CAMBRIDGE - Matthew Stuart, who confessed to helping his brother, Charles, cover up the fatal shooting of his pregnant wife in one of Boston’s most notorious crimes, was found dead early yesterday morning in a Central Square homeless shelter.
Stuart, 45, was found dead shortly after 1 a.m. at the Heading Home shelter on School Street, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
Stuart was the younger brother of Charles Stuart, whose infamous killing of his wife, Carol DiMaiti Stuart, in their car on Mission Hill more than two decades ago, roiled Boston and inflamed racial tensions.
A spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone confirmed that a 45-year-old man was found dead at the shelter, but declined to release his name because the death was not being investigated as suspicious.
“It does not appear to be suspicious or involve foul play,’’ said Cara O’Brien, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
O’Brien would not elaborate, saying the office does not provide names or additional details on cases of nonsuspicious deaths.
The law enforcement officials also did not say how Stuart died. An autopsy will be conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
According to one of the law enforcement officials, Stuart was found unresponsive in a bathroom at the shelter and declared dead at the scene.
His body was taken away by officials from the medical examiner’s office.
A sister from Revere was notified as Stuart’s next of kin, according to one of the officials. No one answered at an address in Revere.
At an address for another relative in Marblehead, a man who answered the door refused to comment.
At the shelter yesterday, a house unmarked by a sign, two employees declined to comment, citing residents’ privacy.
“We have no comment,’’ said one worker.
“We respect the privacy of our residents.’’
Heading Home provides emergency shelter, housing, and supportive services to more than 2,000 homeless and low-income people in multiple locations yearly, according to its website.
It was unclear how long Stuart, who had experienced drug problems, had been staying in the shelter or why he was there.
Matthew Stuart’s public notoriety began with a killing that gripped Boston.
On the night of Oct. 23, 1989, a wounded Charles Stuart, then 29, told police that he and his pregnant 33-year-old wife had been robbed and shot by a black man in Mission Hill as they left a childbirth class at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
As part of his cover-up, he had shot himself in the abdomen. Their baby, Christopher, died 17 days later.
The shootings drew sympathy for Charles Stuart and exposed racial divides in Boston.
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