Northeast
Martha Moxley case: Kennedy cousin points to ‘bold-faced lies,’ missing evidence in murder probe
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The Kennedy cousin formerly at the center of the notorious case involving the death of Martha Moxley, the daughter of an affluent Connecticut family, has broken his silence to reveal new loose ends and theories regarding the decades-long mystery.
Michael Skakel, cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spent 11 years behind bars for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. In 2013, Skakel walked out of prison as a free man and later saw his conviction vacated in a move that further deepened the mystery of who Moxley’s true killer is.
In the final episode of NBC News’ podcast, “Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder,” several possible suspects and additional evidence were spotlighted, though loose ends regarding the unresolved case still remain, according to Connecticut Insider.
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“Being Michael Skakel has been a blessing and a curse. I’ve met some proudly great people in this world,” Michael Skakel said on the podcast.
“At the same time, because of what this trial and this case did to me, people only know what they know. They only know what that box in their living room tells them. And most of it has been bold-faced lies.”
Kennedy relative Michael Skakel gets into a car after walking out of a Stamford, Conn., courthouse in November 2013 after his murder conviction in the death of Martha Moxley was vacated when a judge ruled he did not receive adequate representation in his 2002 trial. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The episode reportedly highlighted a stain found in the Moxley family’s TV room by Theresa Tirado, a maid at the household, one day after the 15-year-old girl was murdered outside of her Greenwich home Oct. 30, 1975.
In Tirado’s account to police at the time, she noticed that Martha Moxley’s brother John’s bed was empty and his door was open the morning of the murder, but she had not yet been told the teenager was missing. At 9 a.m., Tirado reportedly heard a loud crash in the house and witnessed John Moxley and a friend, John Harvey, watching television about 15 minutes later.
At around 11 a.m., Tirado told investigators, the two boys went outside right around the same time she heard another loud crash inside the house. The pair then returned to the house briefly before leaving, Connecticut Insider reported.
When Tirado later went into the TV room, she noticed smear marks that were believed to be blood. However, she reportedly wiped up the marks, not realizing what it potentially was.
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Martha Moxley when she was 14 years old (Erik Freeland/Corbis via Getty Images)
John Moxley later corroborated Tirado’s account regarding his and Harvey’s whereabouts, though he told investigators he did not hear any crashes coming from inside the house, the outlet reported. He suggested the smear marks could have been a food stain.
However, the potential blood stain was reportedly included in a pretrial memo by attorney Linda Kenney Baden but was never looked into by Skakel’s attorney, Mickey Sherman.
The podcast also noted that Tirado died in 2012.
Additionally, the outlet reported that John Moxley was the fourth individual mentioned in the Sutton Report in the 1990s, with investigators noting that “a few unresolved points still demand clarification and examination.”
KENNEDY COUSIN MICHAEL SKAKEL SAYS COPS WITHHELD EVIDENCE IN 1975 MARTHA MOXLEY MURDER PROBE
The Moxley residence in the Bellehaven section of Greenwich, Conn., in 1975. (MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Initially, Michael Skakel, Tommy Skakel and tutor Ken Littleton were profiled in the report regarding Moxley’s murder.
One of the points of note regarding John Moxley was reportedly his statement that he returned home around 11 p.m. on Oct. 30 and was awoken by his mother at 3:30 a.m. the next morning to help look for his missing sister.
In 2002, John Moxley testified that he only spent about 15 minutes searching for Martha Moxley, which contradicted his statements to police that he had spent 2½ hours outside and did not return home until 6 a.m., when he then fell asleep on the sofa in the TV room, the outlet reported.
Harvey later claimed John Moxley called him the morning of the teen’s disappearance to help search for her, and the pair searched a pile of brush near the house, a move the Sutton Report reportedly noted was strange. However, the report also pointed out that had the two boys checked the family’s yard, they likely would not have located Martha Moxley’s body.
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Martha Moxley at 13 with her father, David Moxley (Erik Freeland/Corbis via Getty Images)
John Moxley reportedly said he only became aware of his sister’s death after his football coach mentioned to him at practice that something happened at his house.
The Sutton team later determined John Moxley was not the murderer, with Robert F. Kennedy agreeing with investigators in his book, “Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit.”
