Episode 60 | GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER? | Martha Moxley and the Kennedy Family

It was Halloween morning, October 31st 1975, when the bludgeoned body of 15 year old Martha Moxley was found in the back of her wealthy family's estate in Belle Haven, Connecticut. Her 15 year old neighbor Michael Skakel, a relative of the Kennedy dynasty, was a prime suspect but would go uncharged for more than 25 years until 2002 when he was convicted for the murder. He went to prison after a sentencing of 20 years to life, but now he's out and exonerated. What happened!? Who is the killer? It's a mesmerizing case of wealth, privilege and ultimately getting away with murder. ★Enjoy!

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Transcript

Case File: The Moxley Murder

October 30th 1975 

Belle Haven CT

Crime: Murder

Victim 15 yr old Martha Moxley

Perpetrator 15 yr old MIchael Skakel

Is being a Kennedy all you need to get away with murder? In the murder of Martha Moxley, it just might be.

15-year old Martha had gone over to play at her neighbor’s house and was never seen alive again. The murder weapon was found in this same house. Yet, it would take 25 years and a lot of pressure from the press for anybody to be convicted for this heinous crime. It might have something to do with the murder being related to one of the most powerful dynasties in the United States: The Kennedys.

Did the police bungle the investigation or, did being rich and of the Kennedy brood all you needed to get away with murder?

Will Martha Moxley’s family ever find justice?

The Murder

It was the night before Halloween, and the kids from one neighborhood of the exclusive section of Belle Haven in Greenwich CT had gathered at the one house on the street where there was rarely a parent around and they knew could have all the fun in the world without a single reprimand – The Skakel mansion. 

It was every neighborhood kid’s dream house: no adult supervision, drinks, unlimited cash, and free rein in the house. The house was always filled with teens out to have fun and the night of October the 30th, 1975 was not any different. The family’s car was parked out on the driveway, a Lincoln. The Skakel kids called it ‘the lust mobile’. This should set the stage at least a little.

Three teens were packed in the front seat of the lust mobile; 15-year old Michael Skakel, his older brother Tommy, 17, and smack in the middle, their neighbor, 15-year old Martha Moxley. Earlier in the evening, they’d been out spraying shaving cream on mailboxes, but now they were having a karaoke moment singing along with songs blaring from the radio. At one point they smoked cigarettes. Then at around 9.30 pm two of the older Skakel kids came out to the car. They needed it to go over to a cousin’s house 8 miles away to watch the U.S. Premier of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Not one to miss out on adult fun, 15-year old Michael slid into the backseat as his older brothers and cousin drove into the night. In the rear-view mirror, he caught a glimpse of Martha and Tommy playing together. It was the last time he would see her.

Or so he says.

As the carousing dies down and everyone went off to their homes and beds, one bed remained empty and her mother was worried, very worried. It was Martha Moxley. She still hadn’t come back home. She had been grounded the week before for staying out late, why would she do it again? Mrs. Moxley called Martha’s friend’s. Most had no idea where she was but one friend pointed her to the Skakel mansion across the road, which was the last place they had seen her. It was 7 am, and she went across the road and knocked at the Skakel’s door. A groggy, hungover Michael Skakel opened the door and assured her Martha wasn’t there. 

The Police were called and within a few hours, friends and family fanned out searching for the missing teen… not a great way to start Halloween. But by noon the true horror of the day would unfurl when a young girl found her body. 

Investigators quickly made their way to where Martha’s body had been found. It was at the back of the Moxley property under some pine trees, half-hidden by the grass. She had been struck multiple times in the head and stabbed. Her blonde hair was unrecognizable as it was drenched in blood. Her pants and underwear were down to her knees. It looked like a sexual assault but, they would later conclude there were no signs that she had been raped. Either it was staged or perhaps they had come down while the killer dragged her body. Further investigating revealed a trail through the tall grass her body had been dragged through to where it was discovered. It led them to a kill zone and the discarded shaft of a 6-iron golf club. They concluded that this was where she had been attacked and that a golf club had been used to beat her to death.

Martha was a beautiful, vivacious, 15-year old. She’d grown up in California with her parents and elder brother. Just a year earlier, her parents had moved the family to the affluent neighborhood of Belle Haven in Greenwich, Connecticut, where Martha had no problem settling in.

So why in the world would anyone want this amiable 15-year old dead? Well, that’s what investigators wanted to find out as well. 

The residents of Belle Haven were distraught. Belle Haven was a place where crime was virtually unheard of. It was a gated residential community overlooking Long Island that had been known for its enormously wealthy residents. It was an exclusive area for the prestigious, high-brow, and crème de la crème of society: wealthy businessmen, bankers, heads of manufacturing industries, the rich and famous, old money. Mel Gibson, Diana Ross, George Bush and a slew of others have called it home. But on that day the peace of Belle Haven was shattered with the murder of Martha Moxley.

