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Deadly Greed: The Riveting True Story of the Stuart Murder Case
The horrifying account of the Charles Stuart case, in which ambition drove a man to murder his pregnant wife—and blame a fictitious African-American killer.
On October 23, 1989, affluent businessman Charles Stuart made a frantic 911 call from his car to report that he and his seven-months-pregnant wife, Carol, a lawyer, had been robbed and shot by a black male in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. By the time police arrived, Carol was dead, and the baby was soon lost as well. The attack incited a furor during a time of heightened racial tension in the community.
Even more appalling, while the injuries were real, Stuart’s story was a hoax: He was the true killer. But the tragedy would continue with the arrest of Willie Bennett, a young man Stuart identified in a line-up. Stuart’s deception would only be exposed after a shocking revelation from his brother and, finally, his suicide, when he jumped into the freezing waters of the Mystic River.
As the story unraveled, police would put together the disturbing pieces of a puzzle that included Stuart’s distress over his wife’s pregnancy, his romantic interest in a coworker, and life insurance fraud. In an account that “builds and grips like a novel” (Kirkus Reviews), New York Times journalist Joe Sharkey delivers “a picture of a man consumed by naked ambition, unwilling to let anyone or anything get in his way” (Library Journal).
Revised and updated, this ebook also includes photos and a new epilogue by the author.
On October 23, 1989, affluent businessman Charles Stuart made a frantic 911 call from his car to report that he and his seven-months-pregnant wife, Carol, a lawyer, had been robbed and shot by a black male in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. By the time police arrived, Carol was dead, and the baby was soon lost as well. The attack incited a furor during a time of heightened racial tension in the community.
Even more appalling, while the injuries were real, Stuart’s story was a hoax: He was the true killer. But the tragedy would continue with the arrest of Willie Bennett, a young man Stuart identified in a line-up. Stuart’s deception would only be exposed after a shocking revelation from his brother and, finally, his suicide, when he jumped into the freezing waters of the Mystic River.
As the story unraveled, police would put together the disturbing pieces of a puzzle that included Stuart’s distress over his wife’s pregnancy, his romantic interest in a coworker, and life insurance fraud. In an account that “builds and grips like a novel” (Kirkus Reviews), New York Times journalist Joe Sharkey delivers “a picture of a man consumed by naked ambition, unwilling to let anyone or anything get in his way” (Library Journal).
Revised and updated, this ebook also includes photos and a new epilogue by the author.
329 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1991
410 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Joe Sharkey
15 books49 followersJoe Sharkey’s work appears in major national and international publications. For 19 years, until 2015, he was a columnist for the New York Times — for 16 years doing the weekly “On the Road” column on business travel, and before that the weekly “Jersey” column for three years. He is currently a columnist with Business Jet Traveler magazine, and an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Arizona.
A Vietnam veteran, he has written five books, four non-fiction and a novel. One of his nonfiction books, “Above Suspicion,” has been adapted as a major motion picture starring Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Thora Birch and Johnny Knoxville (and directed by Phillip Noyce), to be released soon.
In January 2017, a new, revised edition of his book “Above Suspicion” was published in print and as an e-book by Open Road Media. Penguin Random House also released an audio book version in January. Open Road also published revised editions in e-book format of his true-crime books “Death Sentence” and “Deadly Greed.” In January 2018, the revised edition of “Death Sentence” was published in print by Open Road Media.
He has written a screenplay adaptation of “Death Sentence,” which will also be published in a new print edition in January 2018 by Open Road Media.
In his newspaper career before the New York Times, he was an assistant national editor at the Wall Street Journal; the executive city editor of the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union; and a reporter and columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
On Sept. 29, 2006, while on assignment, he was one of seven people on a business jet who survived a mid-air collision with a 737 at 37,000 feet over the Amazon in Brazil. All 154 on the commercial airliner died. His reports on the crash appeared on the front page of the New York Times and later in the Sunday Times of London Magazine.
He and his wife Nancy (who is a professor of journalism at the University of Arizona) live with two parrots and a horse in Tucson — where he is also working on a new novel about the exploits of an international travel writer who hates to travel. .
A Vietnam veteran, he has written five books, four non-fiction and a novel. One of his nonfiction books, “Above Suspicion,” has been adapted as a major motion picture starring Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Thora Birch and Johnny Knoxville (and directed by Phillip Noyce), to be released soon.
