For Dorthy Moxley, time has done little to ease her loss. It was Stairway to Heaven. A lot of people think whoever did it is still walking around, says former Greenwich First Selectman William Lewis, and it worries people. A friend of the Moxleys, Mrs. Thomas McGuire, says that underneath all the layers of time is the fear that the killer could live nearby and strike again. And and isn't that really taking him out of context? Besides, he says, nobody would believe me because of the rumors that have surrounded him. Martha's family had moved to the neighborhood a year earlier from California and Martha wasted no time becoming the "It Girl.". At about 9:10 p.m., Helen lx walked home without incident; Geoff left shortly after. And one portion of the shaft was driven through her neck. The murderer apparently used the time well, for police indicate that they have virtually no material evidence in the case. Richard Burns: I think it's sad that she's not around to have, you know, lived these 45 years. Robert Marchant July 31, 2017. Michael answered the door. Skakel's team argued that these missed opportunities would have created "reasonable doubt" for the jury, and the judge agreed. Martha was dragged under the tree. Tori Holland: Well, they're because they were very rambunctious. Erin Moriarty: I read that Michael Skakel had a drinking problem at age 13. Martha was friendly with the seven Skakel kids, spending time mostly with Michael who was also 15, and his older brother, 17-year-old Tommy. 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. He also said that of 51 potential witnesses, 17 of them are now deceased. 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. It could ruin his life. Within six weeks of the killing, the talk around Greenwich had grown so intense that the local daily newspaper, GreenwichTime, was moved to run an editorial entitled Rampant Rumors, decrying the unfounded accusations against a very young man the newspaper did not name. Steve Carroll: We didn't even know what color hair she had because it was all blood red and all of the blows or damage were all to her head. They would get their suspect. She adds, Theyd give him the third degree. Now, for the first time since Martha Moxley was murdered, her childhood friends Richard Burns and Tori Holland are speaking together to "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty. A fifteen-year-old girl hadnt turned up at home and her mother was a bit overwrought. They all piled into a Lincoln parked in the driveway. Lynne Tuohy: Driving the nail into the coffin of Michael Skakel, in terms of a guilty verdict. Dorthy to this day remains convinced Martha was killed by Michael Skakel. Adds Skakel, Even [Police Chief] Steve Baran cant talk to that boy. If the police went near that boy bam!wed put a stop to it. Skakel confirms what the police and the prosecutor would notthat his son is off-limits for questioning. You have their best friend who says that they confessed to him. Should authorities have looked elsewhere? Erin Moriarty: And how big a story was that? But Skakel cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., says, "The evidence is much stronger in suggesting that other people may have committed the crime.". She was last seen by Thomas Skakel, whom she had kissed that night, in the Skakel backyard. In her entry, Martha doesn't mention Tony and she never uses the word strangers. Len Levitt: Michael and Martha are in the front seat of the Skakel car . You should also label each packet with the variety name, date, and a brief description (e.g. Theres a lot of resentment that they havent found the murderer and people think they are shielding someone, says Josephine Evaristo, who for forty-three years has been an elected representative to Greenwichs governing body, the Representative Town Meeting. Lynne Tuohy: This case has been a long and winding road, a very painful case emotionally for many people. According to fifteen-year-old Michael Skakel, the last sight he had of Martha was her talking to his older brother, Thomas, seventeen, on the Skakels lawn at about 9:30 p.m. Martha had to walk only about a hundred paces in the same direction Helen had gone to get home safely. Dorothy Moxley was sure that even on Doorbell Night her daughter would not stray too far from home. "I was getting more and more worried it just wasn't like her," Dorthy Moxley told "48 Hours.". She had started dating just that summer, but nothing serious. DORTHY MOXLEY [2013 to reporters]: Martha, my baby, will never have a life To lose a child is the worst thing in the world. 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. Five days after the murder, the police had reason to believe that Marthas killer might attend the funeral. Mickey is no amateur when it comes to television. Police Chief Baran initially theorized that an outsider, a hitchhiker perhaps, could have made his way into the elegant Belle Haven enclave, possibly from the nearby Connecticut Turnpike, to attack Martha. The plane exploded in the air over Oklahoma. Just this week she had tried out for cheerleaders. A Warner Bros. GREGORY COLEMAN (news report): He had made advances towards her and she rejected his advances and quote, unquote, that he drove her skull in with a golf club. Robert Kennedy Jr. (2020): Well, of course, he is not going to do that because he admits that he brought the murderers to Greenwich. 