Investigators began talking to the residents of Belle Haven, had they seen or heard anything suspicious that night?  Residents told them that dogs in the vicinity had been barking wildly between 9.30 and 10 pm. Police concluded that this was probably the time that Martha was killed. The one piece of evidence they had was the bloodied Golf club and finding where it came from would take them straight to a killer.

Investigators interviewed Martha’s friends about her whereabouts the night before. They all said that they had left Martha with Tommy at the Skakel family’s swimming pool when the two had started flirting with each other. No one wants to be a third-wheel.

  Investigators then began a search of the Skakel mansion. They would quickly find a golf club set. It was the very same make and model that had been found at the crime scene and it was missing a 6-iron club. *Insert SVU dum-dum here* The Skakel family and everyone that lived there immediately became prime suspects. So who were the Skakels? 

The Skakel family was headed by Rushton, a wealthy heir, and industrialist. He’d married a Kennedy; they had the name but he had the money. Together, they started a family of nine: six boys, and a girl. But two years before the murder, the mother had died from brain cancer. OK make that 8. This left Rushton as the single parent of a brood of seven. But, the new widower was a dedicated alcoholic, and an absentee father, too busy taking long business trips, hunting trips, and wining and dining with other society elites, often leaving his offspring (the youngest was age 9) in the care of employees and live-in tutors. As you can imagine with 7 young kids, when he was away, all hell broke loose at the Skakel residence. Parties, alcohol, and drugs, topped up with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry. They would take the car out at will. Before long, the fourth child, 13-year old Michael already had a drinking problem. 

Investigators began the inquisition as to where everyone had been the night of the murder. The Skakel patriarch was once again nowhere to be found- he was off on a hunting trip. Michael said he had left for his cousin’s house around 9.30 to go hang out and watch the premiere of “Monty python’s flying circus”. He had left with his brothers and cousin, leaving Martha behind with Tommy. He said, he hadn’t come back home till 11.30 pm, and when he did, he had gone straight to bed. As for 17-year old Thomas Skakel, he said he had also left Martha at 9.30 pm to go watch The French Connection with their new live-in tutor. After that, he’d gone up to his room to do an assignment; A paper on Abraham Lincoln. 

The new tutor, who had been hired to stay on and watch the kids, said he had moved his things in late in the afternoon. Around 6 pm, he had taken the Skakel children to the exclusive Belle Haven country club so he could get to know everyone over dinner. After they’d returned home, he’d spent the rest of the evening watching TV. By 9.45 pm, he had gone to check on the kids and realized that Thomas, Michael, and two older Skakels were not home. He said it wasn’t till 10.25 pm that Tommy had come back in to watch a movie with him. Tommy, he said, had acted completely normal, with no signs of any mischief.  The other Skakels, including Michael, had come in about half an hour later. 

Even though the tutor’s timeline punched holes in both Michael and Tommy’s stories, the police investigation didn’t go any further… Money and influence have a way of derailing investigators and this time was no exception. Friends of the Skakel family said they had seen Greenwich cops having breakfast in the Skakel kitchen many times. Even a search warrant for the Skakel mansion had taken 6 months to be approved; and when it did come, investigators were like “ugh, never mind!” and never searched the residence. When the Skakels lawyered up after just a few questionings, the police skulked away and the case was declared cold. 

This was strange because they had quite a bit of evidence. A pair of Michael’s pants and shoes were found in the garbage of the Skakel’s home. And what do you know they had Martha’s hair all over them. One of the younger Skakel children had also heard Martha scream. Yet, it wasn’t till a year later that investigators got to work again. They had suspicions about someone living in the Skakel residence but it was a Skakel. It was the private tutor to the Skakel kids, Ken. Ken had been fired once the term ended because the older Skakels had had no improvement in their schoolastic results. He moved out of the Skakel home. Some months later, he spent a weekend drinking and doing drugs. He threw a cinder block through a shop window and stole $4000 worth of goods. Investigators’ suspicions were aroused, maybe the kindly school teacher had something to hide.

Ken suddenly became their prime suspect. It didn’t help that his life continued to unravel… he couldn’t get a job in any schools and had to stop teaching altogether. When he did get part-time jobs, he couldn’t hold them down. He even attempted suicide and was in and out of the psychiatric hospital.

Maybe police considered the   of the murder; the murderer was profiled as someone with a personal connection to Martha who had killed her in a fit of rage. Whatever the reason, Ken was removed from the investigative hot seat and the case went cold. Again.