Additionally, the podcast reportedly pointed to the Skakel household’s handyman and gardener, Franz Wittine, as another guest at the home on “Mischief Night.”
Michael Skakel, who was 15 years old at the time of the murder, reportedly revealed Wittine, a regular resident at the house, was the only person who said there were no golf clubs found on the Skakel house lawn despite others saying there were. In a 1991 interview with investigators, Wittine reportedly said he had no memory of saying that.
Martha Moxley was found beaten and stabbed to death by a golf club in the yard of her family’s home on “Mischief Night.”
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One year after the murder, Wittine reportedly resigned from his position with the Skakel family and passed a polygraph test in 1991.
Wittine died in 1997.
The podcast pointed out various loose ends involving the investigation, including the lack of forensic evidence in the case, Connecticut Insider reported.
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Swabs taken from Martha Moxley’s groin area in an effort to rule out sexual assault were never introduced as evidence in the trial and were considered lost until a NBC News’ production team reached out to a Connecticut forensics team, which confirmed the evidence remained in state custody.
The samples were later sent for testing in 2018 and were reportedly determined to only contain Martha Moxley’s DNA.
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A photo from the trial evidence showing a close-up of the golf club head. (Pool Photo/Getty Images)
Additionally, Cissy Ix reportedly recalled a conversation with Rush Skakel Sr., in which he claimed that his son, Michael, allegedly confided in him that he may have killed Martha Moxley.
However, Michael Skakel was ultimately cleared by Dr. Stanley Lesse after being given sodium pentothal in an attempt to give him mental clarity regarding the situation. Michael Skakel said he felt unsure about things after attending the infamous Elan School.
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Additionally, a friend of the Skakels reportedly told investigators that both boys were with him at Sursum Corda Oct. 30, 1975. However, the account directly conflicted with reports that Tommy Skakel had not traveled with his family that evening.
The series wrapped up with Amanda Knox, an American woman falsely accused of her roommate’s 2007 murder in Italy, weighing in on the mentality of “guilty until proven innocent” in criminal cases, according to Connecticut Insider.
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Knox was initially convicted of murder in 2009 and saw her conviction overturned by an Italian court in 2011.
Knox reportedly went on to describe how people have told her to “be a little less visible” after her conviction was overturned and described how the concept of “single victim fallacy” can harm individuals in situations where public perception suggests there is only one victim in a situation.
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Michael Skakel’s conviction was ultimately vacated by the Connecticut Supreme Court May 4, 2018, with prosecutors later deciding to not seek a second trial for Skakel on the murder charge.
With Skakel being absolved of all charges, the mystery surrounding the decades-old murder of Martha Moxley continues to plague her family and community, with no true promise that the case will ever be solved.
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New York
‘She Studied Us for a Moment With Theatrical Longing’
Under Cover
Dear Diary:
On a false-spring afternoon, my boyfriend, Luis, and I went to the wine bar around the corner from my Williamsburg apartment. We were sitting at the bar having a private conversation when I asked Luis for the time.
“It’s 7:30,” a blonde woman beside us said before he could answer.
She turned toward us with the bright, urgent expression of someone who had already decided we were all having a drink together. She was drunk, her mascara intact, but only just.
“What do you guys do?” she asked.
I told her I was a first-year teacher in Queens. Luis said he would be graduating in the spring and was looking for a job in marketing.
She studied us for a moment with theatrical longing, and then she leaned in so far that her shoulder nearly touched mine.
“I have a secret,” she said, beaming. “You can’t tell anyone.”
We promised.
She glanced toward the open windows, then back at us.
“I have my second interview with the C.I.A. tomorrow,” she whispered.
Luis and I looked at each other.
“If anyone asks,” she added, “tell them I’m interviewing with the Culinary Institute of America.”
A few minutes later, we paid our check, wished her luck and promised not to tell a soul.
— David Reyes-Mastroianni
Moon Over Manhattan
Dear Diary:
I was walking out of Central Park on a cold February evening when a woman who couldn’t have been five feet tall approached me.
“Have you seen the moon?” she asked.
I tried to brush her off, but she repeated herself.
I turned to see the most brilliant full moon shining above the park. It stopped me in my tracks on a day when I had been in constant motion.
I turned to thank the woman, but she was gone. It was as if the moon herself had come down to demand attention and had left as soon as attention was paid.
