart · November 9, 1989

  Delivered by caesarean section about two months premature after the shooting; he lived 17 days.

Timeline of locations

1. 1989
   The Stuarts' home (Reading) (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   The couple lived in suburban Reading; Charles worked as a manager at a Boston fur store.

2. October 23, 1989
   Mission Hill, Boston (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Carol was shot in the couple's car in Mission Hill. Charles, who was also wounded, told police a Black gunman had forced his way into the car and shot them both.

3. October 24, 1989
   Brigham and Women's Hospital (Other)

   The couple had just left a childbirth class here. Carol died at the hospital early on October 24 after doctors delivered her son, who died 17 days later.

4. January 4, 1990
   Tobin Bridge (Other)

   The day after his brother went to police, Charles Stuart parked on the Tobin Bridge and jumped into the Mystic River. Divers recovered his body later that day.

Watch, listen, read

Active at the same time, nearby

• Terry Peder Rasmussen · both active in 1989–1990, 70 km apart · map both
• Craig Price · both active in 1989, 76 km apart · map both

A coincidence of time and place, not a connection. All overlaps

Sources

• Questions remain on first anniversary of Stuart murder (UPI, Oct 21, 1990)
• Mayor Wu formally apologizes to Black men wrongly accused in 1989 murder of Carol Stuart (WBUR, 2023)
• Murder of Carol Stuart (Wikipedia)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.