It would be almost a decade later before the case would be opened again. It all started with the trial of a Kennedy. He had been charged with rape in Florida. When he got acquitted it hit the airwaves. Hard. That would be William Kennedy Smith, JFK’s nephew.

The headlines were simple, another Kennedy going scot-free because of their political ties, deep pockets, and payrolling the police, you know, just like that Martha Moxley murder. It wasn’t long before rumors started to circulate that maybe this Kennedy had also been at the Skakel’ home on the night of Martha’s murder and his name was being kept out of the investigation because… you know… Kennedy. The papers insinuated that was why the case kept getting suppressed?! Tongues were wagging all around the country. Daunted, the police decided it was time to reopen the case and clear their name. 

Who did they go after? Once again, the prime suspect was, the tutor! Damn, this guy cannot catch a break! Police even got his ex-wife to wear a wire and ask him if he committed the crime. The poor tutor decided to go to the police station and submit himself for any questions. Well, this turned into a not 1, not 2, not 3 but a 4-day interrogation where they continually berated him to confess that he murdered Martha Moxley. 

But the tutor was adamant, he had nothing to do with the murder of the teenager. 

The case was back-burnered again. Fast fwd a few years and the case resurfaced again; This time there was a hefty reward for anyone with information that led to an arrest just to get the ball rolling. Turns out they did not need the ball.

See, some years before, just as the rumors of a Kennedy involvement had started going around, the father of the Skakel kids, Rushton Skakel, had decided to for a change, put away that hunting rifle, stand behind his family and try to clear the family name. He hired a team of investigators to help. But their findings would do quite the opposite. It pointed fingers right back to the people under the Skakel roof – Michael Skakel and Thomas Skakel. They quickly buried the report. But no secret stays buried forever.

The report was soon discovered. In it, they learned that both Skakel brothers had lied to the police. Thomas had not gone in to write his paper on Abraham Lincoln, because there was no such homework given to his class on that day. At 9.30 pm when he claimed he had gone inside, Tommy had still been outside with Martha. In the report, He claimed they had been making out for 30 minutes. 

Michael had also not been honest with investigators. Around midnight on the night of the murder, he had gone over to Martha’s house and climbed the tree outside her window. He threw stones at the house to get her attention. Sexually aroused, he pulled out his johnson and played with himself in the tree until he heard some noise and he left.

It seems the tutor was the only one with a straight story after all!

Investigators dug into Michael’s life after the murder. The years had not been kind to him. At the ripe old age of 17, he was out drunk driving and engaged the police in a high-speed chase before ending up running into a telephone pole. Fortunately for him, the jail terms for a Kennedy were different from that of the average Joe, and the Skakel family worked out a deal with the police: Michael would go to a luxury youth behavioral center for rich kids to avoid prosecution. He spent two years there and tried to escape twice! But his failed escapades were not his only problem. Michael had a big mouth and could not seem to keep it shut! He told at least two classmates that he had murdered Martha. He had even told one: “I’m going to get away with it, I’m a Kennedy.” Once he even blurted out during group therapy that he was sorry for Martha’s death.

And he didn’t stop there, years later in an autobiography tell-all, he wrote: “I wanted (Martha) to be my girlfriend.” This cast a new light on the case. Wouldn’t Michael have been jealous seeing Martha showing interest in his brother? Couldn’t that have pushed him over the edge? Michael was starting to look like a very compelling prime suspect. Also, the tree he described masturbating in was not outside Martha’s window, it had been directly above where her body had been discovered!

The police wasted no time - well apart from the earlier 25 years – in arresting 40-year old Michael Skakel for the murder of Martha Moxley. At trial, in exchange for full immunity, the tutor testified on Michael’s behavioral problems while he was at the Skakel mansion. Wait a minute full immunity form what? Being a bad teacher? Michael, he said, drank a lot and you dare not tell him what to do… you dared not tell any Skakel what to do. He also revealed that a few weeks after Martha’s murder day, he’d seen a dead chipmunk, nailed spread-eagled to a patch of grass with golf tees on the sprawling Skakel property. It had been killed with a golf club… Just like Martha! 

Only one culprit came to mind: Michael. When he confronted the then 15-year old about the Moxley murder, Michael had replied: “who else could have done it?” 

Two of his former classmates at the rehab testified that Michael had tearfully confessed to the murder while admitting he had only fragmented memories of doing it. It certainly lined up with his alcoholism at the time. Michael was tried as an adult and found guilty of murder. In his statement, he gave a rambling impassioned speech proclaiming his faith in God, his innocence, with a myriad of biblical references. He was sentenced to 20 years to life.

The end? Well not quite.