In January 2017, a new, revised edition of his book “Above Suspicion” was published in print and as an e-book by Open Road Media. Penguin Random House also released an audio book version in January. Open Road also published revised editions in e-book format of his true-crime books “Death Sentence” and “Deadly Greed.” In January 2018, the revised edition of “Death Sentence” was published in print by Open Road Media.
He has written a screenplay adaptation of “Death Sentence,” which will also be published in a new print edition in January 2018 by Open Road Media.
In his newspaper career before the New York Times, he was an assistant national editor at the Wall Street Journal; the executive city editor of the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union; and a reporter and columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
On Sept. 29, 2006, while on assignment, he was one of seven people on a business jet who survived a mid-air collision with a 737 at 37,000 feet over the Amazon in Brazil. All 154 on the commercial airliner died. His reports on the crash appeared on the front page of the New York Times and later in the Sunday Times of London Magazine.
He and his wife Nancy (who is a professor of journalism at the University of Arizona) live with two parrots and a horse in Tucson — where he is also working on a new novel about the exploits of an international travel writer who hates to travel. .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
June 15, 2011
I guess we have gotten a lot more cynical since 1989--post Scott Peterson and Rae Carruth. A man killing his pregnant wife/girlfriend is even a homicide category unto itself. Marlee Strong dubbed these "erasure murders" and the Stuart case fits the bill. I didn't think this book offered much more insight into the case than the episode of City Confidential did. I briefly wondered how the author came by his conjecture on Charles' last thoughts and Carol's last actions. I would wager that he just made them up, which creates a bit of unreliablity. Interesting in places, but I think the documentary tells the same story in less time without making up details.
January 30, 2017
DEADLY GREED BY JOE SHARKEY
I received this digital copy from the Publisher: Open Road Media, Net Galley and Joe Sharkey in exchange for an honest and fair review. I wish to extend my thanks to all of the above.
I love Joe Sharkey's writing. I recently reviewed Above Suspicion and loved it. I requested this one because on October 23, 1989 I was following the media circus that divided a city. I really admire Joe Sharkey's writing. He wrote a column for The New York Times for nineteen years and also was an assistant editor for The Wall Street Journal. He writes his narratives with a sharp observation for detail. At the time of this crime, I was working in Boston and my colleagues and I were shocked by the outrage of the crime and Charles Stuart had fooled us all. The police, the media and the people of Boston.
On October 23, 1989 after leaving Brigham and Women's Hospital where I also gave birth to my youngest son many years later, Charles and Carol Stuart it was reported where robbed at gunpoint. I was working in Boston at this time. Carol who was seven month's pregnant had just left this world respected hospital after attending prenatal classes to prepare for the birth of their first child, a boy named Christopher who was taken by emergency C-Section following a fatal shooting of Carol. Carol was loved by all who knew her and was a successful tax attorney. Carol dreamed of having a family and was ecstatic to be having her first child. Charles wanted Carol to have an abortion. Charles shot Carol in the head that fateful night. He then was planning to shoot himself, when Carol lunged for him and he was gravely injured when she bumped the gun and the bullet pierced his intestines. Carol did not die immediately and Charles drove to an abandoned area waiting for Carol to die.
Charles told detectives that an African American robbed them, then shot Carol and shot Charles last. The time that it took Carol too die, the baby was deprived of oxygen and did not live long. Charles had everybody fooled when he made up a false description of the perpetrator. For six weeks police did terrible things to the Black community. Some people didn't believe Charles's story. An armed person is usually going to shoot the husband first. The Media further fed into this lie and there were many Black men falsely accused and it caused racial relations to divide. Charles had the nation convinced that it was somebody else that randomly robbed and killed Carol and the three pound baby. This book tells the riveting true story of the Charles Stuart, his lovely wife Carol, whose only crime was to disagree with Charles and keep their baby, who was named Christopher. My prayers are with Carol and Christopher Stuart and I hope they are in a better place united in the love that only a mother could love her baby so fiercely. My prayers are with Carol's family and the Stuart family. This is a sad but true story that divided a city, while we hoped that the police could find the perpetrator of this very brutal crime. If you like the true crime genre, please read this book. It is writing at it's highest quality. Five Stars. Highly Recommended to all. Move over Ann Rule, Joe Sharkey is at the top of his craft.
I received this digital copy from the Publisher: Open Road Media, Net Galley and Joe Sharkey in exchange for an honest and fair review. I wish to extend my thanks to all of the above.
