Family of Suspect in Boston Wife-Slaying Leaves Seclusion to Attend Funeral Mass

The family of Charles Stuart Jr. came out of seclusion Saturday to bury the man whose younger brother linked him to one of Boston’s most baffling and still unraveling crime cases.

“Forgive whatever wrongs he may have done,” Father Richard Messina said during services for Stuart. “We cannot explain why the events of the past took place and certainly we can never understand them.”

About 150 people attended a funeral Mass at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, two blocks from Stuart’s childhood home in the north Boston suburb of Revere. Stuart, 29, committed suicide on Thursday as authorities sought to arrest him in the shooting death of his pregnant wife, Carol.

Among the mourners were Stuart’s parents, his two stepsisters and three brothers, including 23-year-old Matthew, who told police Wednesday that his brother’s story that a mugger shot him and his wife was a fabrication.

Stuart’s mother, Dot, wept as they left the church and Matthew supported his father, Charles Sr., as they left a chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery.

No plot had been designated for Stuart, and his coffin was not expected to be interred until Monday. Carol Stuart, 30, was buried in another Boston suburb.

Investigators on Saturday returned to the Pines River in Revere, searching for the weapon that authorities believe was used in the shootings.

Stuart had told police that a mugger forced his way into the couple’s car Oct. 23. Mrs. Stuart died after her child was born prematurely by Cesarean section. The infant, Christopher, died 17 days later.

But last week, Matthew Stuart told police that his brother instructed him to meet him in Mission Hill on the night of the shooting. He said his brother handed over a bag containing a gun and Mrs. Stuart’s purse. The snub-nosed revolver, which Matthew Stuart said he threw into the river, is believed to be the same gun used to shoot Stuart and his wife.

Police have said the case is still being investigated. They have refused to comment whether there were any other suspects besides Charles Stuart Jr..

The Boston Herald on Saturday cited unidentified sources who said Charles Stuart Jr. was treated for cocaine dependency while he was hospitalized for his gunshot wound. Prosecutors, however, have insisted that they had no indication that Stuart was using drugs.

Mayor Raymond L. Flynn said Saturday that he was proposing an investigation into leaks to the media about the case from the Police Department. Before last week’s revelations, William Bennett, who is black, was named in news reports as a key suspect. Flynn and police have been sharply criticized by leaders of the black community.