Manhunt in Mission Hill: How the Murder of Carol Stuart Changed Boston
On October 23, 1989, a man and his pregnant wife were shot in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. Police ransacked the area looking for the gunman, only to later learn the shocking truth
As the 1980s drew to a close, Americans were increasingly concerned about rising crime. The ill-conceived “War on Drugs” was exacerbated by the devastation of the crack cocaine epidemic.
In addition to the social ruin caused by drug addiction, the crack epidemic brought levels of violence that many cities and towns had not previously experienced. Shootings and homicides became all too common in many beleaguered inner city neighborhoods as dealers battled for control of territory and profits.
Often, these deaths barely made the news, if at all. Every so often, though, a murder would make headlines and galvanize the public because of the circumstances involved. Such was the case for the October 1989 shooting of Chuck and Carol Stuart.
Background
Carol DiMaiti met Chuck Stuart in the summer of 1980 while working in a restaurant in Revere Beach, Massachusetts. Carol was the middle child of Italian American parents and had grown up in Medford, Massachusetts.
By all accounts, Carol was a kind and outgoing person who was a very good student. She was close with her family and often returned to visit during the summer.
Charles Stuart, who went by Chuck, was the oldest of six children born to an Irish Catholic family from Revere, Massachusetts.
In some ways, Chuck and Carol seemed like opposites. While Carol was much more outgoing, Chuck was quiet and reserved. While she was highly focused on continuing education, Chuck did not attend college.
Despite their seeming differences, the couple seemed very much in love, according to family and friends.
Chuck’s lack of a college degree did not stop him from obtaining a job on Boston’s exclusive Newbury Street. In 1983, he began working at the prestigious high-end Kakas Furs. In less than two years, he was named general manager and was earning a six-figure salary.
In October 1985, Chuck and Carol were married and purchased a house in the Boston suburb of Reading. In early 1989, the couple learned that Carol was pregnant.
In preparation for the birth of their first child, the Stuarts began to attend prenatal classes at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Getting to and from the hospital required a drive through the ghetto of Mission Hill, which at that time had a reputation within the city for drugs and violent crime.
Shooting
By October 1989, the Stuarts had been attending classes at Brigham Hospital once a week and had not experienced any problems. That all changed on the night of October 23rd.
Shortly after 8:40 p.m., a state police dispatcher received a panicked 911 call. The caller told the dispatcher that he and his wife had just been robbed and shot. He said a man had gotten into their car as they were stopped at a traffic light and forced him to drive a few blocks before demanding cash and jewelry. The man then shot Carol in the head and Chuck in the stomach.
