Murder of Martha Moxley

Martha Elizabeth Moxley was a 15-year-old American high school student from Greenwich, Connecticut who was murdered in 1975. She was last seen alive spending time at the home of the Skakel family, across the street from her home in Belle Haven. Michael Skakesl, also 15 at the time, was convicted in 2002 of murdering Moxley and was sentenced to 20 years to life. In 2013, he was granted a new trial by a Connecticut judge who ruled that he had had ineffective counsel. On December 30, 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4–3 to reinstate Skakes’ conviction. In October, 2020, the state of Connecticut announced it would not retry Skakes for Mox

About Murder of Martha Moxley in brief

Summary Murder of Martha MoxleyMartha Elizabeth Moxley was a 15-year-old American high school student from Greenwich, Connecticut who was murdered in 1975. She was last seen alive spending time at the home of the Skakel family, across the street from her home in Belle Haven. Her body was found beneath a tree in her family’s backyard. Pieces of a broken six-iron golf club were found near the body. The case attracted worldwide publicity, as SkakeL is a nephew of Ethel Skakeal Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Michael Skakesl, also 15 at the time, was convicted in 2002 of murdering Moxley and was sentenced to 20 years to life. In 2013, he was granted a new trial by a Connecticut judge who ruled that he had had ineffective counsel. On December 30, 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4–3 to reinstate Skakes’ conviction. In October, 2020, the state of Connecticut announced it would not retry Skakes for Moxly’s murder. In 1993, author Dominick Dunne published A Season in Purgatory, a fictional account of the case, and Mark Fuhrman’s nonfiction Murder in Greenwich. In January 2000, authorities issued an arrest warrant for an unnamed juvenile. In June 1998, a grand jury convened to review the evidence and decided there was enough evidence to charge Skakes with the murder. Skakes surrendered to authorities and surrendered to become an adult in October, 2000, and was charged with murder.

He was later released on USD 1. 2 million bail and is now living with his family in New York City, where he has a wife and two children. He has a son, Thomas, who was also 15 on the night of the murder and was the prime suspect in the case. Both Thomas and Michael changed their stories about their activities the night Martha was killed. In the meantime, several books were published about the murder, including Timothy Dumas’ nonfiction A Wealth of Evil and Dominik Dunne’s fictional account, A Season In Purgatory. In 1998, Greenwich Police detectives Frank Carroll and Steve Carroll, as well as police reporter Leonard Levitt, reviewed the case and decided it was time for Skakes to be charged with the crime. In 2002, an 18-month investigation was launched and Skakes was charged. However, no one was charged, and the case languished for decades. In 2009, a private detective agency hired by Rushton Skakes conducted its own investigation of the killing. The Sutton Report, later leaked to the media, revealed that both Thomas Skakes and Kenneth Littleton, who had worked as a live-in tutor for the Skakes, also became a prime suspect, had not been charged. In 2010, a new investigation was conducted, and no one had been charged in the killing, and a new case was opened. In 2012, the case was reopened and Skakels were charged.