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. I mean it just was not like her. Did you encounter any technical issues? They break people down., There is no end to the story of Martha Moxleys killing, at least not yet. Correspondent Lesley Stahl asked Benedict about it. Lasting impressions of a life ended too soon. I know that boy. But nobody saw him 'cause he wasn't there. It is the height of ridiculousness to suggest that a department this size is withholding evidence. And so, 46 years after her murder, Martha Moxley's case once again goes cold and her childhood friends have little hope that her killer will one day be brought to justice, unless somebody out there decides to reveal a secret they may have been keeping for all these years. Lesley Stahl: In hearing this myself, without the the preamble about masturbating to anybody is that he's actually talking about murdering her. The judge denied the request. TONY BRYANT: I'm trying to remember at one of the mixers and he got jealous of other guys coming up to her and talking to her. Richard Burns: basically you would throw toilet paper into the trees . I'm a Kennedy.". Richard Burns: You know, how can you kill someone like that? Jonathan Benedict: Andrea Shakespeare is one of the witnesses who was certain that Mister Skakel never took that alibi ride. According to police, no one did. Michael Skakel was 41 years old when his trial began in June 2002. I think she would have been a great mother. . 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. Richard Burns: You know, Michael's going to walk around the rest of his life with that on his head No matter whether or not it's been vacated by the court, public opinion matters. Lynne Tuohy: It was huge. And remembered that around 1 a.m. the next morning, she began calling Martha's friends and alerted the police. The demolition of the home where a teenager was killed 25 years ago could be delayed by the trial of the man accused of murdering her. Led by Captain Keegan, crouching with a camera behind a parked car, the plainclothes detectives were filming the funeral-goers, recording who came and how they behaved. The mystery has attracted . Tori Holland: She was the California girl of all of us. By the time Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel was convicted of the murder of his neighbor Martha Moxley in 2002, more than quarter of a century had gone by since Martha's bludgeoned body was. His sentence: 20 years to life. 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.". (Young Skakel did take several vacation trips, most of them brief, in the year following the killing; but so did most kids in the Belle Haven set.). On the night before Halloween 1975, a teenager died in Greenwich, Connecticut. Angry and frightened townspeople say that family influence has put Thomas Skakel beyond the reach of the system that hounded Peter Reilly. Like many of the more than fifty people Connecticut approached to discuss the Moxley murder and its after- math, this Belle Haven woman was reluctant to talk and would do so only if she were not named. A few months after trial, Michael Skakel's cousin, Robert Kennedy Jr., accused the prosecutor of deliberately misrepresenting Michael's words in that closing argument. She wanted to meet everybody. Mulching is an effective way to keep the root zone cool and moist, while watering more frequently will also help keep the plant from getting too dry. Outside, the church was virtually surrounded by police. [1] Larry Shoenbach: To coin a phrase, it's Black versus White. He looks pained as he begins, I would do anything I could to solve that case, because until it is solved its just a bitter thing. "48 Hours:" Friends of murder victim speak out after 46 years, Martha Moxley recorded in her diary that she was particularly concerned with Michael's behavior. Reports had also begun to circulate that Michael had actually confessed to Martha's murder. They had lights. But there were problems with that theory. Hours passed. and then we could see a path that she had been dragged down in the high grass down to where her final resting place which was under the pine tree. The deadline for sending in seeds was October 15th, but there are still plenty of ways to get involved. Levitt says police initially considered Tommy a strong suspect, but it turns out that even if Tommy lied about writing that paper, he had an alibi witness. On one side are the Moxleys, a tight-knit family of four who moved from Northern California to Connecticut's prestigious enclave of Belle Haven just a year before Martha's slaying. But in 2020, prosecutors said they would not retry him. Reilly won his freedom only after he attracted the attention and the financial help of his community and of celebrities such as playwright Arthur Miller and author William Styron. 