She had started dating just that summer, but nothing serious. HUBERT SANTOS [to reporters outside courthouse] An innocent man now goes free . Richard Burns: Years later, I ended up playing some golf with him a bunch of times. It was in the same family for a very very long time. "It was devastating. Martha Elizabeth Moxley (August 16, 1960 - October 30, 1975) was a 15-year-old American high school student from Greenwich, Connecticut, who was murdered in 1975. and I remember just having a feeling of panic. NEWS REPORT: Wednesday, a Connecticut judge granted the 53-year-old a new trial in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. Dorothy Moxley sensed that her daughter's absence was not "routine." She had a 9:30 p.m. curfew and she wouldn't stay away without calling. If the cops find a kid drunk-driving from somewhere like Belle Haven, they drive him home. Colangelo said that he had basically reinvestigated the case and found no additional evidence to present. HUBERT SANTOS: You spent most of your time talking to the media, right? She was struck down on the Moxley property, at a spot clearly visible from Walsh Lane and only several steps short of her front driveway. The group was playing harmless Halloween pranks like doorbell ditch and generally having a good time in each others' company. They were in the Lincoln until around 9:30 p.m., when two other Skakel brothers said they needed the car so they could drive their cousin, Jimmy Terrien, to his house to watch the U.S. premiere of "Monty Python's Flying Circus." So 15-year-old Martha Moxley wrote in her diary in September of 1975, . The autopsy by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elliot Gross concluded that Martha Moxley died of multiple lacerations of the skull and contusions and lacerations of the brain. Martha was not just struck down, but was beaten repeatedlywith an iron golf club. In fact, in 1997, Michael even made a tape recording of that story while working on a book proposal for a tell-all autobiography. During trial, the state presented Martha's diary as evidence of the rivalry between the two brothers. It is many of these same people who are most bitter about the Moxley case and use it as a chance to vent longstanding frustrations about their better-off neighbors. Robert Kennedy Jr: Mickey Sherman, instead of doing that, instead of calling, never talked to that witness. Jonathan Benedict: Andrea Shakespeare is one of the witnesses who was certain that Mister Skakel never took that alibi ride. So, when Tommy's brother Michael Skakel was arrested for Martha's murder in 2000 after reports circulated that he had allegedly confessed to the killing, the story grabbed headlines worldwide. More than a year and hundreds of false leads later, two investigators, Detectives James Lunney and Stephen Carroll, remain assigned almost full-time to find out why Martha was killed and to hunt down her slayer. I did not hang around with them. I think it's a fair . On August 24, 2003, Tony Bryant, a former classmate of Michael Skakel's, told Michael's attorneys two of his friends who were visiting Belle Haven the night of Martha Moxley's murder had confessed to killing a girl. 2023 Cable News Network. This is the former site of the Moxley's modest bungalow, where lived a 15-year-old murder victim, in a case that attracted worldwide publicity in 1975. MattC September 18, 2017 at 8:04 AM. The "Dicky" she mentioned is actually Richard Burns, who says he was with Martha much of that night. At the center of the investigation into the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley are two families ripped apart by a brutal tragedy. Moxleys brother, John, addressed the court to thank law enforcement and express his agreement with the decision not to pursue a retrial. What makes the area especially secure, moreover, is the presence of guardposts at two key entrances to the peninsula. On September 12, Martha wrote in her diary about going for ice cream with Michael and Tommy: "Went driving in Tom's car I was practically sitting on Tom's lap He kept putting his hand on my knee.". In 2020 the state of Connecticut announced it would not re-try Michael Skakel for Moxley's murder. During the final summer of her life, Martha had become friends with two of the Skakel brothers, Michael, who was 15 years old, and his older brother Tommy. Father Richard Manus eulogized her as a bubbly girl who made more friends than most people make in a lifetime. Just recently, he noted, Martha Moxley had mused to a girlfriend that when she died she wanted her funeral to be happy, with friends remembering all the good times. Instead, as nine friends approached Marthas coffin with yellow roses, they burst into tears. Armed with Bryant's story, Skakel's defense team requested a new trial. Lynne Tuohy: It was a Toney Penna 6-iron golf club. The golf club she was struck with. Its an eerie feeling, says another Belle Haven mother. The asking price has just been cut to only $75 million - that's $50 million off the original asking price for the 40-acre estate and home called Dunnellen Hall. While the worried mother spent hours making frantic calls around the Belle Haven neighborhood and while the police were searching the Moxleys three-acre spread, Marthas body lay close by. For the investigators believed that the murderer . 2. Police later found a matching golf club from the same set on the Skakel property. said Chris Fountain, a Greenwich real estate agent who has toured the interior. 