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Boston Pays $150,000 to Two Men Falsely Linked to 1989 Carol Stuart Murder

The move follows Mayor Michelle Wu’s 2023 apology after renewed scrutiny from a Boston Globe investigation tied to an HBO documentary.

Mayor Michelle Wu and Alan Swanson arrive for a press conference and public apology to Swanson and Willie Bennett at City Hall in Boston on Dec. 20, 2023.
Boston, MA- Joey Bennett, nephew of Willie Bennett, (R) and Alan Swanson after the ceremony as the Mayor apologizes to the families of the Bennetts and Alan Swanson, who were accused in the Charles Stuart murder case on Dec. 20.
Willie Bennett's family spoke together for the first time after the city of Boston officially apologized to him for a wrong decades earlier.
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Overview

  • City Hall confirmed payments of $100,000 to Willie Bennett and $50,000 to Alan Swanson.
  • Officials did not release further details about the settlement agreement.
  • Charles Stuart killed his wife in 1989 and falsely blamed a Black assailant, prompting an aggressive manhunt and stops of Black men in Mission Hill.
  • Swanson and Bennett were publicly identified and detained during the investigation but never charged, with Swanson jailed for three weeks before being ruled out.
  • Wu issued a formal apology in December 2023 to both men and to Boston’s Black community after the case was reexamined by investigative reporting and a related documentary.