CRIME STORIES SPECIAL PRESENTATION, A: PRIME SUSPECTS: WHO KILLED MARTHA MOXLEY? (TV)
Summary
One in this series of programs exploring true crimes and criminals. In this special episode, host Rikki Klieman welcomes a panel to the program to discuss the high-profile 1975 murder of Connecticut teenager Martha Moxley. The panel is made up of Dorothy Moxley, the victim's mother; Michael Sherman, a defense attorney; author Mark Fuhrman, whose book "Murder in Greenwich" concerns the case in question; author Timothy Dumas, whose "A Wealth of Evil" discusses the case from the perspective of a man who knew the victim and lived in the neighborhood; and Newsday columnist Len Levitt. Klieman explains that, following the discussion, a secret ballot will be cast by all the panelists, voting on whom they view as the prime suspect in Moxley's murder: neighbor Thomas Skakel; his younger brother Michael; the Skakels' tutor, Ken Littleton; or a transient. Klieman offers some background on the case before the discussion begins, explaining that the Martha Moxley case drew a great deal of attention because the two main suspects, the Skakel brothers, were well-to-do young men whose aunt was Bobby Kennedy's widow Ethel. The murder occurred in a wealthy and statistically safe enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut, called Belle Haven. No one was charged with the murder at the time, the host notes, and the police were only able to recover a portion of the murder weapon, a golf club belonging to the Skakel family. Klieman states that interest in the long unsolved murder was rekindled in the wake of another scandal, the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith. Fuhrman argues that Michael Skakel is the prime suspect in the Moxley Murder, noting that Skakel had a history of violent behavior and even confessed to the crime during a stint in a drug-rehabilitation clinic. Dumas and Levitt appear to side with Fuhrman, although they believe that the fact that Tommy Skakel was the last person seen with Moxley makes him equally suspect. Sherman, who is Michael Skakel's attorney, insists that his client is innocent and that Littleton's bizarre behavior in the wake of the killing makes him suspect. "We all wanted it to be a stranger," concedes Moxley's brother in an interview clip. Levitt points out that Tommy and Michael Skakel changed their alibis several times after the murder, noting that evidence suggests that both young men lied to the police about several different matters at different times. The program closes with the announcement of the results of the secret ballot. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The New York Community Trust - Haas Foundation Fund.
Details
- NETWORK: Court TV
- DATE: June 1, 2000 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:45
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:65939
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Murder
- SERIES RUN: Court TV/TruTV - TV series, 1998-2010
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Carolyn Kresky … Executive Producer
- Judith Bishop … Senior Producer
- Carrie Kaufman … Associate Producer
- Nancy Ivan … Director
- Rikki Klieman … Host
- Timothy Dumas … Guest
- Mark Fuhrman … Guest
- Len Levitt … Guest
- Dorothy Moxley … Guest
- Michael Sherman … Guest
- Ethel Kennedy
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Ken Littleton
- Martha Moxley
- Michael Skakel
- Thomas Skakel
- William Kennedy Smith