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Richard Burns: And I just thought that was kind of a cheap shot. STAMFORD, Conn. Since Michael C. Skakel's conviction in 2002 in the 1975 murder of his Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley when they were both 15, Mr. Skakel and his family have . Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. As one of the regulars at Augies Bar in downtown Greenwich puts it, If you have money, you can get away with murder here. This suspicion is not confined to Chickahominy, says a writer who has lived in town eight years. "October 4: Dear diary - tonight was a Sacred Heart dance When we walked in, some guy asked me to dance some other guy asked me, it turned out to be a slow dance. Dorothy Moxley sensed that her daughters absence was not routine. She had a 9:30 p.m. curfew and she wouldnt stay away without calling. At the time of her death, the girl was only fifteen. JUDGE: Michael Skakel versus the state of Connecticut has been concluded. Says Evaristo, If it happened in Chickahominy, theyd have taken the kid in and held him on suspicion. A life, that in Martha's own words, was full of hope. Michael told police he left with his brothers and cousin, while Martha and her friends stayed behind with Tommy. Erin Moriarty: I mean, did you ever ask him point-blank? He told police that Tommy was watching TV with him around 10 p.m. of Emergency Services & Public Protection. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the state's motion to review the Connecticut Supreme Court's decision last May to vacate Michael Skakel's conviction for the murder of Martha Moxley. A good number work for the wealthy. But the youth claims the cops have kept after him and, in their way, harrassed him until his family finally hired a lawyer for his protection. Everywhere I went, there was a cop following me, sometimes in an unmarked car, sometimes not. This treatment culminated on his eighteenth birthday last April 14, when, Thomas says, he went to Boodles, a local watering spot, for his first legal drink with some friends. Len Levitt (2003): How does Tommy do this? Prosecutors called Skakel family friend Andrea Shakespeare, who had been at the Skakel house that night. Every morning Martha laid out her fathers clothes for his daily commute to Manhattan, where he ran the office of Touche Ross, Inc., an international accounting firm. Well, hope '75 is as good.". You can subscribe to Connecticut Magazine here, or find the current issue on sale here. Her dad is president of Cadbury-Schweppes, USA, the candy and soda manufacturers. A lot with Dicky ". The grip half, which might carry fingerprints, was missing. In an unusual move, Connecticut learned, local detectives brought in at least one investigator from the Detroit Police Department because of that agencys experience in the nations murder capital. ", Bryant stated that while his friends never mentioned Martha Moxley by name . she was a joy to be around. Tommy admitted to his father's investigators that all those years ago, in 1975, he had lied to the police. They consulted pathologists and psychiatrists to develop a profile of the killers probable personality and motivation. The property's current owners have applied for a permit to demolish the house. It was October 30, 1975, traditionally known as Doorbell Night, when youngsters roamed around pulling pranks the night before Halloween and giving the cops a headache. GREGORY COLEMAN (news report): The first words he ever said to me was, "I'm going to get away with murder. Investigators traced the trail of blood to the Moxley driveway. Lynne Tuohy: It was huge. Well- heeled children of executives, doctors, and lawyers, the Belle Haven kids roamed for several horn's on Doorbell Night, stopping at various homes; some of them sneaking an occasional beer or a slug of wine. Girl, 15, Found Slain Near Plush Home; Girl, 15, Found Murdered At Her Greenwich Home; Executive's Daughter Found Slain; Police Say No Arrests Near In Martha Moxley Murder; Greenwich Family Linked To Slaying; Slaying: Rumors that William Kennedy Smith knew something about teen's death led nowhere. In 2000, Michael Skakel was charged with her murder. Richard Burns: They definitely got into a lot of trouble. On August 30, 2002, Michael Skakel, 41, was sentenced to 20 years-to-life for killing Martha Moxley when they were teenagers in 1975. Martha was not robbed, nor raped, although it is still thought that her killing may have resulted from her resistance to sexual overtures, the captain says. The judge denied the request. The murderer apparently used the time well, for police indicate that they have virtually no material evidence in the case. In search of the murder weapon, police and volunteers scoured forests, drained ponds, and searched the nearby shorefront of Long Island Sound. Skakels murder conviction was vacated in 2018 by the Connecticut Supreme Court, which ruled that his attorney had deprived him of a fair trial by failing to call an alibi witness. Now the people in Belle Haven really had to wonder, Is it my neighbor? Brownes highly unorthodox statement angered many people. Lynne Tuohy: There were no more leads to pursue. They're listening to music. Furthermore, she died in Greenwich, Connecticut, on October 30, 1975. After 11-and-a-half years in prison, Michael Skakel walked out of the courthouse no longer a convicted killer. Bryant said that Hasbrouck met Martha during previous trips to Belle Haven; at a street fair and again at a dance. HUBERT SANTOS: Was there anybody else at the home? Erin