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American Morning

Skakel's Brother Was Once Prime Suspect in Murder

Aired May 09, 2002 - 09:10   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on to Connecticut now, and the murder trial with a Kennedy connection. Prosecutors claim that Ethel Kennedy's nephew, Michael Skakel, murdered his neighbor, Martha Moxley, back in 1975 when they were both teenagers. But Michael Skakel wasn't always the prime suspect in the case.

And CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more on that and more on the testimony in court yesterday about the night Martha Moxley died.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martha Moxley appears to have struggled with her killer in the moments before her death, possibly fending off a sexual attack. Forensic Pathologist Dr. Henry Lee testified Martha's jeans and underpants were pulled down before she was hit with a golf club. A finding Lee based on blood stains on the clothes.

DR. HENRY LEE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: This indicates it's a sexual assault related to (ph) homicide. And the victim was probably struggling, did not have any penetration.

FEYERICK: And no semen was found, though Dr. Lee said it's possible it was wiped away as Martha was dragged some 80 feet to the tree where she was found. Prosecutors plan to put this evidence together with Michael Skakel's earlier statements that he went looking for Martha that night because he wanted to kiss her.

Autopsy photos show Moxley's face streaked with gashes from the club. It's unclear exactly when Moxley was hit, but Connecticut's chief medical examiner testified that once Moxley was struck, she likely lost consciousness quickly.

Though Michael Skakel is the one on trial, it's his brother Tommy who police wanted to arrest in 1975. The chief prosecutor at the time refused to sign the arrest warrant. Not enough evidence.

THOMAS KEEGAN, FORMER GREENWICH POLICE CHIEF: Based upon the information that we had at the time -- and we're talking about 1975- 1976 -- certainly Tommy Skakel was a hot suspect.

FEYERICK: Skakel's lawyer accused prosecutors of withholding the arrest warrant application containing evidence the lawyer believes would exonerate Michael Skakel, or, at the very least, show that Michael wasn't even on the police radar at the time.

MICKEY SHERMAN, MICHAEL SKAKEL'S ATTORNEY: I've never seen it. They never told us about it. And I thought it was important for us to have in our hands.

FEYERICK: The warrant came to light during questioning of a former Greenwich police chief. Thomas Keegan confirming an officer went to Tommy Skakel's high school to pull the 17-year-old's psychiatric records. Tommy Skakel has previously denied any role in Moxley's killing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: When the medical examiner was on the stand, Michael Skakel's lawyer tried locking in the time of death between 9:30 and 10:00 that night. That's the time that Michael has an alibi. He says he was driving his cousin home. But the prosecutors asked the medical examiner could this had happened later, and the medical examiner said, "Yes, it could have happened as late as 1:00." And that would have been when Michael Skakel was back in the neighborhood -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks so much, Deborah.

That brings us to our big question this morning: Is it possible that Michael Skakel could be convicted with no physical evidence linking him to the crime? Let's turn now to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin -- good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi Paula.

ZAHN: OK, for starters, put into perspective this bombshell that was dropped yesterday with the former Greenwich police chief admitting that an application for an arrest warrant for Tommy Skakel had been submitted.

TOOBIN: What that means is the cops in 1976 -- the year after -- the cops said, "We've got our guy. We know who we believe did it and we're going to go to the prosecutor and say let's make a case against Tommy Skakel." The prosecutors said, "No, we don't think there's enough there."

But I think it's highly significant to go to the jury and say, look at this, it's not just us saying that there are other suspects out there. The Greenwich police tried to get an arrest warrant for someone else. I think it's a very powerful defense testimony.

ZAHN: And let's talk about the testimony of the forensic pathologist, Dr. Lee.

TOOBIN: Henry Lee.

ZAHN: He is essentially saying that there is no physical evidence that would link Michael Skakel to this killing?

TOOBIN: Again, no, no -- no semen, no DNA, not even any microscopic evidence. In fact, the only person's named mentioned during Henry Lee's testimony was he said a hair was -- a hair found near the crime scene was consistent with Ken Littleton, the tutor.

Now you shouldn't overstate the significance of that evidence. Hair can be consistent or inconsistent. It doesn't mean that Ken Littleton was at the scene. But it was just a way of planting that name in front of the jury yet again. He is, again, one of the defense's alternative suspects in this case.

ZAHN: And their argument is going to be that he started work that night as a tutor in the Skakel mansion.

TOOBIN: Right.

ZAHN: And what would have been his motive to kill Martha Moxley?

TOOBIN: That's a problem with the defense argument. Why would he arrive there that day and kill her? The argument could be that he's crazy and he just did it and he's a suspect and he hasn't been ruled out. It's hard -- the one point that the prosecution is making fairly effectively, I think, is that there was a real relationship between Martha Moxley and the Skakel brothers.

Another thing that came out in court yesterday was that Martha had apparently written on her shoes, "Tom."

ZAHN: On the soles of the shoes?

TOOBIN: On the soles of the shoes. You know, the way adolescent girls sometimes do. I mean indicating that she was, you know, thinking maybe of Tom as her boyfriend. Maybe Michael was jealous. Again, it's hardly a motive for murder but, again, suggests the relationship between the two of them.

ZAHN: So how does a jury react to that kind of piece of information?

TOOBIN: You know, you have to figure it in to the whole package. I'll just give you my favorite bizarre fact that came out yesterday. Keegan, the detective, retired from the police force in 1988 and moved to South Carolina. He is now a member of the House of Representatives of South Carolina.

He started a whole new career down there, and he's a politician in South Carolina. It just shows you how old this case is. Here's the main investigator, works his whole career on this case, retires, moves to South Carolina, is now like a significant politician in South Carolina. It gives you some idea of just how much time has passed since this murder took place.

ZAHN: So at this stage of the trial, what is the strongest thing the prosecution has, if you have Dr. Lee essentially saying there's no physical evidence here to show that Michael Skakel committed this crime?

TOOBIN: They have not started with a bang in terms of evidence incriminating him. I think they are counting on accumulation of evidence. The best fact they have is that the murder weapon was the golf club that came out of Skakel's home.

Someone in the Skakel home, they will argue, committed this crime. They will move later to the possible maybe confessions that Michael Skakel made saying he was the one who did it.

ZAHN: But the problem is that home was never searched properly.

TOOBIN: That home was never searched properly. And Mickey Sherman, the defense attorney, points out that the golf clubs were often left out on the grass, meaning that anyone could have walked by and picked them up.

Still, you know, I think it is significant that the golf club was a Skakel golf club. And, you know, that was clearly -- and, also, the rage of this murder, the fact that there was a possible attempt at sexual assault indicates that this was someone who knew Martha Moxley. This wasn't just a stranger crime. The violence of the crime suggests there was some sort of rage involved.

ZAHN: Ten seconds left. The diaries -- at least sections of it -- were released to the press. What role will that play in the trial ultimately, where Martha Moxley talks about her relationship and Michael bugging her?

TOOBIN: Right.

ZAHN: Her being irritated by him, his being out of control at a certain point. Will the jury ever see that?

TOOBIN: The jury will definitely see it. It's now been introduced into evidence. Again, it will suggest the relationship between Martha and the two brothers and perhaps the fact that they were competing for her affection. It's pretty good evidence for suggesting that as a motive for murder -- tougher to make.

ZAHN: Thanks for being our eyes and ears at the trial.

TOOBIN: OK.

ZAHN: Jeffrey Toobin, good to see you. Same time, same place every morning.

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