Michael Skakel, nephew of Ethel & Robert Kennedy, is currently serving 20 years to life for the 1975 slaying of 15 year-old Martha Moxley in Connecticut. 10 years after his 2002 conviction Skakel was brought before the parole board and denied. While Skakel maintains his innocence he will have to wait another 5 years for another shot at freedom. Click below to read more.
The decision was the latest setback for Skakel, who has lost appeals challenging his conviction. Skakel, whose case has long drawn national attention, has another appeal challenging the work and competency of his trial attorney coming up for trial in the spring. Skakel claims the trial attorney had financial problems and didn’t devote enough money to prepare the case, but the attorney insists he did everything he could to keep Skakel from being convicted.
The denial of parole came after Skakel’s supporters, including his cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sent letters to the parole board describing him as a model inmate who has touched many lives in a positive way with his artwork and by helping recovering alcoholics and teaching English as a second language to prisoners. The supporters also say he’s been devoted to his son despite being in prison.
At the hearing at McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, Skakel spoke slowly and softly, saying: “I did not commit this crime.”
