in 2002, Michael Skakel was convicted of killing Martha Moxley in Greenwich in 1975. 20 year to life sentence.
Today he was denied parole after proclaiming his innocence in front of the parole board.
Given what I’ve read about the case, it seems like a very, very shaky conviction and that it was quite possible that Ken Littleton, a 23 year-old tutor for the Skakels was the actual killer.
RFK’s 2003 piece in The Atlantic is very compelling and worth the read if you don’t know anything about this case.
It strikes me that the public was easily convinced that Skakel was guilty b/c he was a Kennedy cousin (not blood) and that the authorities wanted a conviction and scapegoated Skakel.
RFKJr. was defending his cousin. The evidence was convincing, but not ironclad. I think they have the right guy, but it’s always problematic to convict someone with circumstantial evidence so long after a crime was committed.
From what I understand with the case, I’m in agreement with the above responses. And RFK Jr. lost me at the first line when he said, “I know Michael Skakel.” That is the common mantra in any crime. Some family member says, “I know my *[son, daughter, sister, cousin, etc.], and I know he/she would never do anything like that.” Families take up for their own. That’s just the way it is.
This, and so many other little bits of confirmable information (often confirmed by Skakel himself) are strong circumstantial evidence that not only point at Skakel, but exclude others.
"A letter (to the parole board) from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls Skakel “kind, forgiving, and guided by God in all his actions and transactions. He is as incapable of violence or injuring another human being as any person I’ve ever met.”
Skakel is Jesus come down from the cross. :dubious:
I thought well of Fuhrman when I read Murder in Brentwood and Murder in Greenwih, and felt that Moxley’s murderer had been brought to justic.
Then I read his take on the Terri Schiavo case “Silent Witness.” He all but states that Michael Schiavo was an abusive husband who caused Terri’s injuries by strangling her. I’ve never done a 180 degree turn on my opinion of anyone so quickly.
Also, the masturbating in the tree thing seems to be an overly salacious element that simply proves he was nearby (so were Tom Skakel and Ken Littleton, BTW). Others have said M. Skakel’s small size at the time would have made if very unlikely he could have dragged the body across the lawn in the manner the way it was. Littleton was much larger and a much more likely suspect for a number of reasons…
Virtually every murderer going has people in their family or friends telling us what a saint he is, and how he’s completely incapable of harming another human being.
It would appear that all murders are committed by extraterrestials.
Bumping this thread:
“After spending more than a decade behind bars for the murder of a teenage girl in Greenwich, Conn., Michael C. Skakel, a cousin of the Kennedys, was ordered free from prison on Thursday to await a possible retrial…The bail hearing came after another judge ruled last month that Mr. Skakel did not receive a fair trial because his first lawyer, Mickey Sherman, had not represented him effectively, depriving him of his constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel…Throughout the trials and appeals, Mr. Skakel’s family has fought fiercely on his behalf, spending millions of dollars in various bids to win his freedom.”
Isn’t it amazing how even though they must have hired the best lawyer money could buy that the lawyer did not represent him effectively? One wonders about the poor slobs represented by public defenders…