Michael Skakel found Guilty of murdering Martha Moxley

[Krystal Lake]

From MSNBC News
Skakel found guilty of murder

Kennedy cousin convicted
in 1975 slaying of teen girl

NORWALK, Conn., June 7 — A jury Friday found Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel guilty of beating neighbor Martha Moxley to death with a golf club nearly 30 years ago.

He faces a sentence of between 10 years and life in prison.

SKAKEL, 41, was convicted of slaying Moxley in October 1975, when they were 15-year-old neighbors in a wealthy gated community in Greenwich.
Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was arrested in January 2000 after a grand jury investigated the murder.
The case went unsolved for decades, giving rise to suspicions that his family’s wealth and Kennedy connections had protected him over the years.
He faces a sentence of between 10 years and life in prison.
Skakel, now 41, slumped slightly as the verdict was read. Defense attorney Michael Sherman had his hand on Skakel’s shoulder.
In the courtroom, members of the families sighed heavily. The judge immediately ordered silence in the room.
The defense had argued that Skakel was visiting a cousin in another part of Greenwich when the slaying apparently was committed.

Jurors began deliberating Tuesday morning. They met for about a half-hour Friday morning before informing the judge they had reached a decision.
Dorthy Moxley, the mother of the slain girl who had waged a determined campaign for justice, was a dignified fixture during the two-month trial. Even defense lawyers acknowledged the weight of her presence, asking potential jurors if they could acquit Skakel knowing it would bring her pain.
Moxley’s battered body was discovered under a tree on her family’s estate in the gated Greenwich community of Belle Haven. She had been bludgeoned with a golf club — later traced to a set owned by Skakel’s mother — and stabbed in the neck with the shaft of the club.
At trial, prosecutors suggested Skakel was upset because his attractive blonde neighbor seemed more interested in his older brother, Thomas, an early suspect in the slaying.
After a flurry of books about the case in the 1990s, including works by former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman and crime writer Dominick Dunne, a one-judge grand jury investigated and Skakel was arrested.
By then, Skakel had been transformed from the lanky athlete of his teen-age years into a pudgy, divorced father battling alcoholism.
The case followed a twisted legal path before trial. Skakel declared his innocence and then, after he was charged, fought to have the case heard in juvenile court, only to have a judge rule the state has no juvenile facility in which to lock up a middle-aged man.
The case was transferred to adult court in January 2001.

LITTLE FORENSIC EVIDENCE
Prosecutors had to present a 27-year-old case with no eyewitnesses and little forensic evidence. They withdrew a request for blood and hair samples from Skakel before trial, scuttling the possibility of arguing there was a DNA link between Skakel and Moxley.
Prosecutors had to present a 27-year-old case with no eyewitnesses and little forensic evidence.

Renowned forensics expert Henry Lee also testified that he found no direct evidence linking Skakel to the killing through DNA taken from semen, blood or material found under Moxley’s fingernails.
The prosecution’s case was instead based almost entirely on people who said they had heard Skakel confess or make incriminating statements. Among them were several former classmates of Skakel’s from the Elan School, a substance abuse treatment center in Poland Spring, Maine.
One such witness, Gregory Coleman, was dead of heroin use by the time Skakel’s trial began. But prosecutors were permitted to read Coleman’s pretrial testimony into the record, including an allegation that Skakel once told him: “I’m going to get away with murder, because I’m a Kennedy.”
The defense argued that Elan students were berated and beaten until they told administrators what they wanted to hear, an atmosphere that contributed to Skakel’s purported confession.
Skakel’s lawyers also repeatedly reminded the jury that Thomas Skakel and former Skakel family tutor Kenneth Littleton were longtime suspects. They also said Skakel was visiting a cousin in another part of Greenwich at the time of Moxley’s death.

SKAKEL’S OWN WORDS
The trial opened a window on a privileged world where adult supervision of the teen-age Skakels was often limited to nannies, gardeners and cooks. Skakel’s mother had died in 1973; his father was on a hunting trip the night of the murder.
That night — the night before Halloween, often called “Mischief Night” — was described by witnesses as chaotic, with teen-agers darting around the dimly lit Greenwich estates.
Witnesses, including Skakel’s siblings, said he and several others had gone to a cousin’s home in another part of Greenwich, where they smoked marijuana and watched “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”
But prosecutors used Skakel’s own words to place him on Moxley’s property that night.

