Alleged Wife Killer’s Brother Denies Guilt

The brother of the late Charles Stuart pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he helped Stuart cover up the murder of his pregnant wife in a case that inflamed racial tensions.

Matthew Stuart was arraigned on several charges, including obstruction of justice and compounding a felony. His friend, John McMahon, pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact and various other charges.

Suffolk County Magistrate Gary Wilson released the defendants without bail and set a pretrial hearing for Oct. 18.

Stuart and McMahon, both 24, are accused of hiding evidence that allegedly would have disclosed Charles Stuart’s plot to kill his wife, Carol, the night of Oct. 23, 1989. Instead, Charles Stuart won sympathy by claiming that he and his wife had been shot by a black mugger after they left a birthing class at a Boston hospital.

Authorities did not discover that Charles Stuart’s tale was a hoax until his brother came forward on Jan. 3, 1990, and said he had helped stage the crime. Charles Stuart then became the prime suspect, and the next morning he apparently committed suicide by jumping off Boston’s Tobin Bridge.