Moriarty: Don't you think you would have remembered if she was dancing with someone else who seemed possessive of her? Only a few hundred feet and Martha would have been safely home. Like those fancy drapes, the unsolved Moxley murder to some represents just another privilege of wealththe privilege of avoiding the law. It took the jury four days. He told them on the night of the murder, he had taken two friends - Adolf Hasbrouck, also known as Al, and Burton Tinsley-to Belle Haven. In her entry, Martha doesn't mention Tony and she never uses the word strangers. Police later found a matching golf club from the same set on the Skakel property. Investigators honed in on the Skakel tutor, speculating that his downfall could be rooted in his involvement in Martha's murder. In closing arguments, Prosecutor Benedict played an edited excerpt for the jurors: MICHAEL SKAKEL (audio recording): " oh, my God, did they see me last night?" The house built on the old building site is much larger. There is lots of evidence that ties them to the crime. "Thats where our loyalty lies. But a number of people in Greenwich think the allegiance of the police lies elsewhere and that their steadfast silence is part of a cover-up. '74 has been one of the best years of my life. Just six months later, George Skakels wife, Joan Patricia, died at thirty-nine when she choked on a piece of meat at the family dinner table. MICKEY SHERMAN: He was going to invoke the Fifth Amendment no matter what we did. The state's case hinged on the theory that enraged with jealousy over Martha's relationship with Tommy, Michael had killed her in a drunken rage. HUBERT SANTOS: You knew that Tommy Skakel was the last person to see Martha Moxley alive? Benedict is referring to all those admissions Michael allegedly made to killing Martha, like the one to Elan classmate Gregory Coleman. First, make sure your seeds are dry before sending them in. I hope to God nobody saw me j----- off.". On Doorbell Night, five guards were on duty instead of the normal two. Rushton Skakel greets his visitor informally, wearing a green sport coat and green shorts. She could have been flirting with Tommy, and maybe that made him angry. Join Tomato Lovers & Participate in the Ukrainian Tribute Growout! But in 2020, prosecutors said they would not retry him. Martha Moxley's murder however was unusual, and in their attempts to uncover the murderer, the police would face some very unusual problems. The fuss that upset her is the trial and conviction of Thomas Skakel for the murder of Martha Moxleya trial not by a court of law, but in the sometimes harsher tribunal of whispers and rumors. Len Levitt (2003): And now they announce a reward and a hotline. After 18 months and more than 40 witnesses, the grand jury indicted Michael Skakel for murder 24 years after Martha's death. The report was an eye-opener. Her body is found bludgeoned and stabbed, half-hidden beneath pine trees. And Michael was allegedly there. Erin Moriarty: I read that Michael Skakel had a drinking problem at age 13. by Bipin Dimri. Richard Burns: I did. Since 1975, the tony neighborhood of Belle Haven, in Greenwich, Connecticut, has been haunted by the death of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old girl who was bludgeoned with a golf club. He never knew Martha. For 20 years, investigators seemed stymied in their effort to find Martha's killer, but all that changed in 1995 when someone leaked the Sutton Report to the press. More than three hundred people were questioned, some half a dozen times or more, police say. Len Levitt (2003): Tommy is seen again shortly after 10 o'clock with Ken Littleton. But Skakel cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., says, "The evidence is much stronger in suggesting that other people may have committed the crime.". TONY BRYANT: I mean, he loved her beautiful blonde hair. The Skakel residence on Otter Rock Drive would be the last place Martha Moxley was seen alive. She had more than boys on her mind; things like field hockey, Girl Scouts, skiing, sailing, ballet, piano, and school (Greenwich High). And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. Kennedy got a tip that a former classmate of Michael Skakel, a man named Tony Bryant, was claiming he knew the identity of Martha Moxley's killers. Len Levitt (2003): Michael lied to the police. I really have to stop going over there.". The Moxleys had moved to Belle Haven from California just a year before Martha's murder. They were allowed to do whatever they'd like. Or was there a link to a 1972 case at a nearby Westchester, New York golf course where a girl was beaten severely with a golf club? Two years earlier, the seven Skakel siblings lost their mom Anne to cancer. Besides, he says, nobody would believe me because of the rumors that have surrounded him. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Erin Moriarty: And not just the last person to see her alive, but who's with her at the time that investigators believe she may have been killed. Jonathan Benedict: The truth of the matter is that Michael Skakel couldn't keep his mouth shut for a quarter of a century. 