Daniel Pinna
Four Decades After Martha Moxley’s Murder, Her Mother Says ‘It’s Enough’
The following appeared in the New York Times on May 5th 2018 written by Rick Rojas and Kristin Hussey:
Dorthy Moxley had tears in her eyes as she hugged her son, John, in the courtroom. More than 25 years after her daughter Martha had been beaten to death, a jury had found a man guilty of killing her. She told an interviewer that the day had felt like a dream and she feared she would wake up. John later said that the verdict came as long-awaited relief; he was “just glad it was done.”
Over the nearly 16 years afterward, though, the case was anything but over. The man who had been convicted, Michael C. Skakel, waged an appeal that grew into a legal fight that stretched years and came with twist after twist. His conviction was overturned by one court and reinstated by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Then, on Friday, the high court reversed its own decision, vacating Mr. Skakel’s conviction for the 1975 murder.
The experience has been “just like a yo-yo,” Mrs. Moxley said in a telephone interview on Saturday morning. The ruling on Friday was a disappointment. Still, she added: “I’m just so conditioned to this happening and then something else happening. If something else happens, it won’t surprise me in the least.”
For decades, the case has been a media sensation, grabbing headlines with the details of a gruesome murder in one of the country’s most affluent suburbs, a suspect with ties to the Kennedy family and questions about the influence of wealth and privilege in the criminal justice system. Through it all, Mrs. Moxley, 86, has been a steady presence. In the early years, following the advice of the police, she talked to journalists and did anything else she could to help attract attention as investigators searched for answers. Later, she sat through a trial and attended hearing after hearing, there to represent her daughter, who was 15 when she was killed.
This time, though, as prosecutors weigh whether to try to Mr. Skakel again for the four-decade-old crime, Mrs. Moxley said she is satisfied that she has advocated justice on her daughter’s behalf, and helped prosecutors by keeping the case in the public eye.“I did all those things,” Mrs. Moxley said. “But I don’t feel as though that’s my job now. We got him arrested and convicted and put in jail. It isn’t my job now. It’s enough. It’s enough.”
Her daughter was killed on Oct. 30, 1975, her body found under a pine tree on her family’s estate. She had been struck with a steel golf club with enough force to break the club, and a piece of the shaft was used to stab her through the neck.
The Moxley family lived in Belle Haven, a gated community of estates in Greenwich, on the Connecticut coast. Her father, a partner in a large accounting firm, had moved the family to Greenwich only about 18 months before. Martha, a high school sophomore, had just tried out for the cheerleading squad. Her classmates had voted her the girl with the “best personality.”
Dorthy Moxley had tears in her eyes as she hugged her son, John, in the courtroom. More than 25 years after her daughter Martha had been beaten to death, a jury had found a man guilty of killing her. She told an interviewer that the day had felt like a dream and she feared she would wake up. John later said that the verdict came as long-awaited relief; he was “just glad it was done.”
Over the nearly 16 years afterward, though, the case was anything but over. The man who had been convicted, Michael C. Skakel, waged an appeal that grew into a legal fight that stretched years and came with twist after twist. His conviction was overturned by one court and reinstated by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Then, on Friday, the high court reversed its own decision, vacating Mr. Skakel’s conviction for the 1975 murder.
The experience has been “just like a yo-yo,” Mrs. Moxley said in a telephone interview on Saturday morning. The ruling on Friday was a disappointment. Still, she added: “I’m just so conditioned to this happening and then something else happening. If something else happens, it won’t surprise me in the least.”
For decades, the case has been a media sensation, grabbing headlines with the details of a gruesome murder in one of the country’s most affluent suburbs, a suspect with ties to the Kennedy family and questions about the influence of wealth and privilege in the criminal justice system. Through it all, Mrs. Moxley, 86, has been a steady presence. In the early years, following the advice of the police, she talked to journalists and did anything else she could to help attract attention as investigators searched for answers. Later, she sat through a trial and attended hearing after hearing, there to represent her daughter, who was 15 when she was killed.
This time, though, as prosecutors weigh whether to try to Mr. Skakel again for the four-decade-old crime, Mrs. Moxley said she is satisfied that she has advocated justice on her daughter’s behalf, and helped prosecutors by keeping the case in the public eye.“I did all those things,” Mrs. Moxley said. “But I don’t feel as though that’s my job now. We got him arrested and convicted and put in jail. It isn’t my job now. It’s enough. It’s enough.”
Her daughter was killed on Oct. 30, 1975, her body found under a pine tree on her family’s estate. She had been struck with a steel golf club with enough force to break the club, and a piece of the shaft was used to stab her through the neck.
The Moxley family lived in Belle Haven, a gated community of estates in Greenwich, on the Connecticut coast. Her father, a partner in a large accounting firm, had moved the family to Greenwich only about 18 months before. Martha, a high school sophomore, had just tried out for the cheerleading squad. Her classmates had voted her the girl with the “best personality.”
