Michael Skakel
Encyclopedia
Michael C. Skakel was convicted in 2002 of the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley
, his 15-year-old neighbor in Greenwich, Connecticut
. He was sentenced to 20 years to life and remains incarcerated. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy
, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
.
and had difficulties at school. His cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. later wrote that Skakel was a "small sensitive child — the runt of the litter with a harsh and occasionally violent alcoholic father who both ignored and abused
him." He also struggled for years with dyslexia
, which went undiagnosed until he was 26.
In 1978, Skakel was arrested for drunk driving in New York
. To avoid criminal charges, Skakel's family sent him to the Elan School
in Poland Spring, Maine
where he received treatment for alcoholism
. He left the school after two years and spent much of the 1980s competing on the national speed skiing
circuit. In 1993, he graduated from Curry College
in Milton, Massachusetts
and worked as a driver for Ted Kennedy
's 1994 reelection campaign. Later that year he took a job working for his cousin Michael Kennedy at the Citizens Energy Corporation
as director of international programs.
's high-profile 1998 book about the murder, Murder in Greenwich, named him as the killer, motivated by jealousy of Thomas.
In June 2000, Michael Skakel was indicted
for the murder of Martha Moxley. His alibi was that at the time of the murder he was at his cousin's house. During the trial the jury heard part of a taped book proposal, which included Skakel speaking about masturbating
in a tree on the night of the murder — possibly the same tree under which Moxley's body was found the next morning. Skakel never admitted to committing the murder. Prosecutors took words from this proposal and overlaid them on graphic images of Moxley's dead body in a computerized, multi-media presentation shown to jurors during closing arguments. In the audiotape, Skakel said that he was afraid he might have been seen the previous night "jerking off", and he panicked. The prosecutor deleted the portion of the audiotape where Skakel said "jerking off", giving the impression that he was confessing to the murder.
Additionally, two former Elan students testified that they heard Skakel confess to killing Moxley with a golf club. According to then-Elan resident Gregory Coleman, Skakel bragged, "I'm going to get away with murder. I'm a Kennedy."
Skakel was convicted for the murder of Martha Moxley on June 7, 2002, and was given a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
The prosecutors' use of the multi-media presentation during closing arguments was included in Skakel's initial appeal
. The judge ruled that the presentation was appropriate, however.
, Skakel's cousin, wrote an article in The Atlantic Monthly
insisting that Skakel's indictment "was triggered by an inflamed media, and that an innocent man is now in prison". Kennedy's article argues that there is more evidence suggesting that Kenneth Littleton, the Skakel family's live-in tutor, killed Moxley. He also calls journalist Dominick Dunne
, whose book A Season in Purgatory
is a fictionalized account of the murder, the "driving force" behind Skakel's prosecution.
, arguing that the case should have been heard in Juvenile Court
rather than Superior Court, that the statute of limitations
had expired on the charges against him, and that there was evidence of prosecutorial misconduct
. On January 12, 2006, the Connecticut Supreme Court rejected Skakel's claims and affirmed his conviction. Subsequently, Skakel retained attorney and former United States Solicitor General
Theodore Olson
, who on July 12, 2006 filed a petition for a writ of certiorari
on behalf of Skakel before the Supreme Court of the United States
. On November 13, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Since then, Skakel has begun his first round of post-conviction proceedings, beginning with a petition for writ of habeas corpus
and motion for new trial in the Connecticut trial court which originally heard his case. Skakel's cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
has brought forth Gitano "Tony" Bryant, Skakel's former classmate at the private Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut. In a videotaped interview with private investigator Vito Colucci in August 2003, Bryant said one of his companions the night of Moxley's murder wanted to "go caveman" on her, meaning to have violent sex with her. A two-week hearing in April 2007 allowed the presentation of this hearsay evidence, among other matters. In September 2007, Skakel's attorneys filed a petition based in part on Bryant's claims, asking for a new trial; prosecutors formally responded that Bryant may have made up the story to sell a play about the case.