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Lynne Tuohy: Tommy told the Sutton investigators that he did not go into his house at 9:30, he stayed outside making out with Martha for 20 minutes mutual petting. The 1888 mansion, dubbed the McCutcheon House as a nod to its former owner, wealthy linen merchant James McCutcheon, is one of only a few homes built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, which is named after the late Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson and the Romanesque style he reinterpreted. Dorthy Moxley (2000): I think Martha just rebuffed him. The police were stymied because members of a family who certainly have information that could assist the investigation have apparently been advised not to assist in the probe, he announced. Lynne Tuohy: The only motive, really, is jealous rage over the attention she was showing Tommy Skakel. You've you've lost it all. Was it the same killera psychopath who had a thing for the initials M.M.? Geoffrey Byrnes father heads a metals company that bears his name, and Sheila McGuire, who couldnt make it that night, is daughter of the vice president of the pharmaceutical company that makes Vicks products. At about 9:10 p.m., Helen lx walked home without incident; Geoff left shortly after. . Adds Skakel, Even [Police Chief] Steve Baran cant talk to that boy. They never . So, Kennedy and Michael's attorneys tracked Bryant down in Florida. While Keegan will not name any names, he says that nobody refused lie-detector tests and that at the beginning of our investigation, we were not denied access, to anybody. The captain adds, however, Later on, we did run into some uncooperativeness when trying to question someone.. Looking at the evidence, your honor, looking at the state of the case, it is my belief that the state cannot prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, he said. Fear grips the neighborhood; parents escort their children, even when they are just going next-door. Tori Holland: Their father traveled quite a bit. That very security, in fact, was one of the main reasons that David Moxley had chosen Belle Haven. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. Martha Moxley had been beaten and stabbed with a Toney Penna golf club. Martha flourished as the new girl in town, and nine months after her arrival, she was voted the most popular girl at Western Junior High School, according to CNN. She was murdered in 1975. The tree in the backyard where the murder took place is apparently still there. And the friends are so embarrassed that they leave and go home, leaving Martha with Tommy. Using Martha's diary as evidence, Kennedy claims that three weeks before her murder, Martha wrote that she saw Tony and two strangers at a dance, but that's not quite accurate. He was doing 20 to 25 bags of heroin a day. Erin Moriarty: Seeing Tony Bryant, do you remember that at all? Discovery Company. Martha's mother Dorthy spoke with "48 Hours" in 2000. And remembered that around 1 a.m. the next morning, she began calling Martha's friends and alerted the police. Produced by Asena Basak and Josh Gelman. The mystery has attracted . Fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley was murdered 46 years ago outside her home in Greenwich, Connecticut. This time, in an effort to clear his family name, Rushton Skakel hired his own team of investigators. You have their best friend who says that they confessed to him. there was a lot of partying going on in that house. You've lost it all," Martha's childhood friend Tori Holland told "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty in "The Diary of Martha Moxley". Listening to Thomas Skakel, one is reminded of another young man who was just about the same age when he was charged with murder. She was always a great friend. Steve Carroll [2000]: she had been bludgeoned right near the driveway because there was a huge pool of blood. Tori Holland: She was the California girl of all of us. Erin Moriarty: Do you have any regrets of pointing the finger at two people who have never been suspects? In 2003, Tony Bryant was videotaped by Michael Skakel's team. / CBS News, [This story previously aired on November 6, 2021. Nov. 19, 2013. Between the guards and the numerous children who were about, someone would surely have noticed a suspicious outsider. Mickey is no amateur when it comes to television. Tom S. Was being an ass. In November 2020, Kennedy insisted to "48 Hours" that Tony Bryant has no reason whatsoever to lie about Al Hasbrouck and Burton Tinsley. Yet. A tall, tousle-haired young man with an easy smile and a firm handshake, Thomas Skakel had never before told his story to a reporter, but now he was willing to tell at least some of it. Her body was found the next day on the three-acre estate. MICHAEL SKAKEL (audio recording): I was like, "oh my God, did they see me last night?". In this week's "48 Hours," Erin Moriarty speaks to some of Moxley's friends, who are. "Dear Diary, today is the last day of '74. Finding nothing, the police left and issued a routine alert for Martha Elizabeth Moxley, five-foot-five, 120 pounds, long blonde hair, blue eyes, last seen wearing a blue parka and dungarees. Tori Holland: and I could see Mrs. Moxley at the front door and she's going [waves hands] she didn't want me to come any further. Please enter valid email address to continue. Robert Kennedy Jr. (2020): Well, of course, he is not going to do that because he admits that he brought the murderers to Greenwich. It happened all the time; besides, kids were especially devilish on a night like this. Bryant has a criminal history that includes a 1993 conviction for armed robbery in California. In December, 1966, Kathleen Skakel, his daughter, drove a convertible over a bump in a Greenwich road and a seven-year- old girl was thrown out of the back seat and killed.
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