— Rebecca Falcon
Wrapped Up
Dear Diary:
Late one night after I moved to Manhattan from the rural South in 1989, I was riding the No. 6 train home from my job at Mortimer’s when I sat down across from what appeared to be a man completely wrapped in a sheet and lying across several seats.
He was wrapped so tightly that there seemed to be no way he could have done it himself.
I couldn’t discern any movement. Not a breath. Not a sound. Did he need help? Was he dead? Was this performance art? What should I do?
No one else seemed to be paying any attention, but my agitation must have been visible, because finally, an impeccably dressed older woman wearing white gloves and a hat with a lace veil leaned toward me.
“I don’t think he wants to be disturbed,” she said.
— Brian McMaster
Pretty Peaches
Dear Diary:
I was walking down 79th Street when I heard a woman with a large, coral-colored cockatoo on her shoulder say: “Excuse me. Can you hold my bird?”
I looked around. Was she talking to me?
She huffed at my two seconds of confusion.
“Just put your arm out!” she said.
I did, and while this woman answered her phone, her imposing bird with claws as big as my hands hopped onto my wrist, then sidled up my arm and onto my shoulder.
She was heavier than I expected. Not quite like having a dog on my shoulder, but maybe a cat.
I wanted to look at her. It’s not every day you have a large bird sitting on you, but I was afraid that if I did, she might gouge out my eyeballs with her imposing beak.
I decided to fix my eyes on a nearby street sign and hope for the best. The bird told me her name was Peaches, that she was 7 years old and also that she was pretty.
My first thought was: Well, aren’t we a little full of ourselves? But then I caught myself. Good for you, Peaches, I thought. I wish I had your confidence.
I told Peaches I had an appointment and hoped her owner would get off the phone soon.
Then Peaches gripped my shoulder a little tighter with her claws and stretched the top of her body up and over my head so that I was wearing her like a pair of earmuffs.
“I love you,” she said.
We stayed in this magical bird hug for a minute or two before her owner whisked her off my shoulder with a halfhearted “Thanks” and hurried away.
Peaches turned her head 180 degrees, seemed to look at me longingly and disappeared into the day.
— Eileen Kelly
Out of Stock
Dear Diary:
It was a Saturday, and I was on Fifth Avenue and 14th Street. Two young women were walking and talking behind me.
“Is there anything you need at the market?” one said.
“The will to live,” the other replied.
I couldn’t help myself.
“I don’t think they sell that there,” I said.
We all laughed and kept going.
— Nancy Lane
Read all recent entries and our submissions guidelines. Reach us via email diary@nytimes.com or follow @NYTMetro on Twitter.
Illustrations by Agnes Lee
Boston, MA
‘This is really just the start of it all’: Mojo Boston makes splashy debut at City Hall Plaza – The Boston Globe
Mojo, a music brand and concert organizer, was founded in 2021 by Charley Blacker, Alex Parker, and Emily Donovan while they were students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The trio of friends decided to create Mojo out of their shared love for music and house shows.
“We saw there were so many local musicians that were so talented, but they didn’t have the platform we thought they really deserved,” Blacker told the Globe during Saturday’s festivities. “So we thought if we could do the behind-the-scenes work of organizing photographers and [provide] a social media platform, we could give these musicians the platform they deserve.”

Five years later, the team behind Mojo is sticking to their mission, tackling their biggest venue yet with this weekend’s event at City Hall Plaza, which previously served as the original location for Boston Calling before it moved to the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston. Boston Calling announced last year that it is taking a one-year hiatus in 2026, with plans to return in 2027.
In addition to getting the chance to work on such a big event with his best friends, Blacker hopes Mojo Boston can help “lead to a lot more opportunities for local music.”

There was a wide range of genres represented at Saturday’s event, from the pop-rock stylings of The Bends to house and garage music from DJ AC Slater. Prior to the Boston debut, Mojo brought a festival to Pennsylvania’s Happy Valley in April and returned to Amherst later that month to host another event.
Mojo Boston attendees and former UMass Amherst students Emily Bowler and Max Debeau have been familiar with Mojo since its inception, watching the organization go from hosting basement shows to full scale music festivals. Debeau noted how many of the acts at Saturday’s event have worked with Mojo in the past, performing at UMass and other shows around the Bay State.