Remember, the Skakel family were an arm of the Kennedys and if there’s one thing Kennedys do, it’s get away with crimes against women. Car accidents, rapes, murders…

Robert Kennedy Jr., a senator, and cousin to Michael accused the prosecution of playing a part of Michael’s audio-recorded confession out of context. In it, Michael had said: “oh, my God, did they see me last night? … and I remember just having a feeling of panic.” This sounds like an admission of guilt right? But they were a few missing words, and the entire sentence alluded to his shock and surprise opening the door to see Martha’s mom when she had come asking if he knew Martha’s whereabouts. He’d been terrified she saw him jacking off outside her daughter’s window and had come to give him the business. 

Kennedy didn’t stop there, he started a one-man investigation team to find the ‘real’ killers. Following a tip by one of Michael’s classmates, Kennedy went down to Florida to meet the guy. The informant said he and two of his friends had gone to Belle Haven that night. One of the friends, he said, had had a crush on Martha since the first time he had seen her at a street fair. He told Kennedy that on that night, the trio had picked up golf clubs from the Skakel backyard and his two friends had revealed they wanted to use the golf clubs to get a woman ‘cave-man style’. The informant said, he had wanted no part of this and left the two to their devices. The next time he had seen them, he said they had cryptically told him they had fulfilled their fantasy. Armed with his knowledge of the killer, Kennedy had Michael’s lawyers petition for a new trial. But when it was time for the informant to testify under oath he skulked away.

  It seemed someone forgot to tell Kennedy that apart from a lengthy criminal history, his informant was a known jail-house snitch. And as for the two friends? Well, Belle Haven, Greenwich was a very, very white community. If not one, but two black guys had been out about talking crazy they would have stood out like a sore thumb. Yet no one remembers seeing them that night. It was a 70s classic - blame the black guy. The court threw out the petition. But that didn’t stop Kennedy, he would piece together his hack job investigation and authored a book smearing two innocent black men for life. It’s called Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade In Prison For a Crime He Didn’t Commit.

After spending over a decade in jail and with the Kennedy name not exactly opening his cell door, Michael found another angle to secure a new trial. He petitioned the court again arguing that his savvy, expensive lawyer had been too chummy with the press and had not focused enough on his case. There were key details he felt his lawyer could have presented to show reasonable doubt. Like witnesses who could attest that he had been at his cousin’s house watching a movie at the time of the murder. He was also certain that two suspects had never been truly looked into.

The first was his former live-in tutor. Michael held that a composite sketch by a security guard in Belle Haven had produced an image that strongly resembled that of the tutor who had moved in to the Skakel residence that very day. But, it had never been presented at trial. Michael was convinced the sketch would have presented reasonable doubt. But then again, the security guard could just have been taking note of a new face in the neighborhood. Michael had another prime suspect up his sleeve, his very own brother, Thomas (Tommy) Skakel. Yup, Michael threw his older brother under the bus. It alleged that Thomas had a long history of neurological and psychiatric problems. He was deceptive, lost his temper easily, and even strangled a fellow student right in front of a teacher at his prep school. Michael submitted that Tommy was also a habitual liar, having lied to police officers, psychologists, lawyers, and investigators about his activities with Martha that day.

There were also excerpts of Martha’s diary that captured her relationship with Tommy.

“Went driving in Tom’s car… I was practically sitting on Tom’s lap… he kept putting his hand on my knee”

“I went to a party… Tom S. Was being an ass. At the dance, he kept putting his arms around me… making moves”

And the final nail, Tom had confessed to being with Martha around the time she was murdered.

The judge agreed with Michael Skakel’s 68-page petition and ruled in his favor. Michael Skakel was a free man after spending 11 and a half years in prison. But not for long, it turns out. In an unexpected twist, three years later, his conviction was reinstated. The evidence, they stated, was enough. Two years after that, a reconsideration was filed with a new judge, and the Court again reversed its ruling. Skakel, they said, would have a retrial. Michael was once again a free man at least till the trial date was set.

But it was not to be, the prosecution decided that with a third of their witnesses dead, there was not enough evidence from the 30-year-old murder to pin Michael to the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. 

And so the murder of Martha Moxley remains unsolved. And we’re left wondering, who took the life of 15-year old Martha? Was it Thomas Skakel who had admitted to a sexual encounter and lied about his whereabouts? Or was it Michael, who had Martha’s hair on his clothes and had discarded them? Michael, who had admitted to masturbating outside the Moxley home tree as casually as if he were talking about a rainy day in Phoenix. Michael who was often drunk and had admitted that he had murdered her but couldn’t remember the details? 

Or was it both? Did the brothers both play a sinister role in the untimely death of Martha Moxley?

An excerpt in Martha’s diary reads like a foretelling: “Michael was so totally out of it that was being a real ass… he kept telling me I was leading Tom on… I have to stop going over there.”

It’s like she knew the fate that awaited her at the Skakel mansion.