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. Erin Moriarty: I mean, did you ever ask him point-blank? It turns out that before trial, Coleman admitted to Michael's attorney that he was actually high on drugs when he testified before the grand jury. Were the Skakels the mystery family? If so, what did that prove? MICHAEL SKAKEL (in court): Mickey had me believing he was the real deal. / CBS News, [This story previously aired on November 6, 2021. A few days after Martha's murder, on November 4, 1975, about 500 people gathered for her funeral. That infuriated Michael's brother, Stephen. 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. That decision was ultimately upheld by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Teenager Thomas Skakel, son of a wealthy and well-connected Greenwich family, figures prominently in the unsolved murder of his neighbor, Martha Moxley. Lynne Tuohy: all the national media was there. No, Martha was not there.and he looked, he didn't look healthy. The authorities say Miss Moxley was attacked in the driveway of her family's home on Oct. 30, 1975. Lynne Tuohy: No, Michael also changed his story. Tom S. Was being an ass. Hes a good boy, a lovely boy. I also danced with Dicky, Neil, & Peter Zamenski. Sherman also failed to convince the judge to allow tommy to testify, which could have raised doubts about Michael's involvement. Lynne Tuohy: This was devastating to the Moxley family. In her diary, the month before her death, Martha wrote: "Michael was so totally out of it that he was being a real ass----. There are two homes built on the old Moxley property: one that was built on the old site and one that was built west of it. Skakel, 60 and the nephew of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, served roughly half of a 20-year sentence for Moxleys death. MattC September 18, 2017 at 8:04 AM. "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. He was doing 20 to 25 bags of heroin a day. then I woke up to Mrs. Moxley saying, "Michael have have you seen Martha?" They were all friends and I cant believe, I will never believe that they were playing one moment and he killed her the next., This is the other half of the tragedy of Martha Moxley. Officials have reopened the case. So, Kennedy and Michael's attorneys tracked Bryant down in Florida. That they were going after this Black kid from New York City, I mean, you know, really? What's more, Hasbrouck's attorney is baffled as to why anyone would believe Tony Bryant. Authorities found no evidence to prove Littleton was involved. HUBERT SANTOS: You spent most of your time talking to the media, right? Just a few hours later, while canvassing the Skakel property, police discovered a matching golf club that came from the same set as the 6-iron that was used to kill Martha. Below is an evolving list of Connecticut natives and state prep school football players in the Class of 2023 who have signed letters of intent to play football in college. Developed by William Estler in the 1940s, this tomato is known for its large size, sweet flavor, and disease resistance. Surely she had no reason to run away from home. That unfounded rumor and persistent press coverage kept the heat on the Greenwich Police Department and prompted them to reopen the investigation. Robert Kennedy Jr: His tape-recorded words were used out of context by the prosecutor to imply that he was confessing to the crime. Although Tommy Skakel became a suspect as the last person known to have seen Martha alive, he had an alibi and Greenwich Police Department didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. At the time of her death, the girl was only fifteen. 2023 Cable News Network. Martha Moxley recorded some interactions with Tommy and Michael Skakelin her diary. On October 30, 2020, 45 years after Martha Moxley's murder, the State of Connecticut announced Michael Skakel would not be retried. Median income is more than $18,000, twice the national average, thanks to the multimillionaires and the executives. Michael was 41 years old when his trial began. 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." Michael told police he left with his brothers and cousin, while Martha and her friends stayed behind with Tommy. On October 30, 1975, 15-year old Martha Moxley left her home to join her friends in her town's "mischief night", where neighborhood kids would run around to cause trouble in the posh and . Gardening can be a rewarding experience, but it can also be a challenge. A police source who has seen his share of wounds describes it as the worst he has seen, a real crime of passion. Near the body, police found the bloodied head of the club, with only part of the shaft attached. At the dance, he kept putting his arms around me and making moves.". He never knew Martha. Richard Burns: They just had a lot more attitude about, you know, they could do anything. Really? Investigators traced the trail of blood to the Moxley driveway. Tori Holland: You have no sense of peace. But the judge wasn't persuaded and ruled against Michael Skakel.