Skakel's defense also hired a full-time investigative team to review existing and new information — particularly a book written about Elan School
— in preparation for the hearing. They argued that no Elan School residents with Skakel, other than Gregory Coleman, ever spoke about Skakel's confession to anyone, including the author of the book.
On October 25, 2007, a Superior Court judge denied the request for a new trial, saying Bryant's testimony was not credible and there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in the original trial.
Skakel's lawyer appealed this decision to the Connecticut Supreme Court
. On March 26, 2009, a five judge panel of the state Supreme Court heard arguments on this appeal.
On April 12, 2010, the panel ruled 4-1 against Skakel's appeal.
Skakel is still imprisoned at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, CT and eligible for a parole
hearing in April 2013.
Martha Moxley
Martha Elizabeth Moxley was a 15-year-old murder victim in a case that attracted worldwide publicity owing to a "Kennedy connection"....
, his 15-year-old neighbor in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. He was sentenced to 20 years to life and remains incarcerated. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy
Ethel Skakel Kennedy
Ethel Skakel Kennedy is the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as Attorney General of the United States and a United States Senator for the state of New York.-Early life:...
, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
.
Early life
Michael Skakel was one of six children born to Rushton (1923-2003) and Anne Reynolds Skakel (1932-1973). The family lived in the neighborhood of Belle Haven in Greenwich, Connecticut. After his mother's death from brain cancer in 1973, Skakel began abusing alcoholAlcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and had difficulties at school. His cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. later wrote that Skakel was a "small sensitive child — the runt of the litter with a harsh and occasionally violent alcoholic father who both ignored and abused
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
him." He also struggled for years with dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, which went undiagnosed until he was 26.
In 1978, Skakel was arrested for drunk driving in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. To avoid criminal charges, Skakel's family sent him to the Elan School
Elan School
Élan School was a private, coeducational, controversial residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine...
in Poland Spring, Maine
Poland, Maine
Poland is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,866 at the 2000 census. Home to Range Ponds State Park, Poland is a historic resort area...
where he received treatment for alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. He left the school after two years and spent much of the 1980s competing on the national speed skiing
Speed skiing
Speed skiing is the sport of skiing downhill in a straight line as quickly as possible. It is one of the fastest non-motorized sports on land. The current world record for skiing is 251.4 km/h , held by Simone Origone...
circuit. In 1993, he graduated from Curry College
Curry College
Curry College is a private liberal arts-based institution in Milton, Massachusetts that started as the School of Elocution in 1879.-History:...
in Milton, Massachusetts
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
and worked as a driver for Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
's 1994 reelection campaign. Later that year he took a job working for his cousin Michael Kennedy at the Citizens Energy Corporation
Citizens Energy Corporation
Citizens Energy Corporation is a non-profit organization that primarily aids the poor in the United States and throughout the world by organizing projects to provide discounted and free home heating services and supplies....
as director of international programs.
Personal life
In the early 1990s, Skakel married golfer Margot Sheridan. Their son George was born in 1999. The couple has since divorced.Trial
For many years, Michael Skakel had been a prominent suspect in the murder of Martha Moxley, his brother Thomas' girlfriend. Mark FuhrmanMark Fuhrman
Mark Fuhrman is a former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department , known for his part in the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and his subsequent felony conviction for perjury...
's high-profile 1998 book about the murder, Murder in Greenwich, named him as the killer, motivated by jealousy of Thomas.
In June 2000, Michael Skakel was indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
for the murder of Martha Moxley. His alibi was that at the time of the murder he was at his cousin's house. During the trial the jury heard part of a taped book proposal, which included Skakel speaking about masturbating
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
in a tree on the night of the murder — possibly the same tree under which Moxley's body was found the next morning. Skakel never admitted to committing the murder. Prosecutors took words from this proposal and overlaid them on graphic images of Moxley's dead body in a computerized, multi-media presentation shown to jurors during closing arguments. In the audiotape, Skakel said that he was afraid he might have been seen the previous night "jerking off", and he panicked. The prosecutor deleted the portion of the audiotape where Skakel said "jerking off", giving the impression that he was confessing to the murder.
Additionally, two former Elan students testified that they heard Skakel confess to killing Moxley with a golf club. According to then-Elan resident Gregory Coleman, Skakel bragged, "I'm going to get away with murder. I'm a Kennedy."
Skakel was convicted for the murder of Martha Moxley on June 7, 2002, and was given a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
The prosecutors' use of the multi-media presentation during closing arguments was included in Skakel's initial appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
. The judge ruled that the presentation was appropriate, however.
Defenders
In January 2003, attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. is an American radio host, activist, and attorney specializing in environmental law. He is the third of eleven children born to Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and is the nephew of John F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy...
, Skakel's cousin, wrote an article in The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
insisting that Skakel's indictment "was triggered by an inflamed media, and that an innocent man is now in prison". Kennedy's article argues that there is more evidence suggesting that Kenneth Littleton, the Skakel family's live-in tutor, killed Moxley. He also calls journalist Dominick Dunne
Dominick Dunne
Dominick John Dunne was an American writer and investigative journalist, whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways in which high society interacts with the judicial system...
, whose book A Season in Purgatory
A Season in Purgatory
A Season in Purgatory is a 1993 novel by Dominick Dunne. It was inspired by the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, for which Michael Skakel, the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, eventually was convicted...
is a fictionalized account of the murder, the "driving force" behind Skakel's prosecution.
Appeal and post-conviction
In November 2003, Skakel appealed to the Connecticut Supreme CourtConnecticut Supreme Court
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol...
, arguing that the case should have been heard in Juvenile Court
Juvenile court
A juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
rather than Superior Court, that the statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
had expired on the charges against him, and that there was evidence of prosecutorial misconduct
Prosecutorial misconduct
In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct is a procedural defense; via which, a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which may have broken the law, because the prosecution acted in an "inappropriate" or "unfair" manner. Such arguments may involve...
. On January 12, 2006, the Connecticut Supreme Court rejected Skakel's claims and affirmed his conviction. Subsequently, Skakel retained attorney and former United States Solicitor General
United States Solicitor General
The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
Theodore Olson
Theodore Olson
Theodore Bevry Olson is a former United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004 under President George W. Bush.- Early life :...
, who on July 12, 2006 filed a petition for a writ of certiorari
Certiorari
Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
on behalf of Skakel before the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. On November 13, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Since then, Skakel has begun his first round of post-conviction proceedings, beginning with a petition for writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
and motion for new trial in the Connecticut trial court which originally heard his case. Skakel's cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. is an American radio host, activist, and attorney specializing in environmental law. He is the third of eleven children born to Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and is the nephew of John F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy...
has brought forth Gitano "Tony" Bryant, Skakel's former classmate at the private Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut. In a videotaped interview with private investigator Vito Colucci in August 2003, Bryant said one of his companions the night of Moxley's murder wanted to "go caveman" on her, meaning to have violent sex with her. A two-week hearing in April 2007 allowed the presentation of this hearsay evidence, among other matters. In September 2007, Skakel's attorneys filed a petition based in part on Bryant's claims, asking for a new trial; prosecutors formally responded that Bryant may have made up the story to sell a play about the case.
Skakel's defense also hired a full-time investigative team to review existing and new information — particularly a book written about Elan School
Elan School
Élan School was a private, coeducational, controversial residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine...
— in preparation for the hearing. They argued that no Elan School residents with Skakel, other than Gregory Coleman, ever spoke about Skakel's confession to anyone, including the author of the book.
On October 25, 2007, a Superior Court judge denied the request for a new trial, saying Bryant's testimony was not credible and there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in the original trial.
Skakel's lawyer appealed this decision to the Connecticut Supreme Court
Connecticut Supreme Court
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol...
. On March 26, 2009, a five judge panel of the state Supreme Court heard arguments on this appeal.
On April 12, 2010, the panel ruled 4-1 against Skakel's appeal.
Skakel is still imprisoned at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, CT and eligible for a parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
hearing in April 2013.