I love Joe Sharkey's writing. I recently reviewed Above Suspicion and loved it. I requested this one because on October 23, 1989 I was following the media circus that divided a city. I really admire Joe Sharkey's writing. He wrote a column for The New York Times for nineteen years and also was an assistant editor for The Wall Street Journal. He writes his narratives with a sharp observation for detail. At the time of this crime, I was working in Boston and my colleagues and I were shocked by the outrage of the crime and Charles Stuart had fooled us all. The police, the media and the people of Boston.
On October 23, 1989 after leaving Brigham and Women's Hospital where I also gave birth to my youngest son many years later, Charles and Carol Stuart it was reported where robbed at gunpoint. I was working in Boston at this time. Carol who was seven month's pregnant had just left this world respected hospital after attending prenatal classes to prepare for the birth of their first child, a boy named Christopher who was taken by emergency C-Section following a fatal shooting of Carol. Carol was loved by all who knew her and was a successful tax attorney. Carol dreamed of having a family and was ecstatic to be having her first child. Charles wanted Carol to have an abortion. Charles shot Carol in the head that fateful night. He then was planning to shoot himself, when Carol lunged for him and he was gravely injured when she bumped the gun and the bullet pierced his intestines. Carol did not die immediately and Charles drove to an abandoned area waiting for Carol to die.
Charles told detectives that an African American robbed them, then shot Carol and shot Charles last. The time that it took Carol too die, the baby was deprived of oxygen and did not live long. Charles had everybody fooled when he made up a false description of the perpetrator. For six weeks police did terrible things to the Black community. Some people didn't believe Charles's story. An armed person is usually going to shoot the husband first. The Media further fed into this lie and there were many Black men falsely accused and it caused racial relations to divide. Charles had the nation convinced that it was somebody else that randomly robbed and killed Carol and the three pound baby. This book tells the riveting true story of the Charles Stuart, his lovely wife Carol, whose only crime was to disagree with Charles and keep their baby, who was named Christopher. My prayers are with Carol and Christopher Stuart and I hope they are in a better place united in the love that only a mother could love her baby so fiercely. My prayers are with Carol's family and the Stuart family. This is a sad but true story that divided a city, while we hoped that the police could find the perpetrator of this very brutal crime. If you like the true crime genre, please read this book. It is writing at it's highest quality. Five Stars. Highly Recommended to all. Move over Ann Rule, Joe Sharkey is at the top of his craft.
May 19, 2016
Great book about the Stuart murder case. It reminded me of everything I knew at the time and taught me a few things I didn't know. It's an amazing account of a horrible tragedy.
January 14, 2018
Another well-written true crime account of a late 1980's slaying of a pregnant wife by her greedy husband, Chuck Stuart, in Boston, Massachusettes. The husband kills the wife and unborn child, injures himself to make it appear like a robbery gone bad, then pins the blame on a local black criminal. The media at the time ate it up - prominent white couple gunned down by black criminal! I must have been too young to remember the newpaper reports at the time, and I haven't seen any of the cable TV series feature this story. I'm sure that there was a lot of media frenzy about this case - author Joe Sharkey recounts in detail the reporting (and rumor-mongering) that was done by both Boston papers, the Globe and the Herald, in order to impact their circulation. Recommended.
Want to read
May 23, 2017Began reading March 2017 but discovered it was too soon after reading the other book about this case so I will put it back to my TBR shelf and read it next year or so.
January 23, 2024
Love of inside stories and first person sources gets me every time. I don't know why tried to read this, lol. Filing as "stalled out" because my attention wasn't held and the limits of the author's research and interviews did not meet my needs. This was written in 1991; Sharkey's - and society's - stance on the harassment of Boston's Black community - including but hardly limited to Wille Bennett and Alan Swanson - amid a bungled exhibition underwhelms. Sharkey, perhaps trying to emphasize with Chuck Stuart, occasionally writes of the human, wife, and mother-to-be he murdered with the contempt of the husband conveyed in narrative omniscience. This not only extends to Chuck's feelings towards Carol, but his assessment of her body: her face, her weight. Just unnecessary.
July 20, 2021
On my Nook Ereader, beginning at page 419, ending at 731; 312 pages.
Another good true crime book, tightly written prose, good pacing, pleasing syntax and vocabulary.
Mr Sharkey puts in possibly less unnecessary history of character and place than in other of his work, which is a plus. Again, there are no sources or references, so the emotional depths he throws in are somewhat hard to swallow. The basic facts are known to me because I have roots in this area, so I was aware of the crime when it happened. This makes the story more immediate to me. I was not aware of the denouement, however, and that gave me a shiver.
