The
Moxley Murder Case Timeline
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October 30,
1975:
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Martha and some friends went out for
an evening of "mischief night" pranks before stopping at
the home of Tommy and Michael Skakel. Martha was due
home around 10:00 PM; She never comes home.
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October 31,
1975: The search continues throughout the night.
Greenwich Police begin considering Martha's disappearance as
a possible run-away.
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4:00 AM:
Greenwich Police search Belle Haven.
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6:00 AM:
John Moxley returns home from his search.
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10:00 AM:
Dorthy Moxley went to the Skakel home looking for Martha
and speaks to Michael.
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12:15 PM:
While walking through the Moxley's backyard, 15-year-old
Sheila McGuire finds Martha dead under a pine tree. The
murder weapon was a golf club, which was later matched
to a set owned by the Skakel family.
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12:30 PM:
Police arrive at the crime scene.
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4:00 PM:
GPD requests the Connecticut State Police Mobile Crime
Scene Lab.
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4:30 PM:
C.S.P. Crime Scene Lab arrives.
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5:30 PM:
Martha's body is moved to Greenwich Hospital.
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5:40 PM:
Tommy Skakel is taken to the Greenwich station for
questioning; he returns home at 10:30 PM.
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November 1, 1975:
Dr. Elliot Gross conducts an autopsy concluding that Martha
was killed with a golf club.
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November 2, 1975:
Greenwich detectives remove a set of golf clubs matching the
murder weapon from the Skakel home. Greenwich Police put out
a nationwide APB for a missing portion of the golf club.
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November 3, 1975:
Tommy Skakel is given a polygraph test. The results were
inconclusive.
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November 4, 1975: More than 500
people attend Martha's funeral in Greenwich surrounded by
onlookers and the media.
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November 9, 1975: Tommy Skakel is
given a 2nd polygraph test and reportedly passes.
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November 10, 1975: Greenwich
Police conduct an extensive background check on Ken
Littleton.
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November 15, 1975: Detectives re-interview
the Skakel's, Andrea Shakespeare, Jim Terrien and Helen Ix.
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November 21, 1975: Ed Hammond is
given a polygraph test and passes.
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November 24, 1975: Greenwich
Police ask a New York City Area Dry Cleaners Association to
report any blood stained clothing.
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December 2, 1975: Greenwich Police
ask all Fairfield County Dry Cleaners to report any blood
stained clothing received since the crime.
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December 2, 1975: John Moxley is
given a polygraph test and passes.
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December 9, 1975: John Skakel is
given a polygraph test and passes.
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December 11, 1975: Greenwich
Police search the Skakel's Windham, NY residence with
Rushton Skakel's Permission.
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December 12, 1975: Greenwich
Police receive the autopsy report from Dr. Gross.
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December 13, 1975: Detectives re-interview
Tommy Skakel and take hair samples.
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December 17, 1975: Dorthy Moxley
is given a polygraph test. The results are inconclusive.
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January 16, 1976: Detectives
receive written permission from Rushton Skakel to obtain
Tommy's school, medical and psychological records.
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January 20, 1976: Greenwich Police
are contacted by Chris Roosevelt of the Whitby School. He
tells them that he will NOT release Tommy's school records
without first speaking to the Skakel's. He also states that
if Tommy was arrested, he would be defended by a battery of
lawyers who would claim the boy was "temporarily insane".
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January 22, 1976: Rushton Skakel
formally WITHDRAWS permission to release Tommy's school
records. Later that day Rushton collapses with chest pains
and is rushed to Greenwich Hospital where he informs
detectives that he has retained Manny Margolis as Tommy's
criminal attorney.
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January 25, 1976: David Moxley
sets up a meeting between Police and his friend John
McCreight a consultant who wants Greenwich Police to bring
in outside help.
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January 28, 1976: Detectives
request to permission re-interview Ed Hammond.
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January 30, 1976: Attorney Manny
Margolis advises Police that he has advised the Skakel's NOT
to talk with police.
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February 4-7, 1976: Detectives go
to Detroit, MI to get advice from Detroit Police on the
case.
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February 9, 1976: Detectives go to
Brunswick School to try and get a written statement from Ken
Littleton - Littleton is unavailable.
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February 18, 1976: Detectives meet
with Skakel family advisors Fr. Tommy Guinan and Fr. Mark
Connolly concerning medical and psychological tests they
would like perform.
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February 25, 1976: Detectives meet
with Rushton Skakel, Fr. Mark Connolly and Attorney Manny
Margolis concerning medical and psychological tests they
would like perform.
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March 3, 1976: Attorney Manny
Margolis informs detectives that his client will NOT COMPLY
and be tested.
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March 5, 1976: Ed Hammond and his
mother are re-interviewed.
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March 15, 1976: Tommy Skakel is
given a psychological exam in NYC under a false name.
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March 16, 1976: Greenwich Police
consult with Nassau County Police on the case.
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March 25, 1976: Donald Browne
holds a press conference and states they are frustrated by
an unnamed family's lack of cooperation. He does not
identify the family.
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March 28, 1976: Rushton Skakel
tells the Moxley's that Tommy has passed a psychological
exam but refuses to give the results to police on advice of
council.
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March 31, 1976: Two Detroit
detectives arrive in Greenwich to assist with the
investigation.
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April 2, 1976: Detroit detectives
interview Robert and Mildred Ix.
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April 5, 1976: Greenwich Police
attempt to re-interview Ken Littleton - he declines.
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April 7, 1976: Ken Littleton
refuses to talk to detectives and refuses to sign a
statement about Tommy Skakel.
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April 13, 1976: Ken Littleton
retains Attorney John Meerbergen and notifies police.
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April 15, 1976: Police talk to
witnesses regarding the barking dog the night of the murder.
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April 16, 1976: Police check with
Animal Control looking for "barking dog complaints" the
night of the murder.
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April 22, 1976: Detectives re-interview
Ken Littleton with his lawyer present.
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April 30, 1976: Tommy Skakel
admitted to Greenwich Hospital.
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May 11, 1976: Skakel's receive a
full psychological report on Tommy Skakel from Dr. Lesse.
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September 2, 1976: The Moxley's
attorney informs police that the Skakel's have agreed to
have Dr. Lesse speak to a doctor for the Moxley's.
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October 18, 1976: Ken Littleton
fails a polygraph test.
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October 19, 1976: Ken Littleton
tells police that his attorney has advised him not to submit
himself for tests.
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October 21, 1976: Detectives meet
with attorney Margolis and tell him they would like to re-interview
the Skakel's regarding Ken Littleton. Margolis is given a
list of questions.
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October 30, 1976: Detectives do an
overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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November 9, 1976: Attorney
Margolis contacts police with a list of answers regarding
Ken Littleton.
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November 12, 1976: Police do a
background check on Ken Littleton.
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March 3, 1977: The Moxley's
attorney tells police that they have arranged a doctor to
review Tommy Skakel's file.
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May 1977: Ken Littleton is given
5-7 years suspended sentence for burglary charges in
Nantucket, Mass. Littleton refuses to submit to a sodium
amytal interview in return for reduced charges.
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October 30, 1977: Detectives again
do an overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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December 12, 1977: Detectives
travel to Vermont where Tommy Skakel is attending school to
obtain information.
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December 14, 1977: Detectives
travel to Boston to speak with Ken Littleton's Probation
Officer.
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March 5, 1978: Michael Skakel is
arrested in Windham, NY on charges of unlicensed operation
of a motor vehicle, speeding, failure to comply with an
officer and DWI.
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June 1978: Tommy Skakel is
expelled from college for academic reasons.
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October 17, 1978: Governor Ella
Grasso authorizes a $20,000 reward.
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October 28, 1978: Greenwich Police
meet with a psychic who contacted them regarding dreams.
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October 30, 1978: Detectives again
do an overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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Mid-November 1978: Michael Skakel
escapes from the Elan School and is returned a few days
later.
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November 29, 1978: Michael Skakel
escapes from the Elan School again.
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December 12, 1978: Michael Skakel
escapes from the Elan School again.
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October 30, 1979: Detectives again
do an overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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October 30, 1980: Detectives again
do an overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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July 31, 1981: Police contact a
second psychic about the case.
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September 27, 1981: Police meet
with the second psychic about the case.
