Director Madison Hamburg's relentless pursuit of the truth throughout his quest to find his mother's killer turned over a lot of stones, and even though the TV series has concluded, Madison's work continues off-camera. The Madison Police Department is appealing a court ruling upholing an order by the states Freedom of Information Commission that the department release all records except signed witness statements related to the unsolved murder of Barbara Beach Hamburg. Her body was discovered by her sister, Conway Beach, who visited the home with Hamburg's teenage daughter Ali Hamburg after picking her up from school. In HBO's latest true crime docuseries, Murder on Middle Beach, director Madison Hamburg tries to uncover every clue in the unsolved murder of his mother, Barbara Hamburg . The case was then brought to trial in the Superior Court of New Britain, which last month upheld the Freedom of Information Commissions ruling. 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. 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. They successfully appealed to the Connecticuts Freedom of Information Commission, which ruled last year the police department had to turn over its files free of charge to the pair. 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.. In addition to the Beach family, Hamburg makes several appearances in the series as well although he's never formally interviewed. Hamburg, for his part, said Beach Hamburg was behind on mortgage payments for their property . 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. Police Commission Chair Ed Downing warned at the meeting that the appeal could require significant legal resources that could be costly for the Town of Madison. Barbara Hamburg was found murdered outside her family's Middle Beach Road home on March 3, 2010, but the case went cold and no one has ever been charged in connection with her death. I've written before about the trend of "true criminal justice" documentaries and docuseries the kind wherein the narrative is less about solving a mystery and more about turning the magnifying glass on the legal proceedings that surrounded it are an opportunity for filmmakers to present a fuller picture of criminality and victimhood. Every Theory About Barbara Hamburg's Murder Murder on Middle Beach calls a handful of suspects into question. Attorney David Schulz, a Yale Law professor and member of the schools Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic that has worked with Hamburg and Niemeyer on the records fight, called Klaus decision thorough and thoughtful. He agreed the eventual conclusion of this case could help set new precedent for how the public access old police case files across the state, which is an important tool for holding investigators accountable, he said. While the Madison Police Department has released some records, including the 911 call that led police to Barbara Hamburgs body, it challenged the commissions decision in court. ", "My ulterior plan was to get all my money out of my 401(k) plan and get revenge against my baby sister, your mother, your father, and both of you, even Ali," she told Madison. As we see in the documentary, some even suggest that Conway was envious of Barbara because of the money, success, and love the latter was able to attain. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. The answer much like some of the details presented in "Murder on Middle Beach" is complicated. Because of the case's mysterious nature, the Internet is full of theories pondering who killed Barbara Hamburg. I know what I've set out to do and tried like hell to fulfill that, to challenge the conventions of true crime and the way that we tell the story, and just to hear people think it's goodjust to think that people were watching and telling other people about it and it was a part of the conversation outside of the people in my immediate circle was just, I don't know, maybe it's silly, but it's something that is really gratifying. So Im not quite sure why theyre resistant, he said. Initial buy-in was about $5,000 and, under leaders like Barbara, women would liquidate savings accounts or refinance their homes for a chance at entering the more lucrative circles of the group. That's essentially a thousand more opportunities to discover not just what happened to his mother, but to find another slash in the family tree. I can't get into details, but it's been extremely illuminating. 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. HBO. A hired killer just wouldn't fit that description. Conway Beach is Barbara Beach Hamburgs elder sister and the woman who, unfortunately, discovered her body. The episodes also addressed skepticism about the police departments initial investigations and even included surreptitious recordings of Madison Hamburgs discussions with detectives at the department. We work on this case weekly, we have a states attorney assigned to us who works on this weekly. "We miss her dearly, and it is a great loss to not have her with us," she said at a 2011 vigil, the New Haven Register reported at the time. Both Ali's father, Jeffrey, and Beach accuse Ali of hating her mother in the documentary, which Ali denies. It is more than a reasonable possibility, pun intended, that the Connecticut Appellate or Supreme Court will review this decision. So we took the 160 hours and made a sample that turned out to be like 14 minutes. 