Another good true crime book, tightly written prose, good pacing, pleasing syntax and vocabulary.
Mr Sharkey puts in possibly less unnecessary history of character and place than in other of his work, which is a plus. Again, there are no sources or references, so the emotional depths he throws in are somewhat hard to swallow. The basic facts are known to me because I have roots in this area, so I was aware of the crime when it happened. This makes the story more immediate to me. I was not aware of the denouement, however, and that gave me a shiver.
May 15, 2018
All of us in Boston were gripped by the headlines of this case every day back in 1989 so I remember this case all too well. It was somewhat a good book but the author jumped to a lot of conclusions, like making up conversations and how Carol acted after being shot. He just made things up to pad the book out. I felt the same sadness for everyone that I felt back then. And it turns out Chuck not only murdered his wife and baby, but indirectly his younger brother Matthew too, if you ask me.
April 25, 2013
Joe Sharkey relates a true life story that seems almost unreal. Very good description of the main characters in this morbid tale.
August 19, 2021
TOO MUCH FLUFF! STOP TELLING ME ABOUT THE BLARNEY STONE!
November 6, 2017
Mediocre account of two tragic murders
I was 24 and working in the MA Legislature when Carol DiMaiti Stuart and her son Christopher were brutally murdered by her husband. The author is more interested in portraying a stereotyped, outdated portrait of Boston as a city with unsurmountable race and class divides even though the city and its neighborhoods were in flux due to the large influx of outsiders who moved to the Boston metro area to take advantage of the growing number of white collar jobs and the gentrification of Boston's historic, close knit neighborhoods owing to the city's so-called "Massachusetts Miracle". As a result, Boston's cultural and political fabric was changing fast: this city was no longer riven by a misguided and poorly implemented court decision that forced racial integration in the city's public schools which divided the city and caused neighborhoods to retreat behind old race and class lines. Few people I know believed in Charles Stuart's innocence: his unlikely story didn't mesh well with the facts of well-publicized, recent domestic violence-based murders and smacked of other lo false race-based alibis
I was 24 and working in the MA Legislature when Carol DiMaiti Stuart and her son Christopher were brutally murdered by her husband. The author is more interested in portraying a stereotyped, outdated portrait of Boston as a city with unsurmountable race and class divides even though the city and its neighborhoods were in flux due to the large influx of outsiders who moved to the Boston metro area to take advantage of the growing number of white collar jobs and the gentrification of Boston's historic, close knit neighborhoods owing to the city's so-called "Massachusetts Miracle". As a result, Boston's cultural and political fabric was changing fast: this city was no longer riven by a misguided and poorly implemented court decision that forced racial integration in the city's public schools which divided the city and caused neighborhoods to retreat behind old race and class lines. Few people I know believed in Charles Stuart's innocence: his unlikely story didn't mesh well with the facts of well-publicized, recent domestic violence-based murders and smacked of other lo false race-based alibis
June 28, 2023
Thorough, well-written account of one of the most infamous murders in Boston history. I know some on here have complained about Sharkey’s deep dive into the players’ family histories, but I personally found it fascinating how fate tied Charles Stuart, Carol DiMatti and Willie Bennett together to result in such a specifically ‘80s Boston crime story. Stuart comes off a little like a Beantown spin on Christian Bale’s social-climbing, murderous yuppie in “American Psycho.” If you remember following this story in Boston’s warring daily newspapers of the time, I highly recommend this book as a fact-based corrective.
November 27, 2017
I was driving into work when I heard that Stuart had jumped off the Tobin. I went into my office despondent and said “poor Chuck. First he loses his wife and baby and the despair was obviously too much for him.” The entire office erupted in laughter. Evidently I was the only person in Boston who believed it was a robbery gone bad. This account is very detailed and well written. Fast paced and covers all aspects of the lives of all the people involved. Although I remembered the events, the author included many details that I was unaware of.
I read it in one day- nothing else got done!
I read it in one day- nothing else got done!
November 29, 2020
This was my third Sharkey book. It held my interest throughout and made me laugh out loud a few times. Sharkey goes into biographical detail some of the characters like all true crime authors do. For me most do it too much. This one was a little too much but not a lot. I had no problem pouring myself into the book and will look for another Sharkey book now.
February 27, 2021
Excellent and accurate!
This was a great read about this crime from so long ago. Even then I was a true crime junkie and I followed it closely and I had suspected the husband from the beginning. This case was tough in New England when it happened and still to this day. I found this book to be extremely accurate and a very interesting read.