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October 30, 1981: Detectives again
do an overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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July 13, 1982: Greenwich Time
newspaper requests to see the investigation reports.
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July 20, 1982: Police DENY the
request.
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August 6, 1982: Greenwich Time
newspaper "formally" requests to see the investigation
reports under the "Freedom Of Information Act".
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October 4, 1982: Police request to
see and edit Len Levitt's Greenwich Time article before
publication. Their request is denied.
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October 30, 1982: Detectives again
do an overnight stakeout of the murder scene.
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December 9, 1982: An FOI hearing
is conducted regarding the police reports.
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January 5, 1983: Detectives talk
to Ken Littleton who states he has been talking to reporter
Len Levitt. He also states that he is now willing to undergo
tests to prove his innocence.
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May 11, 1983: FOI Committee
decides that police must hand over selected parts of the
police report.
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Summer 1983: Len Levitt's article
is written on the case - Greenwich Time and Stamford
Advocate REFUSES to publish it (so it sits on the self).
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In 1988: Martha's father, David
Moxley, dies unexpectedly in New York City. Mr. Moxley is
buried in Greenwich next to Martha.
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April 30, 1991: Greenwich police
and the State of Connecticut announce that they are
reinvestigating evidence in the case.
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June 2, 1991: Len Levitt's article
is published in the Greenwich Time under the headline "Moxley
Murder Case Still Haunts Greenwich".
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August 9, 1991: The Moxley family
increases the reward to $50,000. They also set up a toll-free
telephone number to assist in an announced reinvestigation
by the State Attorney's office by Frank Garr and Jack
Solomon.
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SOMETIME IN 1991: The Skakel's
hire Sutton Associates to investigate the murder.
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1993: The book "A Season in
Purgatory," by Dominick Dunne, is published.
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October 1993: Dr. Henry Lee
submits his findings to the Greenwich Police, the report is
6 inches thick.
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January 5, 1994: At a press
conference, Jack Solomon admits that there is nothing new in
the investigation at this point - he also blames the Skakel
family for not cooperating.
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September 30, 1994: Frank Garr
retires from the Greenwich Police to work as an investigator
for the State Attorney's Office. He is assigned full time on
the Moxley Case.
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November 26, 1995: Len Levitt
writes an article for "Newsday Magazine" in which he states
that Tommy Skakel has changed his story about what he was
doing the night of the murder.
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June 19, 1996: The Moxley's double
the reward money to $100,000.
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October 1996: Evidence is taken to
Washington D.C. to the Defense Department for DNA testing.
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June 1998: Superior Court Judge
George Thim starts an 18-month, one man grand jury review of
information gathered by Frank Garr and the State Attorney's
office.
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Spring - Summer 1998: The books "Greentown"
by Timothy Dumas and "Murder in Greenwich," by former Los
Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman, are published.
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September 1998:
www.MarthaMoxley.com goes online.
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November 1998: The grand jury
interviewed more than 30 witnesses in connection the case.
Some reportedly are former residents and staff of the Elan
School in Poland Springs, Maine. At the same time counsel
for Michael Skakel, headed by Stamford based defense
attorney Michael Sherman, has made a motion to suppress all
testimony from staff and residents of the Elan School citing
"doctor - patient confidentiality".
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December 10, 1998: In his ruling,
Superior Court Judge Edward Stodolink stated that the owner
of the center, where the state alleges former Greenwich
resident Michael Skakel may have made admissions as to the
murder, must give grand jury testimony.
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March 11, 1999: Suffolk County (New
York) Judge Michael Mullen ruled that private investigator,
Willis Krebs must appear before the grand jury in Bridgeport.
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March 24, 1999: When Krebs
appeared before the grand jury, Willis Krebs refused to
divulge those names on the basis that it was confidential
information, but was later ordered to do so.
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July 28, 1999: A Florida appeals
court ruled that Rushton Skakel, the father of Michael and
Tommy Skakel, was ordered to testify before the Connecticut
grand jury investigating the Moxley Case.
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August 5, 1999: The state
Appellate Court has reversed a state Superior Court judge's
order that a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center's owner
must testify what he knows about admissions a suspect
allegedly made concerning the Martha Moxley murder. It
remains unclear, however, whether the Appellate Court
decision would affect testimony the grand jury has already
heard from others who attended the rehab center with Skakel.
