Kennedy Says Skakel is Innocent of Moxley Murder

A desperate plea from Michael Skakel

* Saturday’s edition of 48 Hours featured an excellent investigative report on the Martha Moxley case, in which Robert F Kennedy Jr. was interviewed at length. More info and video can be found on the CBS website.

KENNEDY: SKAKEL IS INNOCENT

(CBS) “We decided to go up to Greenwich and hang out…I’ve got my caveman club and I’m going to grab somebody and pull them by the hair and do what cavemen do,” recalls Tony Bryant, about what his friends said to him the night Martha Moxley was murdered in Greenwich, Conn. in 1975.

Bryant told his story from that night during a taped interview requested by Michael Skakel’s defense team, including his cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., which was presented at a seven day hearing to reopen the case. Bryant is a cousin of basketball star Kobe Bryant.

48 Hours Mystery takes a look at this explosive video and the other recent developments in Michael Skakel’s appeals to overturn his conviction.

On Oct. 31, 1975 a fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley was found murdered on her family’s property. She had been beaten to death with a golf club. It remained a cold case for more than 20 years until 2000, when Kennedy cousin and long-time suspect Michael Skakel was arrested. At his trial in 2002, Skakel claimed to have been at his cousin’s house at the time of the murder, but the jury did not believe his testimony. He was convicted of Moxley’s murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Led by Michael’s brother Stephen and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the Skakel family continues to claim Michael is innocent, and that his conviction was the result of an overzealous prosecution. Kennedy in particular believes “somebody decided that – a Skakel was gonna go to jail.”

48 Hours Mystery will reexamine the case, including the Tony Bryant video, where when asked if he believes his friends killed Martha Moxley he says, “I think they were definitely involved…there is no doubt in my mind they were involved.” Will this evidence be enough to reopen the case?

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* To learn more about alternative theories on the Moxley case, we highly recommend Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s article A Miscarriage of Justice, published in Atlantic Monthly. 

* Kennedy also testified in Michael’s defense in a retrial hearing last spring. We have full coverage here.

* Also, please visit Skakel.org, a site dedicated to proving Skakel’s innocence.