An upcoming TV special on ID titled Halloween Horror will revisit Martha Moxley’s unsolved murder and the case against Michael Skakel. It airs this Friday, October 27, 2023, at 10 p.m. ET.
Martha, 15, was bludgeoned to death sometime on the night before Halloween in 1975. Her body was found behind her famiy’s Belle Haven, Connecticut, home. This triggered a decades-long investigation into the teenager’s death. Key developments in the case included the conviction of Michael Skakel, whose family is known for their connection with the Kennedys.
Michael was first found guilty in 2002 and served eleven years in prison before a judge overturned his conviction in 2013. The state’s Supreme Court then reinstated the conviction in 2016 and reversed this decision two years later. He is currently a free man but maintains a low-key profile. The state further announced that it will not send the exoneree to trial again.
Martha Moxley case: Is Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel free?
A jury first convicted Michael Skakel of Martha Moxley’s murder in June 2002. He received a 20-year prison setence in August. But a Connecticut judge ordered a new trial for him in October 2013 after he served eleven years of his sentence, as per CBS. The judge cited ineffective representation for the defendant at his trial. Following this, he was released from prison.
However, the state’s Supreme Court insinstated Michael’s conviction on December 30, 2016 and reversed their decision two years later, once again vacating the same in May 2018. He was ordered a retrial. According to the New York Times report, the Kennedy cousin walked out of prison a free man in October 2020.
The State of Connecticut ruled that Michael will never be retried in Martha’s murder. He remains a free man today despite being a primary suspect in the victim’s 1975 bludgeoning and stabbing death. Sportskeeda reported that the exoneree has since remained out of the public eye, maintaining a low profile.
The case against Martha Moxley’s alleged killer Michael Skakel
The New York Times mentioned that authorities first ruled Michael Skakel a suspect in the case when a he admitted to murdering Martha Moxley during a group session at his reform school. Multiple witness accounts confirmed the story. However, the school’s owner Joe Ricci denied that any such confession was made.
Before that, in 1977, two years after the killing, police had even traced the murder weapon – a golf club – to the collection Skakel family’s collection. Michael’s brother Tommy and another young man were potential suspects. But both passed lie detector tests.
Reportedly, police only arrested Michael Skakel in January 2000, a quater-century after the crime. He was 39 years old at the time. However, authorities charged him as a minor because he was 15 years old at the time of Martha’s murder. In the following months, two of his former schoolmates disclosed that the accused once claimed, “I am going to get away with murder. I am a Kennedy.”
Halloween Horror airs with Martha Moxley’s murder on Investigation Discovery on Friday, October 27.
