Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, 60, will NOT be retried for bludgeoning death of Connecticut teenager in 1975 after he spent 11 years in jail before judge overturned his conviction
A Connecticut prosecutor announced this morning that Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel will not face a second trial in the killing of Martha Moxley, who was bludgeoned to death on this day 45 years ago.
Chief State's Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr said at a hearing at Stamford Superior Court that the case could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Skakel, 60, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Several appeals followed.
After serving 11 years behind bars, Skakel was freed in 2013 on $1.2million bail after a judge overturned his conviction, saying his trial lawyer failed to adequately represent him.
Michael Skakel arrives to a courthouse in Stamford, Connecticut, on Friday. Prosecutors announced they will not retry him for the bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley (right)
Skakel, right, appears for his hearing at Stamford Superior Court, with his attorney Stephan Seeger, on Friday in Stamford, Connecticut
Skakel did not comment during the hearing or outside court. His attorney, Stephan Seeger, said Skakel is innocent
Skakel is pictured hugging a supporter outside court on Friday. A state Supreme Court upheld the ruling overturning his conviction in 2018
Prosecutors would have faced several hurdles were they to retry Skakel, including lack of forensic evidence, a new alibi and the passing of a key witness
The state Supreme Court upheld that ruling in 2018, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear the state's appeal last year.
Moxley's brother, John, said outside the courthouse on Friday that he still believes Skakel killed his sister but he and their mother, Dorthy, are at peace with the decision not to seek a second trial.
'His life will never be the same. Mine will never be the same. I wouldn't want to walk a mile in his shoes,' Moxley said.
Skakel did not comment during the hearing or outside court. His attorney, Stephan Seeger, said Skakel is innocent.
'He's been innocent from day one. This crime should have never been something that ended up in a trial in the first place,' Seeger said.
Skakel is a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F Kennedy (pictured together in 1962)
Martha Moxley was bludgeoned and stabbed to death on her parents' estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, on October 30, 1975. Her murder went unsolved until 2000, when prosecutors called for Skakel's arrest
Skakel, who served 11 years in prison, reacts to being granted bail during a hearing in 2013
The case drew wide attention because of the Kennedy name, Skakel's rich family, numerous theories about who killed Moxley and the brutal way in which she died.
Several other people, including Skakel's brother Tommy Skakel who denied any role in the killing, have been mentioned as possible killers. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been one of Skakel's most prominent defenders.
A retrial would have presented several difficulties for prosecutors. There was a lack of forensic and eyewitness evidence against Skakel. A new alibi witness emerged. A key witness who said Skakel confessed is dead, along with 16 other prosecution witnesses. And the Moxley family is leery of going through another trial.
Several other people, including Skakel's brother Tommy Skakel (pictured fourth down, without a shirt) who denied any role in the killing, have been mentioned as possible killers
On the night of the killing, Martha Moxley and other teens in the tony Belle Haven neighborhood were out doing pre-Halloween pranks and had visited the Skakel home, police said.
Her body was found the next day on her family's estate, across the street from the Skakel home.
She had been beaten with a 6-iron owned by the Skakel family and stabbed in the throat with a piece of the golf club's shattered shaft, police said.
At Skakel's trial, prosecutors suggested Skakel was angry with Martha because she had spurned his advances while having a sexual liaison with his brother Tommy.
Michael Skakel said he was miles away from the crime scene watching a Monty Python television show with others at the likely time Moxley was killed. But prosecutors maintain he could have killed her after returning home that night.
Police interviewed numerous witnesses, but the case went cold.
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