'Murder on Middle Beach' Episode 2: Who is Jill Platt? Barbara Hamburg's great aunt roped her into Gifting Tables
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 initial suspects was 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 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.
However, towards the end of the first episode, it is revealed that Barbara was a prominent partner in a pyramid scheme known as the "Gifting Tables." The scheme involved a group of women who would recruit more women. Each new member would have to pay $5,000 on joining and a gifting table would consist of eight women. Once all the women had paid, the top member in the table would leave with $40,000 and the two women at the next level would start their own gifting tables.
The second episode of 'Murder on Middle Beach' sheds light on how Barbara came to be a part of it and why she did so. Madison interviews Jill Platt, one of the two women who were charged and tried for defrauding the IRS and other Gifting Tables members. The other woman, Donna Bello is also featured in the documentary. Platt is the one who introduced Barbara to the scheme, believing that the latter needed it as she was struggling to make ends meet after her divorce from Jeffrey. Even Bello admits that the scheme was a "great thing," because it "raised money for so many people".
So, how does Platt know Barbara? She explains the relationship in the interview, saying that she married Barbara's uncle when Barbara was a child. The two got closer, however, when Barbara was an adult after she married Jeffrey and moved to Madison. After her divorce, Barbara began to have a drinking problem and took the help of her sister and her mother to get treatment.
'Murder on Middle Beach' airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 10/9c.
