Michael Skakel Breaks Silence on Martha Moxley Murder

For the first time since his conviction was overturned, Michael Skakel—the Kennedy cousin at the center of one of America's most infamous unsolved murder cases—is speaking publicly about the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley in Greenwich, Connecticut. NBC News Studios' new podcast, "Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder," features Skakel reflecting on the case that sent him to prison for more than 11 years and kept his name in headlines for decades. Skakel had admitted to masturbating in a tree outside 15-year-old Martha's window on the night of Oct. 30, 1975—the same tree under which she was found dead the next morning. She'd been bludgeoned and stabbed with a broken golf club traced to the Skakel home across the street, per NBC News.

Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, describes a troubled childhood marked by wealth, alleged abuse, and family dysfunction in interviews at the modest Norwalk rental he now shares with his brother. His father, he says, was violent and unpredictable, often beat him for no reason, and blamed him for the death of his mother when he was just 12. Skakel recounts a spiral into drinking as a teen and beatings at the controversial Elan reform school, now closed. Despite rebuilding his life and getting sober in the 1980s, his past caught up with him when two former classmates claimed he confessed to Martha's murder. He was convicted in 2002, but that conviction was overturned in 2013 after a judge found his attorney had failed to properly defend him. The state dropped the case entirely in 2020, citing lack of evidence.

The podcast's host, journalist Andrew Goldman, has long investigated the case. He ghostwrote Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2016 book arguing Skakel's innocence, and continued to look for clues after. Goldman admits that meeting Skakel was uncomfortable at first as "the media coverage of the case had convinced me I was shaking a murderer's hand." Skakel has always maintained his innocence. The podcast explores the twists and turns of the investigation, including how a private probe funded by Skakel's father ended up casting further suspicion on Michael and his brother, Thomas, and how sensational books and rumors kept the case alive in the public imagination. The 12-episode podcast debuts Tuesday, per People.