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. [2] 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. 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. 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. The resulting documentary series was picked up by HBO, and the four-part Murder on Middle Beach premiered late last year. Madison, now 29 years old, talked to Esquire before the finale of Murder on Middle Beach airs on HBO this Sunday. One issue that was resolved in the documentary was the status of Ali Hamburg, Madison's sister and the daughter of Barbara, as a potential suspect in the case. 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. 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. One suspect was definitively eliminated from consideration. More than a decade after Barbara Hamburg was murdered outside her Madison home, the fight over whether the public should have access to the investigation into her death is continuing to escalate a fight that could have broad implications for access to cold case files across Connecticut. Have you had any other reactions surprise you? 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. Here's everything you need to know about Beach Hamburg's death and "Murder on Middle Beach.". The four-part docuseries explores the 2010 murder of 48-year-old mother of two, Barbara Hamburg, who was discovered blugeoned and stabbed to death at her own home in Madison, Connecticut in. HBO's new true-crime docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach" premieres Sunday, November 15. But even if the. 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. 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.. Charles Bright. Beach theorizes that Barbara was killed by Ali while on her way out of the house, rather than after returning home from dropping Ali off at school as the investigation suggests. Additionally, releasing records that reveal who provided police with information about the crime could prompt witness intimidation, Dugas said. [1] Contents 1 Production 2 Episodes 3 Reception 4 References Production [ edit] The documentary series began as a student film while Hamburg was in college. Killed them all, of course.". The. So he made a deal with us that he would give us an A if I never stopped working on it. What it did do, though, was bring light to the case and start a conversation around it. The Madison Department of Police filed an appeal on September 2. 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. 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. By Valentina Valentini 12/06/20 11:00pm Madison Hamburg . On the morning of March 3, 2010, Beach Hamburgwas found dead in the front yard of her home by her sister, Conway Beach, and Ali. "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." We got a lot of questions like, how does it end? 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. She suffered for years from alcoholism, addiction and physical and mental health issues as well as a palpable jealousy towards Barbara and Barbara's daughter, Ali. 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 . 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. But even if the central question at the center of the case remains a mystery, Murder on Middle Beach solved at least one question that had long plagued the decade-old case. 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. Conway presents the situation like she simply was scammed; she and Barbara eventually came to terms, and Conway moved in with her prior to the murder (though the docuseries alleges that there was tension between the two because Barbara had asked 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. 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 . 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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. . If Barbara dropped Ali off at 7:47 am and the court hearing was at 9:30 am, perhaps the father had enough time to commit the murder. Madison Hamburg and his late mothers sister, Conway. But after watching the entire series through again on Monday morning, I realized that's obviously the point one that I had lost sight of while tuning in week-to-week for the last month, eager to see how the case concluded. "Thank God that HBO saw the potential and the rest is history.". She blacks out and wakes up the next morning upstairs on a bed, naked and cashless. "I was so messed up, I didn't know what to do. The series makes other allegations relating to Beach and her sister's involvement in a pyramid scheme known as the Gifting Tables. HBOs 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. A hired killer just wouldn't fit that description. 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. But just because the finale has aired, that doesn't mean the story is over. 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. Especially my sister, she's the person closest to me, who can empathize the most. So I pressed everyone pretty hard, and I ended up with 160 hours of footage. And I was just desperately trying to understand how to take the next step with something so personal and not sacrifice anything. 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. I really didn't want my mom's story or my story to be told by someone else. 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. 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.. Madison. 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. He never forcefully denies killing Barbara in the series. Instead, we're left with questions. 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. Beach Hamburg's sister, Conway, and her great-aunt, Jill Platt, are featured prominently in "Murder on Middle Beach," as is her mother. The show follows director Madison Hamburg as he investigates his mother's murder, and talks to his family members about how they were affected. After the Police Department appealed a commission order to the release the records, a trial court in August 2021 upheld the commissions decision. While Beach's husband (and Madison's father) Jeffrey was questioned early on about his ex-wife's murder, there . 