Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking, they change laws, change society, or even

earn the label, Crime of the Century. But the stories that made headlines and decades past

aren't necessarily remembered today.

I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author, and in each episode of this show,

I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened.

This is Crimes of the Centuries.

Thank you. This is Crimes of the Centuries. It was the kind of morning in Madison, Connecticut, that made everything feel suspended, a gray, chilly, not quite

spring day on a quiet street. Nestled behind some trees, 44 Middle Beach Road was the kind of

house that might sell for a modest price in Middle America. But here, in a beach town perched on the

Long Island Sound, the three-bedroom two-bath ranch

was worth about three-quarters of a million dollars.

The home had become a refuge for 48-year-old Barbara Beach, Hamburg, a mother of two, who had

gone through a tumultuous divorce.

But things were far from peaceful this morning. On March 3rd, 2010, around 1030 a.m.,

police were called to the house after a horrifying discovery. In the side yard, partially obscured by

some cushions, lay Barbara's body. She had been killed in a brutal attack, a combination of blunt

force and sharp force injuries. Barbara's teenage daughter and older sister were the ones who

found her. It was the first homicide Madison had seen in more than a decade. Of course, violence like

this wasn't supposed to happen here.

Madison was the kind of town that made people feel safe, all tidy charm and coastal privilege,

the kind of place where neighbors smile, crime feels theoretical, and a mom getting murdered

in broad daylight feels as unthinkable as a plane crash.

...