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CNN Live At Daybreak

Jury to Begin Deliberating Skakel Case

Aired June 04, 2002 - 06:14   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: In just a few hours, a jury in Connecticut will begin deliberating the case of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. He is on trial for the death of his teenage neighbor more than a quarter century ago.

Elaine Quijano has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this courthouse in Norwalk, Connecticut, a jury of six men and six women have sat through dozens of witnesses in the nearly month-long murder trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. The prosecution contends that Skakel bludgeoned to death his neighbor, Martha Moxley, in 1975 with a golf club when both were just 15 years old.

Courtroom observers say all along prosecutors have pointed to jealousy as the motive.

FANNIE WEINSTEIN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: He was jealous of his brother Tommy's relationship with Martha Moxley. That he had a crush on her but that she did not return those feelings.

QUIJANO: Moxley's body was found outside her parent's home in the gated Greenwich, Connecticut neighborhood of Belle Haven. For years, investigators looked at Michael's brother, Tommy, and their live-in tutor Kenneth Littleton as possible suspects.

But in the 1990s, police shifted their focus after Michael changed his story about his movement the night of the murder. Yet Skakel's defense lawyer compared the investigation to musical chairs with Skakel left in the defendant's seat. He also emphasized there was no physical evidence linking his client to the crime scene.

MICKEY SHERMAN, SKAKEL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He didn't do it. He doesn't know who did. He wasn't there. He never confessed.

QUIJANO: Skakel, now 41 years old, could receive anywhere from 10 years to life in prison if he's convicted.

I'm Elaine Quijano reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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