A Kennedy Cousin Was Convicted of Her Murder. Then the Conviction Was Thrown Out: Martha Moxley

#OldMoneyMurders #Greenwich #truecrimecommunity In 1975, 15-year-old Martha Moxley was found beaten to death on her family's property in Belle Haven, a gated enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut. The weapon was a golf club from a set belonging to the family across the street: the Skakels, whose daughter Ethel had married Robert F. Kennedy. For 25 years, no one was charged. 🔔 Subscribe to Old Money Murders for famous names, old fortunes and the cases the record never closed. In 2000, Connecticut charged Michael Skakel, Ethel Kennedy's nephew, who had also been 15 that night. In 2002, a jury convicted him of murder, and he was sentenced to 20 years to life. He has long maintained his innocence. After more than 11 years in prison, the verdict came apart. In 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated his conviction, ruling that his trial lawyer had failed to present an alibi witness. On October 30th, 2020, 45 years to the day after Martha's death, the state announced it would not try him again. His brother Thomas Skakel and the family's tutor, Kenneth Littleton, were investigated and never charged, and the state's Supreme Court later described Littleton as exonerated. No court today holds a finding that anyone killed Martha Moxley. This is the story of a carbon fortune and the Kennedy name that came with it, a girl from California who wanted to meet everybody, one golf club found in pieces, and the piece that was never found. #OldMoneyMurders #MarthaMoxley #TrueCrime #Greenwich #Connecticut #Kennedy #ColdCaseFiles 📚 REFERENCES & FURTHER READING Connecticut Supreme Court: State v. Skakel (2006); Skakel v. Commissioner of Correction (2016, 2018) Associated Press: reporting on the investigation, trial, appeals and the 2020 decision not to retry CBS News, 48 Hours: "Who Killed Martha Moxley?" NBC News: reporting and the Dead Certain podcast National Registry of Exonerations: Michael Skakel case summary The New York Times and Boston Globe: obituary of Dorthy Moxley (2024) Oxygen: Murder and Justice: The Case of Martha Moxley