They played a tape of Skakel telling an author in 1997 that after he returned home from his cousin’s house, he went to Moxley’s estate, thinking: “Martha likes me. I’ll go get a kiss from Martha. I’ll be bold tonight.”
He said he climbed a tree and threw sticks and small rocks at Moxley’s window and yelled her name. He said he then masturbated in the tree, climbed down and started for home. He said something told him to avoid a dark area on the Moxley property.
“I remember yelling, ‘Who’s in there?”’ Skakel said. He said he threw some rocks into the darkness, then ran.
Years later, a witness testified, Skakel recalled seeing his brother Thomas on the property that night. Other witnesses recalled tension between the brothers, and jurors were shown a shoe Moxley was wearing the night of her death. The word “Tom” was written on the shoe.
Skakel did not testify in his own defense, and his attorney said the tape of his client was enough to show jurors his client wasn’t guilty.
Also on the tape, Skakel said he learned from Moxley’s mother that she was missing.
“And I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, if I tell anybody that I was out that night, they’re gonna say I did it,”’ Skakel said.

There is an error in this news report. Skakel is facing 25 years to life, not 10 to life.

I am extremely pleased with the verdict. And, that Mark Furhman brought this back into the light, or else it may never have been solved. Skakel admitted it to quite a few people. It was a golf club from his house. He had a motive.
Justice has been served.

[Czas na Zywiec]

Oh wow. I never heard of this before and while I was reading this post, I saw subtitles come on during the Price is Right about this. Pretty weird.

[Kay Scarpetta]

Good. He deserves it.



On a funnier note, I was in my principals office this morning (not for getting in trouble), but I was doing some work for her because I didn't want to go back to class. So all these teachers walk in and turn on the TV and start watching the Price is Right. I'm just sitting there like "Ok......yeah" so all of a sudden I hear her scream "Oh my Heaven! Michael Skakel was convicted!" She was so excited because she won 500 bucks. They had put a bet on it! Ok......I'm done. I felt like sharing.

[Mijada]

Good, I figured either he or his brother had something to do with it. I'm glad Marthas family finally got justice.

[Kay Scarpetta]

Originally posted by Mijada
Good, I figured either he or his brother had something to do with it. I'm glad Marthas family finally got justice.

Yeah, and today the NY Post had said in the article that Thomas and Michael were rivals because they both liked Martha

"I can get away with murder...I'm a Kennedy" But he didn't, now did he?

[Pitooey]

It's about time that crackpot got his....... For a long time I was feeling sorry for the poor girl. She wasn't getting any justice for her death. It's been many, many years, but now maybe he will ROT for what he did.

[DarleneIllyria]

Originally posted by Lisa Whelchel Forever



"I can get away with murder...I'm a Kennedy" But he didn't, now did he?

This goes to show a name doesn't mean anything. I'm glad justice is being handed out and not being denied just because he happens to be a 'Kennedy'.

[Pitooey]

He's not even a Kennedy (He's just trying to ride their coat tails)........... He's a Skakel. Imagine what Aunt Ethel Skakel Kennedy must be thinking?

[Krystal Lake]

Originally posted by Lisa Whelchel Forever
Good. He deserves it.



On a funnier note, I was in my principals office this morning (not for getting in trouble), but I was doing some work for her because I didn't want to go back to class. So all these teachers walk in and turn on the TV and start watching the Price is Right. I'm just sitting there like "Ok......yeah" so all of a sudden I hear her scream "Oh my Heaven! Michael Skakel was convicted!" She was so excited because she won 500 bucks. They had put a bet on it! Ok......I'm done. I felt like sharing.

Your teacher placed an illegal bet. Gambling isn't allowed in non-sanctioned states. Only in New Jersey, Nevada, and on Indian reservation casinos.
You could get her in trouble.

[Krystal Lake]

Originally posted by JennyLee22
He's not even a Kennedy (He's just trying to ride their coat tails)........... He's a Skakel. Imagine what Aunt Ethel Skakel Kennedy must be thinking?

He is a Kennedy by blood. His name isn't Kennedy, but he is related to the Kennedy clan.

[TJL]

Originally posted by Lisa Whelchel Forever
"I can get away with murder...I'm a Kennedy" But he didn't, now did he?

Exactly!

It is about time that someone in this evil family is paying for his evil deeds.

[ks]

He only got ten years in prison for killing that girl at age 15. Her entire life was taken away from her and the man gets ten years. A slap on the wrist!





ks

[Kristina]

I saw this on the news, my mom said she had heard about this in the 1970's. What a sick sick sick man! Awful...

[cablejockey]

There is no kennedy blood in this skakel person. Bobby Kennedy was his uncle only because he was related to his wife Ethel, who was a Skakel not a Kennedy at birth.

[Pitooey]

Thank you Cable. Skakel is Ethel's family name. Michael is HER blood nephew from her side of the family.