'Murder on Middle Beach': Who was Barbara Hamburg? Madison woman was found bludgeoned to death outside home
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. 'Murder on Middle Beach' is going to have a more personal look than most true-crime series because it is directed by Hamburg's son, Madison, who was just a teenager when his mother was killed. 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.
On March 3, 2010, the day that Barbara Hamburg died, she was scheduled to appear in court to discuss ex-husband Jeffrey Hamburg'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. She was declared dead at the scene and the state police were called in to help the local department. An autopsy by the state medical examiner's office found that Hamburg died of blunt force trauma and multiple sharp force injuries.
One of the main suspects of the case was Jeffrey Hamburg himself. However, DNA collected at the scene did not match his. There were several reasons as to why Jeffrey was a principal suspect. Hamburg, 63, of Park Avenue in New York City, was already facing a first-degree larceny charge from Madison police about a year ago, for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from another of his daughter's trust accounts. Police said he left the accounts depleted. Jeffrey Hamburg stole nearly $100,000 from his children's trust accounts from 2008 to early 2010, taking the last $400 out of his daughter's funds just 14 days before Barbara's tragic death.
According to the New Haven Register, a source informed them that a few years before her death, Barbara told the police that Jeffrey acquired at least $100 million in an international money-laundering scheme. Since Barbara's death, however, Jeffrey has been embroiled in financial court cases regarding nearly $1 million he owes his ex-wife's estate, the pair's two children in child support, and other funds.
With a strong alibi and the Madison Police Department in disarray after a recent spate of corruption scandals, Jeffrey was never charged. Rumors swirled about his potential involvement in foreign business deals and Barbara's participation in an illegal pyramid scheme known as the "Gifting Tables" which may have created enemies for her. However, despite this and information about other potential suspects, the leads petered out and the case went cold.
The docuseries, 'Murder on Middle Beach' features interviews of Barbara's family and friends as her son, Madison, tries to piece together what happened to his mother. While Madison wrestles with troubling revelations about his mother, the most unsettling conflict comes from Madison's obligation to bring into question those inside his community and members of his own family.
'Murder on Middle Beach' premieres on HBO on Sunday, November 15, at 10/9c.