I went to rehab and when I came back to school I was a year behind everybody, and I didn't tell anyone what had happened to me cause I didn't want that label of the kid whose mom was murdered. Directed by Barbara's son, Madison Hamburg, the docuseries is a chronicle of Madison's return to his home as he is determined to understand . HBO's latest four-part docuseries, 'Murder on Middle Beach' delves into the gruesome murder of Barbara Hamburg, a 48-year-old woman, who was found bludgeoned to death outside her home on Middle Beach Road. There are no corroborating witnesses for this alibi, according to the doc. Meghan Friedmann is a reporter with the New Haven Register, covering North Branford, Guilford and Madison. Someone sent me this beautiful essay about their loss and feeling alone, feeling that like they weren't grieving correctly, and the guilt and all these things that come with grief, with something unresolved. But Madisons is not a traditional true crime documentaryhe didnt want to fetishize or agonize over the gory details of the murder. While Tyler appreciated it, it made Conway furious. But Madison's. It's like crack, I can't stop going through and analyzing and its incredibly rewarding. While their outing is filmed from a hotel window across the street from the bar, Madison prods his father on details about his marriage to Madisons late mother. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Barbara B. Hamburg was born April 29, 1961 in New Haven, Connecticut. . HBO. After the Police Department appealed a commission order to the release the records, a trial court in August 2021 upheld the commissions decision. Her body was discovered by Madison's aunt Conway and his sister, Ali; his father . Who called Barbara to tell her that her court time had been changed from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. the day of her murder (ostensibly making time for the crime to be committed)? Im not trying to suggest anything was done improperly here, but theres no way to know without seeing what they did. The police could have an incentive to just not become the focus of second-guessing, Ecker said. Especially my sister, she's the person closest to me, who can empathize the most. You watched the last time I talked to my dad. It's funny cause I feel like those are some of the more authentic moments in the documentary, from the earlier footage. The answer much like some of the details presented in "Murder on Middle Beach" is complicated. Through interviews with family members and friends of his mother, Madison is able to come to a better understanding of who his mother was as a person. None of that is the selling point of a true crime series. "When my mom died, I didn't tell anybody," says Hamburg. While her murder and its aftermath are explored on the show, it also paints a vivid portrait of who Beach Hamburg was before her death, and how her family is managing to cope with their loss 10 years later. And what we were selling was a personal approach that wasn't a whodunit but more a story about identity, the duality of humanity, and the layers of what we share with each other, how open we are, and just me kind of coming of age and understanding my mother and in turn understanding my identity. If you say youre going to keep a file closed forever on the chance that something might develop, that means the public in most cases will never get to look at these files, Schulz said Friday. Sign up for notifications from Insider! Back in 2010, in Madison, Connecticut, a quiet town on the shoreline, on the serene Middle Beach West, a crime occurred that shook the community to its core - Barbara Hamburg's murder. Madison Hamburg and his late mothers sister, Conway. HBOs four-part documentary series is the compilation of eight years of work for Madison, who was 19 when his mother was found bludgeoned to death outside their Connecticut home in 2010. On the other hand, we have a very, very compelling I would argue a more compelling interest in finding a murderer, and not letting a murderer run loose, Dugas said. The decision also said police failed to prove that, even if there was a prospective law enforcement action, disclosure of the requested records would be prejudicial to such action.. The pace picks up in the fourth episode in such a way through the confirmation of Ali's alibi and the discovery of Jeffrey's financial records that it felt like we were rocketing towards a last-minute reveal that would position "Murder on Middle Beach" as the next "The Jinx," the shocking 2015 HBO docuseries, which shows Robert Durst in the final moments of the series mumbling what sounds like a confession on a still-hot lapel microphone: "What the hell did I do? Its an amazing thing as someone who's created something, because the conversations extend week to week and to see the effects that it has and the momentum that it causes is really beautiful. Additionally, releasing records that reveal who provided police with information about the crime could prompt witness intimidation, Dugas said. Ultimately, though, the sisters reconciled, but it was never the same. Jeffrey appears in Murder on Middle Beach where he repeatedly refuses to talk about Barbara's murder and insists that his ex-wife had dark secrets that he can't discuss. And if they can keep it closed forever, youll never be able to hold them accountable or give them an incentive not to cover something up.. Who Is John Dutton's Grandfather in '1923'? One suspect was definitively eliminated from consideration. Throughout the mini-series, the main suspect seemed to be Barbara's ex-husband and Madison's father, Jeffrey Hamburg. I think the hidden conflict is the sacrifice of the act of making this, having over 1000 hours of footage and over 200 shooting days. My whole family wasn't speaking to me.". So when she eventually got evicted, she moved to Florida, where she spent her days sleeping on park benches and just awaiting her death. Hamburg, for his part, said Beach Hamburg was behind on mortgage payments for their property . That was in 2016. That is as it should be. In the series, Madison does some digging and is able to obtain school records that show Barbara did indeed drop Ali off at school on the morning of her death, confirming Ali's alibi and eliminating her as a suspect. As for where she is now, Conway appears to be residing in Connecticut, where she spends most of her free time with her family, especially her mother, son, and toddler grandson. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Seeking a way out of making those payments or seeing the inside of a jail cell could allegedly have been a motive for Jeffrey to kill Barbara. Evidence of a struggle was strewn across the lawn. What if theres concerns about corruption or incompetence and now its five years, now its 10 years a reporter wants to know or a family member wants to know. It's unknown just how many people Barbara had under her at the Gifting Tables, but she was accused of recruiting members from her AA group. Ali had always maintained her innocence, claiming that she had been dropped off at school by Barbara on the morning of the murder, and that she only returned home later that day with Beach, who picked her up from school after Ali's texts to her mother went unanswered. And the series has certainly accomplished that. Over the course of the docuseries, which began as a student film when Madison was in college, Madison says that he has a few goals. So he made a deal with us that he would give us an A if I never stopped working on it. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. Her cover photo, quite fittingly, is one of her and Barbara, and the first thing youd see when you go to her profile is the headline GRATEFUL Conway may not have a concrete alibi for her sisters murder, but no one can deny that she loved and still misses her. The court has attempted to resolve a long unsettled question about the degree of certainty concerning a prospective law enforcement action that is required to withhold records. Through Madison's eyes and camera lens, we watch as his relationship with his father crumbles, as he has to inform Ali that Conway believed she was capable of killing her own mother, as he has to badger his local police department again and again (before finally escalating to a formal Freedom of Information Act appeal) for a 1,600-page case file with details about their investigation into Barbara's death. The four-part HBO Max series, now available on Sky Crime and NOW TV in the UK, follows director Madison Hamburg as he investigates the unsolved murder of his own mother, Barbara Beach Hamburg, on . They've seen the documentary, we had family screenings before we even sent it out to press. The department denied the request, and Neimeyer appealed to the state Freedom of Information Commission, according to a Memorandum of Decision from the Superior Court in New Britain. In the doc, she admitted to having tried to hire a hitman to kill Barbara years prior over a custody battle involving her son, but the two were later able to make up. I have to do my best to preserve what I have in that investigation so that I can charge the person or persons with the murder, said Drumm. Alex Murdaugh Faces Life In Prison For Allegedly Killing His Wife & Son, Heres What Happened To Riley In 'The Last Of Us' Video Game, Twitter Is Losing It Over Succession Ending With Season 4, Everything To Know About 'And Just Like That' Season 2, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. In the series, Hamburg asks his family members if they had anything to do with his mother's murder, including his father . ET. I know the case is still open. Conway remembers taking a bag of money to a Florida hotel to meet someone who presented themselves as a hitman. A single mother of two, Hamburg was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in the front yard of her Madison,. According to Schulz, the Madison Police Department took a completely inappropriate approach to deciding which documents to release. She's just such an amazing, beautiful human being and I think that really comes through. But the uncomfortable history between the two made Conway come under scrutiny for her murder. The show follows director Madison Hamburg as he investigates his mother's murder, and talks to his family members about how they were affected. ", initially questioned Hamburg after Beach Hamburg's murder, said her ex-husband failed to make alimony and child support payments, behind on mortgage payments for their property, primary custody of Madison and Ali, while their father received visitation rights, 'I'll Be Gone In The Dark' director believes we're drawn to true crime stories because 'you can close the book, you can turn off the TV, when in real life, you don't have that power', The 7 best true crime podcasts you can listen to right now, Watch the haunting new trailer for 'I'll Be Gone in the Dark', HBO's latest true-crime docuseries, The best true crime shows you can watch on Hulu right now. And as the docuseries comes to a close there are a growing number of theories about Barbara Hamburg's death. What details, if any, does Conway remember about the person she planned to hire to kill Barbara? Weeks of back-and-forth ensued as the show premiered on HBO. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Back in 1996, when Conway was out of control with her substance abuse, Barbara took her to court to get custody of her son, Tyler. It's a shocking twist and, just when viewers need things to be put into context, the details become murky. A hired killer just wouldn't fit that description. He claimed to have been told time and time again that the case is cold and investigators are stuck, and argued releasing the records could only help solve the case. Here, we see how that leads him to investigate his own father, a pyramid scheme The Gifting Tables that his mother was involved in, his sister, and his aunt, Conway Beach. The last time I talked to my dad was on camera. Many ancient pipes in CT aren't up to the task of draining storm water, yet officials just seem to shrug. It's a sobering, overwhelming realization. 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