The 48-year-old mother of two lived on Middle Beach Road in Madison, Connecticut. Having access to these files and what the police are doing is one of the key ways we have to hold police accountable, which is a huge issue today. Drumm told commissioners that a number of agencies, including the Madison Police Department, had already released information about the case, and that releasing further evidence could compromise the ongoing investigation. Madison police step up fight to withhold, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Madison police step up fight to withhold Barbara Hamburg murder investigation files from HBOs Murder on Middle Beach filmmakers, Police track shooting suspect by following his footprints in snow in Bloomfield, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy defends giving Fox host Tucker Carlson Jan. 6 footage access, You cant trust sleep advice found on YouTube: study, Tom Sizemores family deciding end of life matters after actor suffers brain aneurysm, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. She welcomes feedback and story ideas from readers. According to Schulz, the Madison Police Department took a completely inappropriate approach to deciding which documents to release. As the pyramid scheme required a $5,000 "gift" to join, the thinking goes that Barbara could have recruited someone to the tables who couldn't actually afford to make such a payment. Jeffreyrefuses to discuss the case or his marriage with Madison, except to point to Barbara's alcoholism and, prior to recovery, her pattern of black-out drinking as evidence that Barbara wasn't necessarily to be trusted a line he holds even once Madison finds boxes of documents in the final episodes that could potentially implicate him in unethical (and potentially illegal) business practices that made Barbara feel unsafe. I think the conflicts that I deal with in the fourth episode are pretty unique to the perspective. Dugas acknowledged the court was dealing with competing interests, one of which was the publics right to know. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this incorrectly statedAli Hamburg was diagnosed with bipolar disorder; she had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. I wanted to give their stories justice and unfortunately that involves exploring these conflicts. One suspect was definitively eliminated from consideration. Drumm told commissioners he believed plaintiffs were led to ask the Madison Police Department for additional records after obtaining copies of evidence collected by other state agencies who were assisting on the case, such as the Connecticut State Police, who Drumm said processed evidence at their crime lab. Drumm said in the meeting that, along with the request from Madison Hamburg and Neimeyer, the department had received three other requests from media outlets from the other coast for the full case files. In 2019, Madison Hamburg and Niemeyer requested the departments investigative files under the states public records law, but the department refused, claiming the case remains an open and ongoing investigation. Ever since then, Madison has been looking to uncover every clue and secret so as to solve her case. Precisely how much time should pass between a case going cold and when the files should be accessible to the public is up for debate, Klau conceded, but he kicked that decision to the legislature, arguing state lawmakers are in the best position to set out in writing a clear timeframe for when and how such records should be made available. 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. Have you had any other reactions surprise you? But to date, no one has ever been charged with Barbara's murder. But it's been tough watching this go week to week and having breaks in between where people on the internet can react to my family. Madison Hamburg has been transparent in interviews about wanting to produce "a different take on true crime. But Murder on Middle Beach is not a normal documentary. She also suffered numerous stab wounds to her face, chest, and hands. Yeah, I can't get into details but I will say that after spending eight years just putting together fragments of memories about my mom or about the case or about a specific time period, the transparency and the accuracy of these facts that have been kept from me for so long has been extremely relieving. The day Barbara was found killed, she and Jeffrey were actually due in court to discuss Jeffrey's claim that he could not afford his child support and alimony payments. And sort of realizing that what I wanted as a character in the story and as a person is to know what happened to my mom, but I think what I need, and my sister said so beautifully as the beginning of the last episode, is peace. At the end of the series, Madison wins his case with the Freedom of Information Commission to receive case files relating to his mother's homicide investigation. Filmmakers could learn a lot from how Madison Hamburg focuses on the emotional ripple effects of crime, and the very human toll that loss takes on a family and community. 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. While Madison police initially questioned Hamburg after Beach Hamburg's murder, he was never formally charged with a crime, despite being named as a suspect. 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Just doing that over and over. None of that is the selling point of a true crime series. Would I even do this if I teleported back eight years and said, you started this documentary, here are the sacrifices that you and your family are gonna make but here's what you have to gain. Madison Hamburg is in the unique position of being both the director of HBO's new documentary series, "Murder on Middle Beach," and the son of its subject, Barbara Beach Hamburg. Valicia Harmon, a staff attorney who represented the Freedom of Information Commission before the court, said the statutory provision making certain law enforcement records exempt from release balances two consideration: the right of law enforcement to conduct their investigations in private, and the right of the public to have insight into these long, cold investigations.. "Murder on Middle Beach" premieres Sunday on HBO at 10 p.m. I was most worried about Conway throughout this whole process and I think she's in a good spot. Theyve done multiple cold case reviews. Police never made an arrest in the case, though Floyd Dugas, the attorney representing the department in the records dispute, told the court Wednesday the agency long has had a prime suspect. We also have to honor the victims and their families. She was a woman who was known to be head-strong. Barbara was found dead on the morning of March 3, 2010, in the yard of her rental house on Middle Beach Road in Madison, Conn. Police responded at 11:25 a.m. to a 911 call reporting an injured . Madison's's father, Jeffrey Hamburg, was presented as a main person of interest throughout the series. The latest true crime series Murder on Middle Beach just hit HBO. Her death in 2010 was the subject of an HBO true crime documentary series produced by her son Madison Hamburg. How Did Barbara Hamburg Die? 