It was 1989 in Boston. The crack epidemic was raging, the murder rate soaring, and white flight had taken hold. That’s when 29-year-old Charles Stuart and his pregnant wife, Carol, were carjacked upon leaving a birthing class, drawn deep into the dangerous Mission Hill neighborhood, and allegedly shot by a Black man. The wife and her unborn baby died, while the husband recovered slowly from a grievous wound.
All of Boston – and the nation – became gripped by the hunt for the shooter of the white suburban couple.
Race, class, crime, and punishment – the city’s raw nerves were laid bare. Countless young Black men had their rights violated. Suspects were named, but never charged. Seemingly every Bostonian thought they knew what happened – but what you believed depended on the lens you brought to it.
The story of this pivotal event in Boston history has been told in dribs and drabs before, the narrative always the same, always centered on how Charles Stuart perpetrated a hoax – he was the mastermind of the killing all along. And today, it sits at the center of Boston’s identity, one of a handful of moments that has solidified the city’s reputation as racist.
A nine-part Globe series, podcast, and expansive digital archive unveiled surprising new findings, examined the Globe’s own coverage, and changed the narrative long cemented in Boston’s lore.
Nightmare in Mission Hill is utterly captivating, a deeply researched story brimming with masterful detail, perspective and insight. By expertly reexamining a riveting three-decades-old murder case, it forces its audience to reckon with the role police, politicians, the media and the citizenry played. From the colour palette of red and black to the divison of the chapters and the audio historical links such as the 911 call, the interactive elements perfectly capture the fear, horror and mystery of an event that has come to define the city. The podcast was a brilliant touch that just brought it all together.