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. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. "I can't get into details, but it's been extremely illuminating.". At the time of her death, Beach Hamburg had primary custody of Madison and Ali, while their father received visitation rights. Barbara was killed very violently, likely with a hammer, and detectives have called it a crime of passion and theorize that the killer knew Barbara and had a personal stake in the murder. We have the tip line, BarbaraHamburgTips.com, and I've requested a reward with the state, and the amount of tips, the amount of messages that we've received, and you never know what small detail is going to make a difference in an investigation, that's been really surprising. The four-part series was released at the end of 2020. Dugas acknowledged the court was dealing with competing interests, one of which was the publics right to know. Barbara Hamburg was found murdered outside her familys Middle Beach Road home on March 3, 2010, but the case went cold and no one has ever been charged in connection with her death. Beach Hamburg had been expected in court, along with Hamburg, on the morning of her death, but never made it to her 9:30 a.m. appearance. There are strong public policy reasons for denying the general public unfettered access to investigation files, while the police are actively investigating a crime and continuing to collect new evidence and pursue new leads, Klau wrote in his decision. I started the project in a documentary film class. The theorists point out that Jeffrey had the most obvious motive while also having an alibi that was almost too perfect. Niemeyer appealed the decision with the Freedom of Information Commission. I'm in awe of my sister. It was she who recruited Barbara into the tables, but the latter's ambition eventually caused problems for Platt. I got my crew together, but before at that point I was very much a family member asking these questions with a camera in the room. When her body was found by her sister and daughter it was covered with outdoor furniture cushions. Alaine Griffin, director of communications in the Office of the Chief States Attorney said that the department had no comment at this time. But even if the. It's a shocking twist and, just when viewers need things to be put into context, the details become murky. The two had gone through a rough divorce and were not on good terms at the time of Barbara's death. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. I'll admit, on my first watch of the finale, I was a little frustrated by the lack of answers. At a Freedom of Information hearing in February 2020, Madison police Detective Christopher Sudock said he regularly reviewed the case and that the agency had received a phone call about it the week before. . The Madison Police Department is appealing a state judges order that it must turn over its investigative files on Hamburgs 2010 murder to a pair of documentary filmmakers, including Hamburgs son, who examined the investigation in the hit HBO miniseries Murder on Middle Beach.. It premiered on November 15, 2020, on HBO. Barbara Alexandra Hamburg, who now goes by Ali, is the youngest member of the Hamburg family. According to Schulz, the Madison Police Department took a completely inappropriate approach to deciding which documents to release. We may earn a commission from these links. And more importantly, should tuition go toward supporting bars around the XL Center? 7: Caught in a Bad Romance, Brandon Sklenar is the Baddest Dutton of Them All, The 'Outer Banks' S3 Finale Is Intense as Hell. However, later in the documentary, director Madison Hamburg Barbara's son and Ali's brother obtains school records that corroborate Ali's alibi of being at school at the time of the murder. Barbara's sister, Conway Beach, makes a number of accusations in the series accusing Ali of murdering her mother, believing she did so before going to school on that day. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. In 2012, according to the New Haven Register, Conway called Barbara loving, kind, giving, thoughtful, caring, a wonderful mother, a wonderful sister.. As made evident in the series, Conway Beach is just one of the few family members who hasnt been able to move on from Barbaras murder no matter how much time has passed by. Beach was also accused of threatening an anonymous member of the Gifting Tables by leaving dead animals in her yard. I wonder how far Ali's school was and how far Barbara's house was from the courthouse. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Many ancient pipes in CT aren't up to the task of draining storm water, yet officials just seem to shrug. It's terrifying, and I think that something that was really important for me was naming and identifying the adverse effects of doing something like this in the documentary itself, because I just think that's one of the unique aspects of the point of view. "And one of them was, if we don't solve my mom's case, then the documentary becomes a tool for me to get my mom's story out there and provide some momentum." 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. Sadly, her life was taken on March 3, 2010 in Madison, Connecticut. That said, in the final episode Ali's alibi is confirmed: her mother dropped her off at school the morning that she was killed. 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. She totally got it and they made us an offer. CT Supreme Court to decide on release of records in Madison cold case murder, 'Not a lot of progress' on Hamden-New Haven animal shelter plan, Witness heard 'pop, pop, pop' as shootout unfolded near Yale, 2023 Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC, Wallingford BOE votes to consolidate Sheehan, Lyman Hall into one, Mayor under fire after city is left without a finance director, Registered nurse jobs going unfilled in Greater New Haven, CT, 'Brutalist' garage in New Haven now a temporary skate park, City prepares for 6" snow storm parking ban will be in effect, Convicted DiMassa codefendant requests acquittal, new trial, Madison approves zone change for Winter Club, farm properties, Police: Car found riddled with bullets after gunfire near Yale, decide whether the Madison Police Department must release records, dispute over the records goes back to 2019, 911 call that led police to Barbara Hamburgs body, New Havens brutalist parking garage officially turns into temporary skate park, Dangerous Westville intersection gets a 'peanut' to boost road safety in New Haven, Geno Auriemma gives bleak assessment as UConn womens basketball looks to find footing in March: 'Poorly coached team. Platt also cut off her relationship with Barbara, and drew hard lines on what areas were Barbara's Gifting Tables "territory" for recruitment and which were Platt's. However, when law enforcement has effectively exhausted all efforts to arrest and prosecute a suspect, and when the statistical data show that the probability of a prosecution resulting from long-unsolved cases approaches zero, it is difficult to understand how denying public access to criminal investigation files in perpetuity serves the public interest in solving crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice. It's also worth noting that at the time of Barbara's murder, she was set to receive $40,000 from her latest table, as the doc alleges. Theyve done multiple cold case reviews. The horrific 2010 murder of 48-year-old single mom Barbara Hamburg in front of her Madison, Connecticut, home remains unsolved, but there have been plenty of theories as to who could have. NOW WATCH: We break down 'Chernolbyl's' Emmy win, the new 'Rambo,' and what we know about 'Birds of Prey' so far, Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, ruled her death a homicide, noting that she died as a result of "multiple blunt and sharp force injury. She blacks out and wakes up the next morning upstairs on a bed, naked and cashless. It was looked at routinely and remained a top priority of the department, he said. Yeah, I reached out to him before our promotions started because I wanted him to hear a fuller context from me instead of seeing it on television or as a commercial somewhere, but I didn't reach him. She's just such an amazing, beautiful human being and I think that really comes through. I didn't necessarily fit the mold, but SCAD agreed to a really unique deal with me where they funded 10 weeks of production and we shot all of our master interviews. I was so angry. Hamburg, for his part, said Beach Hamburg was behind on mortgage payments for their property. She was a woman who was known to be head-strong. In 2010, Barbara Beach Hamburg was found bludgeoned in her yard next to the golf course in Madison, Connecticut. Through interviews with and secret recordings of his immediate family and the police, Madison and his crew tell the story of Barbara Beach Hamburgs full life and tragic death. The Connecticut Supreme Court will decide whether the Madison Police Department must release records compiled in its investigation of the 12-year-old unsolved murder of Barbara Hamburg. Barbara's husband Jeffrey Hamburg was the suspect in the case, though he was never charged with her murder, he was jailed for monetary frauds. The show is directed by Madison Hamburg, the 29-year-old son of Barbara Beach Hamburg, who was found dead outside of her Connecticut home in 2010. She. He updated us on his relationship with his father at present, his familys reaction to the series, as well as the status of his mother Barbaras open case today. Meghan Friedmann is a reporter with the New Haven Register, covering North Branford, Guilford and Madison. If I didn't ask these questions, the questions would go unasked, but I've tried my hardest to do this what I consider the right way. In late December, Niemeyer filed another complaint with the FOIC over the missing records, and the department responded by appealing the commissions original order to release any of the documents in the first place. Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. My college was really supportive of me, Savannah College of Art and Design. Yet the strangest thing was when Conway stated that Barbara, a week before she was slain, told her about a dream where she was violently murdered but refused to reveal who was behind it. 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