Michael Skakel
A Kennedy convicted of murdering a childhood friend.
Timeline
| 17 Jun 1950 |
Ethel Skakel marries Robert F. Kennedy, St. Mary's Church, Greenwich CT. |
| 19 Sep 1960 |
Michael Skakel born to Anne Skakel, Ethel Skakel's sister-in-law. |
| 31 Oct 1975 |
Martha Moxley found dead in her backyard, beaten with a golf club. The weapon (a 6-iron) had been used so roughly that the shaft had shattered, and a piece of it was stabbed in her neck. |
| 1991 |
During the trial of William Kennedy Smith, rumors begin to arise that Smith has insider information on the Moxley case. This causes the case to be re-opened (or more accurately, re-investigated) and for many of the principals to be pursued or interviewed by the press. |
| May 1993 |
Dominick Dunne's A Season in Purgatory is published. A fictionalized account of the Moxley case, it again reignites some interest in the press about the original unsolved murder. |
| 9 May 1998 |
The Associated Press reports that Detective Mark Fuhrman's (yes, that's the O.J. Simpson Mark Furhman) new book, Murder in Greenwich, names Michael Skakel as the murderer of Martha Moxley. Investigator Frank Garr says "Fuhrman has the luxury of not having to back up anything he says so he can name anybody he wants and he can say anything he wants in that book", and that the book is "loaded with inaccuracies". |
| 7 Jun 2002 |
Michael Skakel convicted of murder, Stamford CT. |
| Sep 2003 |
Michael Skakel's lawyers claim to have produced an alternate theory to the crime, including statements made by Gitano "Tony" Bryant (Kobe Bryant's cousin) that two friends claimed they were going to attack a woman "caveman style" that night. |
| 25 Nov 2003 |
Attorneys for Michael Skakel file an appeal to overturn his 2002 conviction. The lawyers claim that the case should never have gone to Superior Court instead of Juvenile court, that the statute of limitations had expired (on murder?) and that prosecutors misconducted during their closing arguments. |
|