Michael Skakel is the middle of seven children. He was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, on September 19, 1960. (Getty)
In 2002, Michael Skakel was sentenced to 20 years to life for murdering 15-year-old Martha Moxley. The conviction came 27 years after Martha’s death; she was found early Halloween morning, 1975, bludgeoned to death with a golf club. Skakel was 15 at the time of the murder– the same age as Martha– and prosecution witnesses testified that he had a crush on her. In 2013, a judge ruled that he had been denied a fair trial, and Skakel was released from prison on a $1.2 million bail. This week, his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, released a book titled Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit, in which he attempts to prove his cousin’s innocence.
Read on to learn more about Michael Skakel, the man whose involvement in Martha Moxley’s death is still controversial 40 years later.
1. He Was a Deeply Religious ‘Family Man’
In 2013, Michael Skakel was released on $1.2 million bail. (Getty)
Skakel was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1960, making him 55-years-old today. He is the middle of seven children, born to a mother who died of brain cancer at just 41-years-old. Though Skakel’s name is often mentioned in relation to Martha Moxley’s death, he was also a professional speed skier who narrowly missed making the US Olympic Team.
In an article from 2000, The New York Times writes, “[Skakel] is a family man and nonstop talker who does impeccable foreign accents and a wicked impression of Curly of the Three Stooges. A formidable athlete and professional speed skier… A recovering alcoholic and deeply religious man who recites the rosary daily and regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.”
The night of her death, Martha was out celebrating ‘Mischief Night’ with some friends . Eventually, the group ended up at the Skakel’s house across the street, where both Michael (15 at the time) and Tommy (17 at the time) lived. According to a 2014 American Justice documentary, the teens stayed in the Skakel home for a bit, then sat in a car in the driveway to listen to music. Martha had become friends with the Skakel boys that summer, and wrote in her dairy that Tommy was interested in her.
Around 9:15pm, two other Skakel brothers exited the house and asked to use the car to drive their cousin home. Michael said he would go with them, and when he suggested that Martha come along, she said no. An article written by Court News states, “…In his book, Murder in Greenwich, Mark Fuhrman describes an intense rivalry between Michael and his older brother Tommy. Fuhrman concludes that Tommy’s romantic success with Martha outraged Michael and led to the murder.”
2. He Struggled with Alcohol Abuse
Skakel is the cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Getty)
After Michael’s mother died from brain cancer, Michael struggled with alcohol abuse. Court News reported Michael as saying, “”[I]n the aftermath of (my mother’s death), an even more intense level of chaos came to rule our household. I became a full-blown daily-drinking alcoholic by the time I was thirteen.” The outlet added on, “To neighbors and teachers, Michael was a violent kid who couldn’t control his temper. Saying no to him or otherwise setting limits was futile.”
3. He’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Cousin
Skakel is the cousin of Robert F. Kennedy, and the nephew of Ethel Skakel– the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
After their investigation, police determined that Thomas, 17 at the time, was the last person to see Martha. Martha’s friends who she went out with that evening said that they saw Tommy and Martha flirting in the driveway before heading home. The New Haven Register writes, “When they last saw Martha, she and Tommy were falling together behind a fence near the Skakels’ swimming pool.”
4. His Alibi Changed Over the Years
In the spring of 1991, William Kennedy Smith’s rape trial drew national attention. Though William Kennedy Smith was proven to have no ties to Martha’s death, the popularity of his case and the media frenzy it aroused put pressure on authorities to reopen the Moxley murder investigation. In August of 1991, the Greenwich Police Department and the Connecticut’s State Attorney’s Office announced they would be reactivating the case.
After hearing this announcement, Rushton Skakel (Tommy and Michael’s father) hired a detective agency to investigate what was going on with the case– it’s widely suspected that he did this to see whether any of his children would be implicated this time around. Tommy and Michael both suspiciously changed their alibis. The stories they gave about their whereabouts that night differed drastically to the ones they told in 1975.
Originally, Michael Skakel was not considered a suspect– after all, his alibi checked out. But after the case was reopened, he changed his story and said that after he and his brothers dropped off their cousin and returned home, Michael didn’t go to bed– rather, he wandered around the Belle Haven community. While walking through Martha’s backyard, he decided to climb the tree looking into her room and throw pebbles at her window. When she didn’t answer, he masturbated in the tree, and then climbed down and went home.
Lon Levitt, a Newsday Reporter, later stated, “Investigating detectives cannot understand why Michael would put himself at that murder scene… and that has made them very suspicious about his involvement.”
5. Witnesses Say He Confessed to Killing Martha
(Getty)
At his trial, witnesses testified that they heard Skakel say he was guilty of the murder. According to the Greenwich Times, one of those witnesses was John Higgins, who went to rehab with Skakel. Higgins claimed that Skakel confessed to murdering Martha Moxley while the two were standing guard on a dormitory porch at the rehab center, as part of their night duties. “He related to me that he had been involved in a murder of someone. (Skakel) related that he was in his garage and was going through some golf clubs. Then he ran through some woods, and he remembers seeing pine trees. Then he blacked out.”
Siegan, a former Skakel family driver, also testified at Michael’s trial. He said that Michael told him that he forgot what happened after blacking out that night. “He would cry and shake his head, and he said he didn’t know if he did it…”
