But one thing that surprised meI remember the first message I got after the release of episode one. 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. 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. Beach was also accused of threatening an anonymous member of the Gifting Tables by leaving dead animals in her yard. Its an amazing thing as someone who's created something, because the conversations extend week to week and to see the effects that it has and the momentum that it causes is really beautiful. We may earn a commission from these links. And, as Jeffrey alleged via a phone call to Madison, is there any evidence that the documents detailing his financial decisions had been fabricated? 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. Its not a normal father-son catch-up scene. 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. I know what I've set out to do and tried like hell to fulfill that, to challenge the conventions of true crime and the way that we tell the story, and just to hear people think it's goodjust to think that people were watching and telling other people about it and it was a part of the conversation outside of the people in my immediate circle was just, I don't know, maybe it's silly, but it's something that is really gratifying. 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. Like I really didn't want to create caricatures of my family members. I'm also so close to this, and I've seen it a thousand times over the past eight years that I don't have perspective as to what is objectively good or bad. That is as it should be. It was a. Harmon, however, said police did not say whether the new information led to new activity. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. But they have had no new leads for years, he said. We filmed a lot and the story just kept going and going, and my professor realized we weren't gonna finish this project. The two had gone through a rough divorce and were not on good terms at the time of Barbara's death. Theyve done multiple cold case reviews. My college was really supportive of me, Savannah College of Art and Design. 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. 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. In one example, Justice Steven Ecker asked Dugas about the competing interest of uncovering police corruption or incompetence. 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. Her body was discovered by Madison's aunt Conway and his sister, Ali; his father . Conway remembers taking a bag of money to a Florida hotel to meet someone who presented themselves as a hitman. The police were called, the crime scene was evaluated, and even some DNA was collected. I think the conflicts that I deal with in the fourth episode are pretty unique to the perspective. 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. I cant. The only way we can have oversight or accountability for law enforcement is to know what theyre doing.. 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. The first theory the documentary presents is that Barbara Hamburg was killed by her ex-husband, Jeffrey Hamburg. 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. Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com. "Thank God that HBO saw the potential and the rest is history.". "We miss her dearly, and it is a great loss to not have her with us," she said at a 2011 vigil, the New Haven Register reported at the time. 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. Jeffrey, who was an exorbitantly wealthy former CEO of Southern Electric International, and Barbara had an incredibly acrimonious divorce. I think that when my mom died and I went to rehab and I decided to face a life without her, I made a decision that day that I was gonna live with as little regret as possible. It was a huge learning process, balancing those two roles of family member and investigative documentarian. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. The case was then brought to trial in the Superior Court of New Britain, which last month upheld the Freedom of Information Commissions ruling. Not looking into my mom's story would be the biggest regret of my life, so I don't know that I would do anything differently. 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. 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 . Have you had any other reactions surprise you? How did you balance your craft and the desire to tell a captivating story from a film perspective with the personal elementworking with your own family members and telling your own painful story? 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. By Valentina Valentini 12/06/20 11:00pm Madison Hamburg . The commission in August 2020 ordered Madison police to release all records responsive to the request except for signed witness statements. Murder on Middle Beach centers on the mysterious death of 48-year old Barbara Hamburg. Every Theory About Barbara Hamburg's Murder Murder on Middle Beach calls a handful of suspects into question. In a genre that so often luridly dehumanizes its victims, specifically women, as a means for salacious storytelling, "Murder on Middle Beach" is less about clinically dismantling family secrets for their evidentiary value, than it is about assessing how those family secrets bond and tie us and what it means when those bonds are severed. 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. 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Opening the file and turning the pages without acting on the file is not evidence the file is going to be used in a prospective law enforcement action, Harmon said. Madison's's father, Jeffrey Hamburg, was presented as a main person of interest throughout the series. It's really interesting. "I was so messed up, I didn't know what to do. That said, in the final episode Ali's alibi is confirmed: her mother dropped her off at school the morning that she was killed. ", "It wasn't a story about a murder, it's a story about identity and about my mom and that's a really hard sell," he told the Connecticut Insider. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. At the end of the day, it's not really important that Murder on Middle Beach didn't solve the murder of Barbara Hamburg because that isn't what the documentary set out to do. Beach Hamburg's sister, Conway, and her great-aunt, Jill Platt, are featured prominently in "Murder on Middle Beach," as is her mother. Madison Hamburg, who was a teenager when his mother died, went on to study documentary filmmaking. 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. Schulz echoed the judges world, noting that his clients planned to use the information as part of a documentary. Ever since then, Madison has been looking to uncover every clue and secret so as to solve her case. So he made a deal with us that he would give us an A if I never stopped working on it. Ashlie D. Stevens is Salon's deputy food editor. To allow police to say that because an investigation is active without any insurmountable obstacle to prosecution, the public must defer to their judgment, Ecker said, and does not take public concerns into account. A spokesperson for the Connecticut State Police Public Information Office said the State Police had not released any evidence regarding the murder of Barbara Hamburg. And I've been really careful not to have hunches and not to express any opinions about what I think happened cause I think that's the biggest challenge with any investigation. Through interviews with family members and friends of his mother, Madison is able to come to a better understanding of who his mother was as a person. But just because the finale has aired, that doesn't mean the story is over. What details, if any, does Conway remember about the person she planned to hire to kill Barbara? Niemeyer appealed the decision with the Freedom of Information Commission. 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. 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. I know the case is still open. Emilia Otte covers health and education for the Connecticut Examiner. Would you do anything different now that it's aired? 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)? 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. You watched the last time I talked to my dad. 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. However, Jeffrey did have a very solid alibi of being in court at the time of Barbara's murder, which seems to make it physically impossible for him to have committed the crime personally. 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 . But the uncomfortable history between the two made Conway come under scrutiny for her murder. She's just such an amazing, beautiful human being and I think that really comes through. ET. According to the HBO docuseries, Beach Hamburg's body was covered with outdoor furniture cushions when it was found. There's a double-edged sword in the fact that the episodes are released weekly. Those screenings were the most difficult family screenings. 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The department did turn over two full boxes of documents to Hamburg and Niemeyer in October 2020, but the filmmakers alerted investigators in early November that dozens of files were apparently missing from those records. But even if the. Beach also alleges that Ali killed Barbara, Jeffrey Hamburg hired someone to kill his ex-wife. Sadly, her life was taken on March 3, 2010 in Madison, Connecticut. Ali had always maintained her innocence, claiming that she had been dropped off at school by Barbara on the morning of the murder, and that she only returned home later that day with Beach, who picked her up from school after Ali's texts to her mother went unanswered. 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. We also have to honor the victims and their families. The brutal crime was committed in 2010 when Madison was 19-years-old. The police could have an incentive to just not become the focus of second-guessing, Ecker said. The resulting documentary series was picked up by HBO, and the four-part Murder on Middle Beach premiered late last year. Instead, we're left with questions. We've had a lot of conversations, but both Conway and Ali have evolved. Do you know if your dad has watched or is watching? 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