Boston pays 2 men falsely accused in Carol Stuart murder $150,000

Two Black men falsely linked to the killing of Carol Stuart and her unborn child in 1989 will receive settlements from the city of Boston.

Willie Bennett and Alan Swanson were each arrested on unrelated charges but were linked to the shooting death of Stuart. Mayor Michelle Wu's office said Tuesday that Bennett was paid $100,000 and Swanson $50,000. 

Police responding to husband Charles Stuart's 911 call found the couple shot inside their car in Mission Hill. Charles told police a Black man had attacked them.

During the frenzied manhunt for the pregnant Stuart's killer, police stopped and searched scores of Black men as they hunted for a suspect. Police arrested Swanson, ruled him out, then arrested Bennett.

The real killer was Charles Stuart, who jumped to his death off the Tobin Bridge months after the killing, just as police turned their focus on him.

In December 2023, Wu issued a formal apology to Bennett and Swanson for the pain they and their families were put through.

The apology came 34 years after the arrests, and a few weeks after The Boston Globe published a series of articles on the murder and its aftermath and HBO released a companion documentary.