That said, in the final episode Ali's alibi is confirmed: her mother dropped her off at school the morning that she was killed. Murder on Middle Beach centers on the mysterious death of 48-year old Barbara Hamburg. But they have had no new leads for years, he said. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. 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? 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. Hamburg, for his part, said Beach Hamburg was behind on mortgage payments for their property . Beach was also accused of threatening an anonymous member of the Gifting Tables by leaving dead animals in her yard. And they just thanked me for releasing this story, and it's really gratifying as someone who's gone through something so traumatic to hear that someone else can watch this and feel a little less alone. What were the reactions of Ali and Conway like? 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. What details, if any, does Conway remember about the person she planned to hire to kill Barbara? That's a question that I've asked myself a lot. 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. Drumm, however, told CT Examiner that his reasoning for appealing the decision was two-fold: the potential of damaging what he said were ongoing efforts by the department to solve the case, and the need to protect the interests of the family. Madisons mother, Barbara Beach Hamburg, before her 2010 murder. The first theory the documentary presents is that Barbara Hamburg was killed by her ex-husband, Jeffrey Hamburg. "Murder on Middle Beach" adds to the genre as well. 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. 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. The department denied the request, citing a portion of the state Freedom of Information Act exempting certain law enforcement records from release if the disclosure of such records would not be in the public interest because it would result in the disclosure of information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action if prejudicial to such action.. 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. The theorists point out that Jeffrey had the most obvious motive while also having an alibi that was almost too perfect. 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. So when she eventually got evicted, she moved to Florida, where she spent her days sleeping on park benches and just awaiting her death. Barbara Beach Hamburg, Madison's mother, was killed in 2010 in Madison, Connecticut. That means that if you have a victim of a crime in your household tomorrow, they could start [submitting Freedom of Information Requests for] each and every single day in the investigation, said Drumm. The answer much like some of the details presented in "Murder on Middle Beach" is complicated. Madison Hamburg looks back after the finale of "Murder on Middle Beach," the docuseries about his search for his mother's killer. It doesn't have a tidy ending, but grief rarely does. 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. . It premiered on November 15, 2020, on HBO. Madison Hamburg has been transparent in interviews about wanting to produce "a different take on true crime. 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. 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. On March 3, 2010, Barbara Beach Hamburg, 48, was found murdered in the backyard of her Madison, Connecticut, home. Drumm also said that he hoped the Chief States Attorneys Office and that Attorney General William Tongs Office would file amicus briefs on their behalf. In past cases in which the exemption was upheld, police showed the commission they were interviewing witnesses, in the final stages of an investigation or working on it weekly, according to Harmon. The commission in August 2020 ordered Madison police to release all records responsive to the request except for signed witness statements. The courts justices challenged both Dugas and Harmon with questions. 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. My whole family wasn't speaking to me.". Its not a normal father-son catch-up scene. He also works to eliminate several of his family members as potential suspects in his mother's murder. It was a. 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. I think the hidden conflict is the sacrifice of the act of making this, having over 1000 hours of footage and over 200 shooting days. Emilia Otte covers health and education for the Connecticut Examiner. 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. Barbara Alexandra Hamburg, who now goes by Ali, is the youngest member of the Hamburg family. Harmon, however, said police did not say whether the new information led to new activity. The filmmakers appealed to the states Freedom of Information Commission, which reviews public records disputes. 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. 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. Years before she was murdered, Madison Hamburg 's mother Barbara Hamburg gave him a gift that would shape his life forever. On March 3, 2010, Barbara was found brutally murdered in the yard of their Connecticut home. Stay up to date with what you want to know. My sister and my aunt are the closest thing I have to my mom, like they're the closest in DNA, and what they sound like. Allowing that type of information to come out may be more likely to help them solve the crime [rather] than keeping everything secret. The series depicted how the investigation process caused rifts between the family and the secrets which suggested their involvement in the murder. Jeffrey was eventually arrested for failing to make those payments in 2012, and as of 2018 he was still fighting in the courts to avoid paying. There have been corroborating leads, correcting things, things that we didn't know about. On March 3, 2010, Barbara was found brutally murdered in the yard of their Connecticut home. There's been a lot of mistakes and a lot of successes throughout this whole journey, but I don't think I would do anything differently at this point. Upon hearing this new information, Beach alters her opinion of Ali as the murderer. The two had gone through a rough divorce and were not on good terms at the time of Barbara's death. 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. It was looked at routinely and remained a top priority of the department, he said. What it did do, though, was bring light to the case and start a conversation around it. . This may be a long journey, and that may cost a lot of money I would appreciate it if the Attorney Generals Office would take it up, because its in the interest of law enforcement state-wide, not just the Town of Madison, Drumm told commissioners. We have to maintain the integrity for them, he said. 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. Alaine Griffin, director of communications in the Office of the Chief States Attorney said that the department had no comment at this time. I'll admit, on my first watch of the finale, I was a little frustrated by the lack of answers. 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. You can watch the trailer below. Conway remembers taking a bag of money to a Florida hotel to meet someone who presented themselves as a hitman. I was a drug addict at the time, and really fell into my addiction and hit my rock bottom. HBO's new docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach," directed by Madison Hamburg, focuses on the death of Hamburg's mother, Barbara. 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. In 2022 Otte was awarded "Rookie of the Year," by the New England Newspaper & Press Association. Would you do it? 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. 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. 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. She was a woman who was known to be head-strong. 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. "Thank God that HBO saw the potential and the rest is history.". This allegation feelscircumstantial at best. HBO's new true-crime docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach" premieres Sunday, November 15. Dec. 10, 2020 HBO The HBO true crime documentary series Murder on Middle Beach has reached its conclusion, without any grand reveal regarding who killed Barbara Hamburg. It found police had offered only speculation that the disclosure of records responsive to the complainants request would be used in a prospective law enforcement action arising out of the investigation into the death of Barbara Hamburg, according to the commissions decision. I was at a point in grief where I was trying to hold on to the memory of my mom and my greatest fear was losing my memory of the sound of her voice or how she smelled or how she looked, and I thought that taking advantage of the class to ask my family members about her could sort of memorialize her. 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. Instead, we're left with questions. "When my mom died, I didn't tell anybody," says Hamburg. 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. Schulz said the department had provided two boxes of information about the case, but that they were still missing key documents, including witness statements, notes, computer records and telephone records. 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