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)? Due to Conway's addiction, she lost custody of her son to Barbara, after which Conway attempted to hire a hitman to kill Barbara because she "snapped. It was a really tough thing to balance with telling a compelling story, but I think it was knowing that the goal was to subvert the genre in a way, to lean in to those more kind of compelling conventions in order to eventually break them. 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 . Stay up to date with what you want to know. That all falls out of your test, doesnt it?. 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. The last time I talked to my dad was on camera. The fight over the records now heads to the Connecticut Appellate Court, while the long-cold investigation into the murder itself remains at a standstill even in the wake of the popular TV series. Elizabeth Benton, communications director for the Attorney Generals Office, said the office was not involved in the case. But Murder on Middle Beach is not a normal documentary. Madison Hamburg On the Middle Beach Finale, India Oxenberg Finally Feels a Sense of Peace, More Coverage of the Documentaries That Matter, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. 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. Every Theory About Barbara Hamburg's Murder Murder on Middle Beach calls a handful of suspects into question. 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. It was a. 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? The Madison Police Department is appealing a court ruling upholing an order by the state's Freedom of Information Commission that the department release all records except signed witness statements related to the unsolved murder of Barbara Beach Hamburg. 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. Schulz echoed the judges world, noting that his clients planned to use the information as part of a documentary. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Judge Daniel Klau upheld the commissions decision that the files must be turned over in a ruling of his own last month, but last week the police department appealed that decision, too. 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. As long as an investigation is active without any impediments to prosecution, Dugas argued, the exemption should apply. 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. Updated: 10:25 AM EDT October 19, 2022 MADISON, Conn. There are new developments in a Connecticut cold case that was the subject of the HBO documentary "Murder on Middle Beach." One of the. One of two masterminds to be jailed for their roles in the Gifting Tables, was Hamburg's aunt Jill Platt. We made a pitch deck and we pitched the networks. Im hoping that this comes through sooner than later so that the town can hopefully work with these two other agencies and not foot a tremendous legal bill, he added. Conway and Ali are the ones who discovered the body and Conway said Ali acted "strangely." The people in the States Attorneys office who oversee the cold case reviews agreed with them that there were no new leads to follow. 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. Barbara's sister had a rocky relationship with her sibling. Beach was also accused of threatening an anonymous member of the Gifting Tables by leaving dead animals in her yard. 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. Conways Facebook page includes recent photos with them all, implying that despite her rocky past, she currently has a good and healthy relationship with them. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. 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. But as she admitted, Conway unsuccessfully tried to get revenge and hire a hitman to kill the Hamburgs. 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. HBO. She cites the fact that the teenager had a rocky relationship with her mother, which was only intensified by Ali's struggles with borderline personality disorder. But in 2016 the pendulum sort of swung to this other role I was playing as an investigative documentarian, and I thought it might be my only opportunity to ask these questions on camera and get these authentic reactions. The courts justices challenged both Dugas and Harmon with questions. 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. But it's also really challenging for both my aunts, my sister and my family, so we've had a lot of conversations. The 48-year-old mother of two lived on Middle Beach Road in Madison, Connecticut. Theyve done multiple cold case reviews. It's something that I've been dealing with throughout this process since partnering with HBO last year, but the idea that this was going to be in the public eye and that these vulnerabilities that my family has trusted me with were going to be exposed didn't enter the equation until the stage was realized. None of that is the selling point of a true crime series. A single mother of two, Hamburg was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in the front yard of her Madison,. The medical examiner later ruled her death a homicide, noting that she died as a result of "multiple blunt and sharp force injury.". A hearing was held in February 2020, where Detective Christopher Sudock testified on behalf of the department that the release could jeopardize a prospective law enforcement action, such as a search or arrest warrant, but could not identify any specific actions investigators had planned. She also suffered numerous stab wounds to her face, chest, and hands. It's really interesting. 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