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CNN Live At Daybreak

Witnesses Place Skakel At Scene of Crime

Aired May 21, 2002 - 06:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Two witnesses in the Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel trial have placed him at the crime scene on the night of Martha Moxley's murder.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the latest testimony from Norwalk, Connecticut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Confessions and more confessions all seemed to come directly from Michael Skakel.

In a trial that has seen its share of twists, the latest witness for the prosecution died of tainted heroin last year. Transcripts of earlier hearings were read into evidence, with former schoolmate Gary Coleman saying Skakel bragged he was going to get away with murder, because he is a Kennedy. It's a story he later told an NBC affiliate in Rochester, New York.

GREGORY COLEMAN, SKAKEL'S FMR. SCHOOLMATE: The first words he ever said to me was, "I am going to get away with murder. I am a Kennedy."

FEYERICK: Skakel's lawyer had to rely on his earlier cross- examination. He tried pointing out it was highly unlikely Michael Skakel would confide in a virtual stranger.

MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You still can't cross-examine a transcript. You just can't do it.

FEYERICK: Then Coleman's widow took the stand. When a TV story about the Moxley murder pointed to brother, Tommy Skakel, as the prime suspect, Coleman apparently said to his wife, "It's not Tommy. It's Michael."

Skakel was not the only one from a famous family in court Monday. Michael Meredith, son of former Dallas Cowboy's quarterback and football commentator, Don Meredith, was called by prosecutors. Michael Meredith and Skakel were both at the Elan Rehab School as teenagers, though at different times.

They met during cousin Joseph Kennedy's run for Congress and quickly found they had a lot in common, joining to file a class-action lawsuit against the school. Meredith testified they both felt Elan was, in his words, "a concentration camp destroying vulnerable kids."

It was the summer of 1987, and they were working out of the Skakel home. One night, Meredith testified Skakel confided he had nothing to do with the Moxley murder, though he had that night climbed the pine tree where her body was later found.

Meredith said he left the next day, because he was afraid. Michael Skakel, he said, had violence boiling under his skin.

(on camera): The exchange between Meredith and Skakel's lawyer grew very heated, Meredith accusing Mickey Sherman of leaking his name to the press, calling him an ambulance-chasing creep. Sherman asked why he had never contacted police. And Meredith said, Michael Skakel told him he was unequivocally innocent.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Norwalk, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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