This was a great read about this crime from so long ago. Even then I was a true crime junkie and I followed it closely and I had suspected the husband from the beginning. This case was tough in New England when it happened and still to this day. I found this book to be extremely accurate and a very interesting read.
December 19, 2021
Three for three
This is the third true crime book I have read by Joe Sharkey, and his story telling and attention to all the details, envelopes your imagination in the real world of crime. The set up to the actual crime was important to getting to the crime. How, in the end, all the pieces of the puzzle came together.
This is the third true crime book I have read by Joe Sharkey, and his story telling and attention to all the details, envelopes your imagination in the real world of crime. The set up to the actual crime was important to getting to the crime. How, in the end, all the pieces of the puzzle came together.
January 15, 2024
good writing interesting story
I was surprised how excellent the writing was in this book. Often crime stories are poorly written. But there was something missing for me…the tragic story was told factually with little speculation about motives, etc. maybe I was missing speculation about Chuck’s personality disorder?
I was surprised how excellent the writing was in this book. Often crime stories are poorly written. But there was something missing for me…the tragic story was told factually with little speculation about motives, etc. maybe I was missing speculation about Chuck’s personality disorder?
June 6, 2024
I imagine this must have been a hard book to write .This author managed to tell the tragic story of Carol Stewart and her baby in a way that is both respectful and thorough.
The additional information about the city’s history and more about Willy and his family was something I didn’t know. May all three innocents involved rest peacefully.
The additional information about the city’s history and more about Willy and his family was something I didn’t know. May all three innocents involved rest peacefully.
November 5, 2017
True Crime
A good book. The author tells the story of Chuck Stuart. We all know the basic tale, but he brings to the fore the details of the plot and tells the story in a dramatic way. I was completely caught up in it and enjoyed it as much as an original true crime story.
A good book. The author tells the story of Chuck Stuart. We all know the basic tale, but he brings to the fore the details of the plot and tells the story in a dramatic way. I was completely caught up in it and enjoyed it as much as an original true crime story.
May 24, 2019
Great read
unfortunately at a high cost, not by book purchase, but through the cost of lives. I'd heard about this when it happened, but had no idea about the many details involved, amazing how greedy and self centered people can become. Sharkey is a great, detailed author.
unfortunately at a high cost, not by book purchase, but through the cost of lives. I'd heard about this when it happened, but had no idea about the many details involved, amazing how greedy and self centered people can become. Sharkey is a great, detailed author.
October 18, 2021
Easy read
I remember this case on a tv show when I was younger and the author once again gives a great story to read. Fills in what I did not know about the case, I highly suggest you read this if you like true crime.
I remember this case on a tv show when I was younger and the author once again gives a great story to read. Fills in what I did not know about the case, I highly suggest you read this if you like true crime.
February 28, 2024
Decent book. Well researched. I would have given it the fifth star but there was a reference to the band arrowsmith, not Aerosmith, so I couldn’t take it all seriously then. I mean my autocorrect just lit up arrowsmith and Aerosmith is perfect. Come on.
July 31, 2024
I could see a situation where someone would subtract a star for the parts that are necessarily speculation. I think with all things considered, the speculative parts are kept to a minimum and do not detract if you are a critical thinker.
November 12, 2025
Good true crime
Even if you know this story I found this narrative riveting! We learn a lot about Chuck Stuart, his dreams and ambitions and how he felt he could control the story of his life, without any regard for his very loving, capable, smart and selfless wife, Carol.
Even if you know this story I found this narrative riveting! We learn a lot about Chuck Stuart, his dreams and ambitions and how he felt he could control the story of his life, without any regard for his very loving, capable, smart and selfless wife, Carol.
August 18, 2017
Very well written book. Love Joe Sharkey books
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2018
Veery sad story - all the background information got a little long and boring.
August 29, 2019
Sad,sad,sad
So much potential but plain greed and narcissism is what happened to this twisted person. He was a coward when all is said and done. May the victims rest in peace.
So much potential but plain greed and narcissism is what happened to this twisted person. He was a coward when all is said and done. May the victims rest in peace.
March 16, 2022
Joe Starkey always writes a good book and I wasn’t disappointed in this one. I like his style of writing which makes the story flow but doesn’t overload the reader with fluffy information.
May 30, 2022
Most boring true life book. Why do authors need to turn a really interesting story into a repeat/repeat. I kept thinking I had accidentally gone back in my Kindle. I could not recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews