In 2002, Michael Skakel was convicted for the murder of Martha Moxley, who was found bludgeoned to death in the early hours of Halloween Day in 1975. In 2013, Skakel was granted a new trial and released on a $1.2 million bail. The murder attracted worldwide attention because of the Skakel family’s ties to the Kennedy’s, but what exactly was the connection? Why has Robert F. Kennedy been such a large presence in the case, and why did he release a book defending Michael Skakel’s innocence?
Michael Skakel and Senator Robert F. Kennedy are cousins. Michael is the nephew of Ethel Skakel, who was married to Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Just last month, Robert Kennedy released a book in which he argues that his cousin Michael is innocent of the ’75 murder.
The New York Times writes, “Without any physical evidence connecting him to the crime, Michael C. Skakel, a Kennedy cousin and a friend of Ms. Moxley, was found guilty of murder in 2002 and served 11 years of a sentence of 20 years to live. But three years ago, a judge, ruling that he had been denied a fair trial because of an inept defense, threw out the conviction.”
In the book, Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit, Kennedy goes so far as to say he knows who is responsible for the Martha’s death. He cites the information that Gitano Bryant, a former classmate of Michael Skakel, came forward with in 2003. Bryant claimed that he and two teenagers, Burton Tinsley and Adolph Hasbrouck, were in Greenwich the night of the murder. According to the New York Times, Bryant, “…said that he had left early but that the other two stayed behind and told him they wanted to attack a girl ‘cave-man style.'”
Kennedy says he has no doubts that Tinsley and Hasbrouck are guilty of Martha’s death. Tonight, on Dateline, Kennedy will sit down with Matt Lauer to discuss his book and his relationship with his cousin, Michael.