According to Schulz, the Madison Police Department took a completely inappropriate approach to deciding which documents to release. How did she contact them? Sign up for notifications from Insider! Murder on Middle Beach Season 2 Release Date 'Murder on Middle Beach' season 1 premiered on November 15, 2020, on HBO, and concluded with its fourth and final episode - 'Reasonable Doubts' - on December 6, 2020. She frequently cried when talking about her sister, and more than once, displayed anger towards what happened. 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. 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. 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. HBO's 'Murder on Middle Beach,' from first-time filmmaker Madison Hamburg, is a four-part documentary series that examines the life and death of his 48-year-old mother, Barbara Beach Hamburg. We may earn a commission from these links. In October 2020, they passed over 1,600 documents about the case which he is now poring over - and hopes it will give him a definitive answer about who killed his mother. 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. Madisons mother, Barbara Beach Hamburg, before her 2010 murder. 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In the following years, they appeared in court together numerous times after Beach Hamburg said her ex-husband failed to make alimony and child support payments. Although it seems like Conway is living a quiet life, she has mourned her sister publicly over the years, holding vigils and vowing to keep her memory alive. It's revealed in the "Murder on Middle Beach" epilogue that in October 2020, Madison was granted that case file and that he and his team had started reviewing it for additional information about the murder. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The commission in August 2020 ordered Madison police to release all records responsive to the request except for signed witness statements. "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." Hamburg, for his part, said Beach Hamburg was behind on mortgage payments for their property . Conway Beach is Barbara Beach Hamburgs elder sister and the woman who, unfortunately, discovered her body. When her body was found by her sister and daughter it was covered with outdoor furniture cushions. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this incorrectly statedAli Hamburg was diagnosed with bipolar disorder; she had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. I wonder how far Ali's school was and how far Barbara's house was from the courthouse. But one thing that surprised meI remember the first message I got after the release of episode one. 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. 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. Schulz said that the plaintiffs would be thrilled if the police were able to solve the crime, but he said that this wasnt a reason to keep a case open forever. Theyve done multiple cold case reviews. [2] There was sort of shame attached to that, telling someone that with the connotations around murder and true crime. It's funny cause I feel like those are some of the more authentic moments in the documentary, from the earlier footage. The. Beach claims to have been accused of being jealous of her sister's success, but denies it in the docuseries. It is difficult to understand how denying public access to criminal files in perpetuity serves the public interest in solving crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice, wrote Judge Daniel Klau in his decision. Moreover, allowing the public to access cold case files after an appropriate period of time is far more likely to improve the odds of an arrest and successful prosecution than it is to prejudice that outcome.. Through interviews with and secret recordings of his immediate family and the police, Madison and his crew tell the story of Barbara Beach Hamburg's full life and tragic death. I want checks and balances.. Alaine Griffin, director of communications in the Office of the Chief States Attorney said that the department had no comment at this time. The Madison Department of Police filed an appeal on September 2. Madison Hamburg looks back after the finale of "Murder on Middle Beach," the docuseries about his search for his mother's killer. Conway remembers taking a bag of money to a Florida hotel to meet someone who presented themselves as a hitman. Madison Hamburg has been transparent in interviews about wanting to produce "a different take on true crime. I really didn't want my mom's story or my story to be told by someone else. "Murder on Middle Beach" is currently streaming on HBO Max. Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com. 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. The documentary follows the murder of a Connecticut woman, Barbara Hamburg. But first here are the facts: According to the doc, Barbara Hamburg was a 48-year-old single mother who was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in the front yard of her Madison, CT home on the morning of March 3, 2010. So Im not quite sure why theyre resistant, he said. Madison Hamburg, who was a teenager when his mother died, went on to study documentary filmmaking. Throughout these four episodes, Madison Hamburg, and us, learned the truth about the life Barbara Hamburg really lived - that she was a recovering alcoholic who, at the . 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. HBO's new docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach" is a moving exploration of one woman's life and murder, and how her family dealt with the aftermath of her death. He said it was also important to preserve the rights of victims and family members, who he said he didnt believe would want information released while police officers were still working on their case. 