Martha Moxley’s Murder: A Family and a Conviction

It’s been fifty years since a young girl from a well-off Connecticut family was found murdered in her suburban garden, and still, many questions linger—especially surrounding a particular Kennedy relative whose conviction was overturned. Michael Skakel, a cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., served 11 years for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. He’s kept insisting he’s innocent and has recently opened up about his situation in a new NBC News podcast called “Dead Thirteen: The Martha Moxley Murder Case.”

Moxley’s tragic end came when she was just 15, bludgeoned to death with a golf club on October 30, 1975. The night before Halloween, she had been out with friends, a typical evening of pranks for local teens. Reports suggest she was seen flirting with Michael’s older brother, Thomas, that same evening. By around 9:30 p.m., friends noticed them “collapsed together behind a fence” near the Skakel house, as per the Hartford Courant.

The next day, Moxley’s body was discovered with her pants around her ankles, near a broken golf club, tucked under a tree in her family’s yard. An autopsy confirmed she had been both beaten and stabbed with a golf club, which was eventually linked back to the Skakel residence.

Initially, Thomas was considered the primary suspect, then the focus shifted to Kenneth Littleton, their tutor. Nevertheless, neither was ever charged. The investigation drew out for years until attention turned to Michael. On January 19, 2000, he surrendered to authorities after a warrant was issued.

Wendy Murphy, a professor at Boston New England School of Law, noted the difficulty of being too tied to family in such cases. “These two suspects are practically glued together because they’re family. If they each assert their rights and cast reasonable doubts on each other, it complicates things,” she shared.

Michael, who was 15 at the time and charged as a juvenile initially, eventually found himself in regular court. He maintained his innocence throughout, even telling Moxley’s mother, “You got the wrong guy,” during his arraignment. In June 2002, however, a jury found him guilty, sentencing him to 20 years.

This conviction was met with skepticism, especially given how much time had elapsed. John Clendenning, author of “Julia’s Angel,” reflected on the fact that Skakel was convicted nearly three decades post-murder. “Think about it. If you were called as a witness from that era, how much detail could you recall?” he posed.

In 2013, following several failed attempts to appeal his conviction, a judge granted Skakel a new trial after ruling that his attorney had not represented him properly. Ultimately, on May 4, 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated his conviction, and prosecutors opted not to pursue a retrial.

However, Jon Moxley, Martha’s brother, expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s decision. He stated, “Just because he’s out now doesn’t mean what we know isn’t true.” He emphasized the continuing impact of the case. In his view, it wasn’t the judge’s ruling that mattered; Martha’s death held an eerie permanence that affected them all. “No matter where he walks, he’s going to carry those memories. He’s imprisoned in his own way,” he said.

Skakel may have gained another shot at freedom, but the unresolved mystery of Moxley’s murder continues to loom. Many are keen to hear his side of the story, especially now that he has this opportunity. Clendenning noted, “He sees this as an opportunity to share his narrative. In a world that’s rethinking issues of crime, he’s stepping up.” It’s compelling, really, to think about how perceptions of crime and justice might shift as Skakel aims to narrate his truth.