New docuseries confronts the fallout from an infamous Boston murder

In 1989, a white suburban man prompted a frantic manhunt in Boston’s predominantly Black neighborhoods. After leaving a birthing class at Brigham & Women’s hospital with his wife, Charles Stuart claimed that “a Black man” carjacked and shot the Reading couple on a deserted street in Mission Hill. Six hours later Carol Stuart died. Soon after, their prematurely delivered baby also died. Charles Stuart recovered but never recanted his story.

A new HBO docuseries, “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning,” examines what happened when Boston’s white-led law enforcement and media took Stuart’s racist bait. Directed by Jason Hehir, episode one debuts Dec. 4, followed in subsequent weeks by episodes two and three. At its best, the series shows how Boston’s Black residents paid dearly as a result of this crime. While sensitively presented in terms of race, the series — not nearly as melodramatic as the title — queues up true crime genre conventions without fully delivering a fresh perspective.

After opening with a recording of Stuart’s 911 call, the series turns to the “roots” of Boston’s imbalanced race relations. Episode one revisits how tensions spiked over school desegregation in the 1970s and introduces state representative Ray Flynn as a beacon of hope for mending ties. Interviews with journalists, city officials, historians, and people directly affected by the Stuart crime recall, for example, that if you lived in Mission Hill at that time, you’d never go to Charlestown or Southie. And probably vice versa. They talk about how trust in Flynn faltered when he became Boston’s mayor and sanctioned an overly aggressive police response to the Stuart case.

Episode two focuses on the “rampage” unleashed by Boston police on primarily Black communities. Members of the media fanned the flames, churning out stories that failed to debunk Stuart’s version of events. Archival video shows police forcibly entering public housing along with images of shell-shocked residents, doubtful of and disheartened by the myopic investigation. Retired Boston Herald journalist Michelle Caruso laments not poking more holes in Stuart’s story; Judge Nancy Gertner schools viewers from the rearview window on what should have been. The Boston Globe co-produced this docuseries with HBO. Former Globe brass Brian McGrory and current Globe staff members like Adrian Walker also offer present-day reflections. (Incidentally, a nine-part podcast produced alongside the docuseries will also be released starting Dec. 4.)

What distinguishes the series, however, is its visuals, particularly the video sequences. Grasping for someone to blame, Boston police arrest of William Bennett, who becomes the prime suspect. News cameras push their way into his family’s home, torn apart by police officers. One of the most powerful archival scenes shows Bennett’s mother standing in her doorway, surrounded by microphones, as she tries to answer intrusive media questions. Later exonerated, Bennett’s apparent present-day social reclusion (he does not appear on camera) suggests the long-term impact of the accusation. To its credit, “Murder” gives ample time to honoring Bennett’s innocence; his family members appear with commentary on his behalf. Meanwhile other visual choices stand out as questionable, including video of Carol Stuart receiving chest compressions and extensive footage inside the hospital as Charles Stuart gets triaged.

The final episode aims to find a “reckoning” between the involved parties, for the mistakes made by those in power and the unnecessary harm they caused. Retired Boston Police officer Bill Dunn, the only law enforcement involved in the case who agreed to an interview, serves as a reminder that Boston either hasn’t changed enough, or as he says, has changed so much it’s gone. (The implication is that he’d like to make Boston “great again.”) The most complicated and thus most riveting perspective comes from interviews with Dereck Jackson, who after hanging out with a Bennett family member gave false testimony against Bennett. Still in high school at the time, Jackson offers a sincere apology, something the series seems to be calling for from other higher ups. (Flynn gave a half-hearted apology in 1990.) Documentaries like 2019’s “False Confessions” have taken on the psychology behind what makes young people especially vulnerable to making false statements. In “Murder” Jackson explains, more than once, how he was “just a scared kid.”

Because “Murder” aims to fall squarely into bingeable true crime territory, it leans into tropes like the young white female victim or Boston’s racist reputation without digging into systemic reasons or organized responses. (For a true crime adaptation that successfully challenges the form, I strongly recommend the Danish series “The Investigation” on HBO.) Here, there’s no mention of the redlining policies that contributed to Boston’s segregated neighborhoods, for example, or the current surge of development that once again risks homogeneity by zip code. According to a 2014 recap of the crime, Jet Magazine called on a boycott of Boston media for its mishandling of the Stuart case. The series does not mention that fact. Additionally, not a single domestic violence expert speaks to women’s increased risk of partner violence while pregnant or the significant likelihood that murdered women know their assailant. As Michelle Caruso says late in the series, “Always look at the husband first.”

This leaves the most baffling aspect of the series’ structure—the immediately obvious perpetrator. Instead of laying the cards on the table from the get-go and going deeper from there, the series unfolds as if the crime is an unsolved mystery. Will all viewers suspend disbelief for three episodes after Charles Stuart’s strange 911 tape rolls? He never pleads for help and in fact seems to mislead the dispatcher. To top it off, once the facts become clearer due to Stuart’s brother coming forward, the series fails to shed new light on Stuart’s behavior leading up to the crime. One wonders if today’s law enforcement or media would catch his red flags? One way or another, his acts continue to command attention. You can decide if you want to give yours to “Murder.”

Episode one of “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning” debuts Dec. 4 at 9 p.m., followed by episodes two and three airing subsequent Mondays at the same time. The documentary series will debut on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.