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. I wanted to give their stories justice and unfortunately that involves exploring these conflicts. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Once this financially-strapped individual realized she couldn't get her money back, the individual or perhaps the individual's angered husband, as Beach claims to have seen a masked man prowling through Barbara's yard the day before the murder opted to take out their frustrations on Barbara in a violent manner. 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. On March 3, 2010, Barbara Beach Hamburg, 48, was found murdered in the backyard of her Madison, Connecticut, home. But they're in a really good spot now. Schulz echoed the judges world, noting that his clients planned to use the information as part of a documentary. . 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. ', 6,000 checks go out to Yale workers in class-action settlement involving wellness program, Police: Stolen car found riddled with bullets after gunfire in New Haven near Yale, West Haven mayor under fire after city is left without a finance director at start of budget season, Convicted DiMassa codefendant requests acquittal, new trial in West Haven fraud scheme case, The Best Private High Schools near New Haven, Guide to Legal Cannabis Dispensaries in CT, The Best Private Preschools Near New Haven. The two had gone through a rough divorce and were not on good terms at the time of Barbara's death. On March 3, 2010, Barbara was found brutally murdered in the yard of their Connecticut home. 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. Especially my sister, she's the person closest to me, who can empathize the most. 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. His second goal was to absolve his family members of the crime, which dovetails with the obvious goal of discovering who actually killed Barbara. Evidence of a struggle was strewn across the lawn. Barbara's daughter was a teenager in 2010, and was with Beach when Barbara's body was discovered. 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. It really was a rollercoaster, especially because it is such a personal story, so trying to sell it was pretty interesting. But as she admitted, Conway unsuccessfully tried to get revenge and hire a hitman to kill the Hamburgs. That's a question that I've asked myself a lot. 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. So I pressed everyone pretty hard, and I ended up with 160 hours of footage. In 2016, he began to film a project reviewing the circumstances around his mothers death, interviewing family members and pursuing information from the Madison Police Department about its investigation. One suspect was definitively eliminated from consideration. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. 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. When my mom died I really was kind of orphaned and Savannah became like a home, and I turned to faculty, people I worked with, people in the community as surrogate parents in a way, and so I kept in touch. 'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Dropped Its First Trailer, 'Outer Banks' Season 4 Is Already In the Works, 'The Last of Us' Ep. 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. "Murder on Middle Beach" premieres Sunday on HBO at 10 p.m. 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. Madison. It doesn't have a tidy ending, but grief rarely does. 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 . Here are the facts: on March 3rd, 2010, Barbara Beach Hamburg was beaten to death in front of her modest house in Madison, Connecticut. When she's not reporting, you can find her hiking Shoreline trails and eating her way through New Haven. Her death in 2010 was the subject of an HBO true crime documentary series produced by her son Madison Hamburg. 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. Murder on Middle Beach calls a handful of suspects into question. While Tyler appreciated it, it made Conway furious. But the Freedom of Information Commission has argued that police failed to prove the case was active enough to warrant withholding the file or that the investigation was heading toward an arrest. As the series progresses, Madison gains new insight into his mother's life before her murder, including her troubled relationship with his father and Beach Hamburg's ex-husband, Jeffrey Hamburg. The matter now is in the hands of the Connecticut Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments Wednesday. Lauren Kranc is the assistant content strategy editor at Esquire, where she runs the brands social media accounts and covers pop culture and television, with entirely too narrow an expertise on true crime shows, .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}Celebrities Who Voice Cartoon Characters, 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 is About to Commence, The Underworld Crossover of the Century Is Coming. We certainly dont want to give a heads-up or give away some information that only somebody who was at the scene or perpetrated the crime would know.. During the last four minutes of of HBO's docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach," a black screen pops up with a single, heartwrenching sentence: My family still lives without answers about my mother's death. Emilia Otte covers health and education for the Connecticut Examiner. 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. The following contains spoilers from the ending of HBO's "Murder of Middle Beach.". 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