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'Murder on Middle Beach' Episode 2 Preview: What is the Gifting Tables pyramid scheme Barbara Hamburg was part of?

Barbara Hamburg was involved in a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme known as 'Gifting Tables.' This opens up a whole new category of theories as to who killed her

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. 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 the life of the mother he had lost and to uncover the truth about her death. The family's troubled history is explored and Madison questions whether learning the truth will provide closure or just more grief.

One of the main suspects behind Barbara's murder was her ex-husband and Madison's father, Jeffrey Hamburg. On the day that Barbara was found dead, she was scheduled to appear in court to discuss ex-husband Jeffrey's claim that he could not afford to pay child support and alimony. The pair had divorced in 2002. When Barbara failed to show up in court, her lawyer called the Madison police to check her address when they found her body in the yard. 

In the first episode of 'Murder on the Middle Beach', Madison continues to learn more about his mother, as well as get his father to open up about Barbara, as well as whether Jeffrey was truly involved in her death. Jeffrey is mostly evasive, but by the end of the first episode, he makes a shocking revelation: Barbara Hamburg was involved in a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme known as "Gifting Tables." This opens up a whole new category of theories as to who killed Barbara Hamburg.

So what is the Gifting Tables Pyramid Scheme? In order to join the scheme which was marketed as a sisterhood, women had to pay large sums of money to existing members and then they would recruit others so that they themselves could eventually receive their own "gifts." A new member would enter into a four-level pyramid with tiers named "Appetizers," "Soups and Salads," "Entrees," and "Dessert," according to the Department of Justice.

A new member who joins at the "appetizer" level was required to bring in a "gift" of $5,000. The existing members would move up the levels as new members were recruited and the person at the topmost "dessert" level would collect all the new members' gifts. When eight participants joined a Gifting Table -- with each person paying $5,000 --, the person at the top would leave the Gifting Table, keeping the $40,000 paid by the eight new members and the two people occupying the "Entree" level would split the Gifting Table and start their own tables with each of them at the top on the Dessert levels. 

Barbara was reportedly recruited by Madison's aunt, Jill Platt who along with Donna Bello was charged and tried for defrauding the IRS and other Gifting Tables members. Both were convicted and were sentenced in 2016, with Bello receiving a 48-month prison sentence and Platt earning 30 months. While it is not clear whether the Gifting Tables pyramid scheme played a role in Barbara's murder, it is expected that this week's episode will shed more light on her involvement.

'Murder on Middle Beach' airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 10/9c.