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September 9, 1999: Rushton Skakel
Sr. spends over an hour answering a grand jury's questions
about what he might know concerning his sons' possible
involvement in the 1975 murder. In addition the grand jury
is still looking for testimony from James (Dowdle) Terrin,
cousin of Michael and Tommy Skakel, who was with the Skakel
brothers the night of the murder.
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December 10, 1999: The Grand Jury
officially ended its investigation. By law, Judge Thim had a
maximum of three, six-month terms to complete his
investigation. His final term ended on Friday December 10.
Judge Thim had 60 days to say whether he believes there is
enough evidence to make an arrest. The prosecutors office is
not bound by his decision. Even if Judge Thim finds probable
cause for an arrest, prosecutors may decide there is not
enough evidence for them to win a conviction.
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January 19, 2000: 9:00 AM:
At a news conference which was held in Bridgeport,
Connecticut, prosecutors announced that an arrest warrant
had been issued for an unnamed juvenile. Attorney Mickey
Sherman told reporters that his client, Michael Skakel, was
on his way to Connecticut to surrender to authorities.
3:00 PM: Greenwich, CT, Michael Skakel surrendered to
Greenwich Police. Skakel was charged as a juvenile. The
Skakel family posts $500,000 bail and he is released.
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February 8, 2000: At what could
only be described as a 'media circus', Michael Skakel was
scheduled to appear in Stamford Juvenile Court for
arraignment. But, Juvenile Court Judge Maureen Dennis
decided to postpone his arraignment on murder charges until
March 14, reportedly so she can look into whether to open
the proceedings to the news media.
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March 10, 2000: Judge Maureen
Dennis rules on a request from five newspapers and The
Associated Press which had asked to open the juvenile
proceeding to the public. The judge agreed to allow press
coverage and moved the arraignment to Stamford Superior
Court, Tuesday March 14th.
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March 14, 2000: In a four-minute
court appearance, Skakel heard the charges against him read
aloud and was advised of his Constitutional rights. Because
this is a juvenile case, Michael Skakel was entitled to a "reasonable
cause" hearing, which was held on June 20, 21 and 28, 2000.
When leaving court, Michael Skakel approached Dorthy and
John Moxley and said "I feel your pain," Skakel followed
with "but you've got the wrong guy." John Moxley said he
told Skakel, "We'll find out in court."
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June 20, 21 and 28, 2000: Michael
Skakel appeared for a "Probable Cause Hearing". Skakel was
flanked by his brother, sister and cousins
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas
Kennedy. Witnesses appeared for both the
prosecution and defense on whether Skakel actually admitted
to the murder while attending the Elan School in Poland
Springs, Maine.
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August 17, 2000: Judge decides
Skakel will stand trial. Stating evidence from a probable
cause hearing showed "well beyond mere suspicion" that
Michael Skakel could have caused the death of Martha Moxley.
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October 5, 2000: The Juvenile
report from a court-ordered background investigation was
been delivered to the presiding judge.
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January 31, 2001: Kennedy nephew
Michael Skakel will be tried as an adult in the 1975 murder
of Greenwich teen-ager Martha Moxley, a judge ruled
Wednesday.
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February 11, 2001: The prosecution
filed a motion to have the case of Martha Moxley murder
defendant Michael Skakel moved to Bridgeport from Superior
Court in Stamford, which a judge only last week designated
as the trial site.
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February 14, 2001: Michael Skakel
appeals judge's decision to try Skakel as an adult.
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February 21, 2001: Michael Skakel
is charged as an adult.
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November 2001: The CT State
Supreme Court said it would not hear Skakel's appeal of the
decision to transfer his case to adult court, saying it was
too early in the legal process to consider that issue.
Appeals are not normally granted until verdicts are reached.
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December 11, 2001: Connecticut
State Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky denied a long-standing
motion to dismiss the charges against Michael Skakel.
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May 4, 2002: Trial took place in
Connecticut State Superior Court in Norwalk with Judge John
Kavanewsky presiding.
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June 7, 2002: With the family and
friends in the courtroom the 12 person jury found Michael
Skakel "Guilty as Charged of Murder in the 1st Degree"
MarthaMoxley.com
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