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. I left him a voicemail. Madison Hamburg, right, during a candlelight vigil and memorial service for his mother, Madison resident Barbara Hamburg, a 2010 slaying victim in an unsolved case, at the First Congregational Church in Madison on Feb. 29, 2020. As he revealed in a video update on Dec. 8 through HBO's YouTube channel, he is currently combing through these files for additional information that could eventually help solve the case. He never forcefully denies killing Barbara in the series. 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. 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. There was no stone they had left unturned.. Who do you think did it? Murder on Middle Beach centers on the mysterious death of 48-year old Barbara Hamburg. From the jump, the suspect list was long. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. 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. It really was a rollercoaster, especially because it is such a personal story, so trying to sell it was pretty interesting. In a meeting of the towns Board of Police Commissioners on Thursday evening, Police Chief John Drumm said that if the courts ultimately ruled in favor of releasing the records, it could create a precedent that would affect police investigations across the state. Barbara Beach Hamburg, Madison's mother, was killed in 2010 in Madison, Connecticut. 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 . In the series, she denies killing Barbara while showing little to no remorse for her past crimes. When Barbara Hamburg was brutally bludgeoned to death outside her home on Middle Beach Road in Madison, Connecticut in 2010, her sister Conway Beach publicly mourned her loss. Drumm told CT Examiner that the Police Department had gone through all the files relevant to the case. There's a double-edged sword in the fact that the episodes are released weekly. Barbara Beach Hamburg, Madison's 48-year-old mother, had been bludgeoned and stabbed to death, her body hidden under a pile of lawn-furniture cushions outside their Connecticut home. But just because the finale has aired, that doesn't mean the story is over. 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. When her body was found by her sister and daughter it was covered with outdoor furniture cushions. Beach claims to have been accused of being jealous of her sister's success, but denies it in the docuseries. While Beach's husband (and Madison's father) Jeffrey was questioned early on about his ex-wife's murder, there . We still don't know who killed Barbara Hamburg, but with the renewed attention paid to the case thanks to Murder on Middle Beach, we could one day find out. According to her own accounts, after Ali chose to live with her father, Jeffrey Hamburg, he became "super controlling" and implanted "a lot of fear" in her. Emmys. Even asking these questions, it's just surfacing stuff that we were gonna have to work through and if we didnt work through it, this could end unresolved and cause more destruction than there was when we started. 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. 5 That was mandatory to me, I wanted everybody to see how they come across and have a conversation about it to prepare them for what it's gonna be like when we release this thing. HBO's new true-crime docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach" premieres Sunday, November 15. The personal gruesomeness of the murder and covering her body like he regrets it feels too personal to be a hit man. 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. Beach had also moved in with Barbara prior to the murder while she was recovering from brain surgery, and the documentary alleges that Barbara wanted her to move out. "I can't get into details, but it's been extremely illuminating.". Its not a normal father-son catch-up scene. Killed them all, of course.". 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. Ashlie D. Stevens is Salon's deputy food editor. In the series, Hamburg asks his family members if they had anything to do with his mother's murder, including his father . 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. Copyright 2023 Design by Julia Balfour, LLC, Federal Grant will Help Stamford Police Catch Auto Thieves, Hundreds of Elevator Malfunctions in Stamford and No Clear Fix, With Ambulance Response Times of as Much as 40 Minutes, Legislators Propose a Funding Fix, Researchers Target Housing in Pilot Program to Reduce Gun Violence, Firefighter in Rehab Calls on Department Leaders to Bolster Brotherhood, As More Weapons are Brought to Schools, Parents and Administrators Seek a Safe Path Forward. 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. The resulting documentary series was picked up by HBO, and the four-part Murder on Middle Beach premiered late last year. 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. An anonymous witness also revealed that she was scared of Conway as she had allegedly threatened her by leaving dead animals on her doorstep, implying that she had the guts and the motive to commit a murder. The case raises questions about exactly when a cold case is considered cold enough to release the investigative files publicly and likely is destined for much further debate by both the judiciary and general assembly, Klau reasoned. 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