Murder of Carol Stuart by husband Charles Stuart profiled on The Yuppie Murder on ID

The Yuppie Murder on ID is investigating the murder of Carol Ann Stuart by her husband, Charles Stuart, who shot dead his pregnant wife in their car while driving in Boston, Massachusetts.

Stuart blamed the murder on a carjacking by a Black man, which initially led to two Black men being wrongly arrested. The case highlighted racial tensions within the city and the Boston Police Department.

In October 1989, the Stuart couple left a birthing class at a city hospital, and after some time, Stuart contacted the police, claiming they had been shot. The cops struggled to find the couple’s car but eventually got to them in the Mission Hill area of the city.

Carol had been shot at point-blank range in the head; she died a short time later in the hospital. Her baby Christopher was born two months premature through a caesarian section but died 17 days later.

Her husband was shot in the stomach and survived. This wound was later discovered to be self-inflicted.

Stuart told the cops that a tall Black man with a raspy voice and a stripey tracksuit had forced his way into the car at a traffic light. He allegedly forced them to drive to Mission Hill, where he robbed and shot them.

Boston police wrongly arrested Black men on suspicion of Carol Stuart murder

The cops first arrested Alan Swanson, imprisoning him for some time. The police then focused on Willie Bennett, who Stuart picked out of a lineup.

However, the case changed dramatically in January 1990 when Stuart’s brother, Matthew Stuart, told the cops that his brother was the killer and the murder was all part of an insurance scam.

The brother claimed that Stuart hadn’t told him he was going to shoot Carol. Matthew said he turned up to find his sister-in-law had been shot. He and a third man, John McMahon, disposed of the murder weapon for his brother.

Charles Stuart ended his life rather than face justice for killing Carol Stuart and their unborn son

The next day, Stuart preempted an arrest by ending his life when he jumped off Tobin Bridge. Matthew Stuart and McMahon both served time for constructing justice. Matthew Stuart later died from a drug overdose.

In December 2023, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu officially apologized to Bennett and Swanson on behalf of the city. Wu said, “I am so sorry for the pain that you have carried for so many years. What was done to you was unjust, unfair, racist, and wrong.”

This case received considerable media attention and was featured in multiple documentaries, including ID’s The 1980s: The Deadliest Decade.

The Yuppie Murder airs Saturday at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.