In March 2010, Barbara Beach Hamburg was in the process of divorcing her husband, Jeffrey Hamburg, who was also the father of her two children, Ali and Madison. Although they had a court date set for the morning of March 3, 2010, Barbara received a call on March 2nd from an unidentified person, who let her know that the court date had been postponed and she did not have to go to court the following day. This information was actually false and the court date was still set for March 3. Because Barbara thought that the court date was cancelled and because her daughter was running late for school, Barbara gave Ali a ride to school that morning, dropping her off a little bit after the normal start time.

When Barbara returned home, she was attacked, bludgeoned, and stabbed in the yard of her rented home. The assaulter then covered her body with cushions from the patio furniture and left the scene. The divorce hearing that Barbara thought was postponed happened and was attended by Jeffrey Hamburg, although all parties noted that it was odd that Barbara would miss a court date. Later that day, Barbara’s sister Conway arrived at the home with Barbara’s daughter Ali. They saw Barbara’s purse in the front walkway and immediately knew something was wrong. Conway made her way to the side of the home and found Barbara’s body. The police arrived on the scene immediately and began collecting evidence. Unfortunately, no one has ever been charged with the murder and the case remains officially open.

In 2020, Barbara’s son Madison released a documentary series on HBO called “Murder on Middle Beach” about the murder and documenting his own journey to find answers. Although there are several suspects identified, by the end of the series Madison is able to clear his sister and focuses mainly on his father. Documents were found that proved Jeffrey Hamburg was involved in some shady business dealings overseas, and although he was in court at the time of the murder, he may have had motive and the means to have Barbara murdered. Madison attempted to speak to his father about the murder while wearing a wire, but his father consistently refused to talk about it.

As of March 2021, no one has been charged with Barbara Beach Hamburg’s murder and the case is still open.