BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Nearly 36 years after the murder of Carol Stuart sparked a manhunt in the streets of Boston, the city has reached a $150,000 settlement with the two men wrongly identified as suspects, WBZ NewsRadio has confirmed.
Willie Bennett and Alan Swanson were interrogated in the case after Stuart's husband, Charles, claimed his pregnant wife was shot by a Black man in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood. That claim led to a manhunt targeting Black men and boys.
It later came to light that Charles Stuart was actually responsible for the murder. Charles Stuart went on to commit suicide by jumping off the Tobin Bridge.
$100,000 is going to Bennett. $50,000 is going to Swanson.
This is one of multiple steps Boston has taken to atone for its handling of the case. In 2023, Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox issued a formal apology to Bennett, Swanson and the city's entire Black community.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (JamesRojasMMJ) reports.