Reward offered 15 years after Madison mom’s homicide
Barbara Hamburg, a mother of two, lived in an upscale beachfront neighborhood in Madison, Connecticut.
Hamburg, 48, was scheduled to appear in family court on the morning of March 3, 2010, to face her ex-husband over unpaid child support. When she didn’t show up for several hours, her lawyer immediately knew something was wrong. It was not like Hamburg to be late.
A few hours later, a relative found Hamburg’s body outside her home on Middle Beach Road West and called 911. An autopsy later ruled Hamburg’s death a homicide, detailing numerous puncture wounds, broken arms and blunt force trauma likely caused by a hammer.
Now, more than 15 years after that gruesome discovery, the New Haven County state’s attorney’s office has announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
“Madison Police have devoted countless hours and resources to the investigation and continue to vigorously pursue any leads,” officials said in a news release announcing the reward. “Despite these efforts, no arrest has been made in connection with her death.”
State’s Attorney John P. Doyle Jr. and Madison Police Chief John Drumm said they hope the reward will renew public interest and awareness of the case, and that anyone with information will be prompted to come forward.
“The public is advised not to underestimate the significance of what they may know and not to assume that law enforcement must already possess that information,” they said in the news release. “Sometimes a small piece of information may be what investigators need to solve a case and achieve a successful prosecution.”
But Madison Hamburg, Barbara’s son – who has been investigating his mother’s death for many years and created a four-part documentary about the case – is questioning the timing of the reward and why it has taken so long for police to investigate the case.
“I asked for this reward five years ago,” Madison told CT Insider. “Why wasn’t this reward posted when the murder happened, 15 years ago?”
The son has been going back and forth with the local police department to get access to case files, and was eventually given access to about 1,600 documents after a court ruling in 2020. His quest for more records landed him in the state’s Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor in 2024. But still, nobody is any closer to finding out who killed his mother.
For his documentary, Madison interviewed several relatives, asking them if they knew who killed his mother, asking them if they had killed her. He even tried to confront his father, Jeffrey Hamburg, who at one point was a suspect, but said the father brushed off any attempts to talk about his ex-wife. The two divorced several years prior to Barbara Hamburg’s death, but were back and forth in court over child support and alimony issues.
Jeffrey Hamburg submitted DNA samples to police, but the samples did not match DNA collected at the crime scene, so police dismissed him as a suspect and person of interest.
Barbara Hamburg loved to travel and the outdoors, according to her obituary. She was a “tireless worker” who supported others in recovery from addiction, like herself.
The day of Barbara Hamburg’s killing, there were signs of a struggle outside her home. Her purse had been dropped on the lawn in front of her house, and a pool of blood was found on a wooden pallet nearby. Her body was hidden under a pile of lawn furniture cushions.
There’s been speculation as to whether Hamburg’s death was related to her involvement in a “Gifting Table” pyramid scheme, where local women would hold weekly meetings and entice new members to pay a significant amount of money to join. At the time of her death, Hamburg was due to collect about $40,000 for her share in the “Gifting Table,” officials have said.
When Madison’s documentary came out in 2020, police told the Shoreline Times they hoped it would “jog somebody’s memory” and help them get a break in the case.
After the reward was announced in early April this year, police said they received some new tips they are looking into. They said they want to bring closure to this case. Madison Hamburg has said that is his goal as well.
Anyone with information that may be relevant to the homicide of Barbara Hamburg is asked to contact the Madison Police Department at 203-245-6500. Madison Hamburg has also set up a site to receive tips at barbarahamburgtips.com.