“To see it all come together has been great,” Debeau said. “This is the stage that they all deserve.”
“It’s crazy how quickly they were able to erect something so amazing,” Bowler added.

Formed in New Bedford, the band Autumn Drive was one of 18 acts that performed at Mojo Boston, and they are no strangers to a Mojo show.
“We’ve done, I think, every single Mojo that there is, so we’re very tight with them,” said guitarist and singer Charlie Gamache. “When we found out they were doing a big festival [in Boston], I was like, ‘We want in no matter what.’”
The band emphasized how much their relationship with Mojo has meant to them over the years, with Autumn Drive drummer Joe Gauvin praising the organization for “always putting us in front of a crowd that’s there to see music and hear us.”

From a makeshift stage out of wooden pallets in his basement to Boston’s City Hall Plaza, Blacker is is proud of Mojo’s success and is already looking ahead at what’s to come.
“This is really just the start of it all,” said Blacker. “We have very lofty ambitions and goals, and we have nothing but confidence in our ability to accomplish everything we set out to do.”
Gitana Savage can be reached at gitana.savage@globe.com. Follow her on X @gitana_savage.
Pittsburg, PA
New Market Square rule for kids under 18 gets mixed reviews as enforcement continues
The new policy requiring anyone under 18 to be accompanied by someone over 21 in Market Square may not be as firm as some first thought.
KDKA observed unaccompanied kids in and around the square in Pittsburgh on Saturday evening, but in very small numbers, especially compared to the hundreds of kids who gathered as recently as during the NFL draft last month. Many of the kids were walking through the square or to restaurants like Chipotle.
It was the kids who lingered on Saturday evening who were approached by either youth outreach teams, private security or officers.
Von Madden — the founder of AIM, a youth outreach group — said it’s when kids start gathering in large numbers that they’ll be asked to leave.
“I don’t think they are going to be kicked out of the space for buying food or walking by,” Madden said. “The policy was so they’re allowed to hang out, but if they’re causing disruption, they were asked to move.”
Outreach workers within the square on Saturday evening said they’ve been approaching kids to make sure they are aware of the rules, but aren’t forcing them to leave. Some workers suggested alternative places they could go, as they work to form relationships with the kids
Madden, who was not at the square on Saturday, said in theory, enforcement works by private security engaging kids first, and then if that doesn’t work, outreach staff comes over. Only as a last resort are police officers brought in.
KDKA watched as a group of about 15 to 20 kids formed along Market Street steps away from a police SUV on Saturday evening. A member of the private security approached the kids first, pointing toward the exit of the square. Once more kids gathered, a group of five to 10 officers walked over, and the group dispersed toward Liberty Avenue.
A group of teenagers near Chipotle told KDKA that officers told them they had to leave if they weren’t actually going to the restaurant. Madden said the policy, which is in effect from Thursday to Sunday from 3 p.m to midnight, has worked well this week.
“It was phenomenal. Thursday was great,” Madden said. “The kids came, a lot of kids. They were absolutely excited about everything going on.”
Thursday was the first night for the temporary roller rink in Market Square, and a rainy Friday kept many people away. People enjoying their Saturday evening in the square gave mixed reviews about the policy.
“I think it’s definitely necessary,” Cristina from Butler told KDKA. “It keeps the community safe, and it allows adults and parents to know that their kids are safe as well, and just a more controlled environment.”
Danielle Graham from Robinson said she’d been observing kids interacting with police and believes kids aren’t welcome in Market Square, even if they are not being disruptive. She said there was a discrepancy in what private security and officers knew about the rule, adding that police asked her if the child she was chaperoning was her legal guardian.
She said she offered to chaperone kids to allow them to enjoy the square and so she could observe what was going on.
“There’s no clear understanding from the people that are supposedly enforcing it,” Robinson said. “You just put more vulnerable kids in front of law enforcement, things can go wrong.”
Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick shared her own criticism of the policy during a meeting last week.
“Not only does this feel highly unwelcoming to families with teens, it also seems questionable in terms even of enforcement,” Warwick said. “I don’t know that there’ll be like a private security, what are we checking IDs like, you know? How is this working? My understanding is it’s on an event permit.”
KDKA-TV did not observe any IDs being checked on Saturday and saw at most 12 officers in the square at once, along with the private security.
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