October 30, 2024 • 10 mins
Day 30 of the Crimetober Series is about the murder of Martha Moxley, which occurred on October 30, 1975.
Sources
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Martha_Moxley
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-killed-martha-moxley/
https://www.oxygen.com/murder-and-justice-the-case-of-martha-moxley
https://marthamoxley.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/martha-moxley "Moxley Case: Who is Michael Skakel?". cnn.com. December 31, 2007. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014.
Sources
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Martha_Moxley
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-killed-martha-moxley/
https://www.oxygen.com/murder-and-justice-the-case-of-martha-moxley
https://marthamoxley.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/martha-moxley "Moxley Case: Who is Michael Skakel?". cnn.com. December 31, 2007. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome back to Nature Versus Narcissism. As always, I'm your host, Heather,
and today I'm rolling solo. Many of our longtime listeners
know that each Spooky season we'd like to throw a
bit of a curve ball and share a series with
you that doesn't quite follow the main Feed format, and
this year is no different. This year, we're aiming to
bring you at least one main Feed episode per day
in October, plus some Patreon episodes sprinkled throughout this year.
(00:43):
We're bringing you a story about a crime that occurred
on or has a connection to each day in October,
and today we're talking about October thirtieth, So why don't
we get started. In today's episode, I would like to
discuss the murder of Martha Moxley. Martha Elizabeth Moxley was
born on August sixteenth, nineteen sixty in San Francisco, California,
(01:04):
but at the time of her murder, she was fifteen
year old student attending high school in Greenwich, Connecticut. She
was last seen alive at the home of this Scaygle family,
who lived in the home across the street from her
in Belle Haven, Connecticut. Well Scagle also fifteen years old,
was eventually convicted in two thousand and two of murdering
Martha and sentenced to twenty years to life in prison.
(01:26):
But what the fuck? What transpired to cause a fifteen
year old to kill their peer and why did it
take so long to convict someone. Reports indicate that on
October thirtieth, nineteen seventy five, Martha decided to participate in
Mischief Night with her friends, which is the night before
Halloween where people will ring doorbells and pool pranks on neighbors,
(01:48):
such as toilet papering their homes. Really harmless stuff, kind
of annoying sometimes, but harmless. During the evening, friends stated
that Martha started flirting with a boy named Thomas Skakele,
who was the older brother of Michael. Friends indicated that
they had last seen Martha and Thomas quote unquote falling
together behind the fence, and that was near the pool
(02:10):
in the Scalpol backyard. Around nine thirty pm on October
thirty first, nineteen seventy five, Martha's deceased body was found
in the Moxley's backyard beneath a tree. She had been
found with her pants and her underwear pool down, but
there was no indication of sexual assault. There were also
pieces of a broken six iron golf club near her body,
(02:31):
and the autopsy indicated that she had been bludgeoned and
stabbed with the club. The club was traced back to
the scalphl residence. We know that Thomas Scakell was reportedly
the last person to be seen with Martha, so where
does Michael fit into the equation? Initially, Thomas was the
prime suspect due to the obvious he was the last
(02:52):
person seen with her, but his father wouldn't allow his
school and mental health records to be accessed. There was
also a living tutor at the Scalicoll home who ended
up being a suspect for a while as well, but
no one was ever charged and the case went cold
for quite some time. Over the years, both Thomas and
Michael Scagell had changed their alibis for the night of
(03:13):
Martha's murder. Michael ended up saying that he had been
window peeping and masturbating in a tree near Martha's home
from eleven thirty PM until twelve thirty am, and according
to two articles from Marthamoxley dot com website and True
TV website, two former students from Elon's School, which is
a treatment center for troubled youths, testified that they heard
(03:35):
Michael confessed to killing Moxy with a golf club. One
of the former students, Gregory Coleman, testified that Michael was
given special privileges and he had bragged quote, I'm going
to get away with murder. I'm m Kennedy end quote.
In nineteen ninety one, a man by the name of
William Kennedy Smith was tried and acquitted for rape. There
(03:57):
was a rumor that came out stating that he was
in the Scagle house on the night of Martha's murder
and there was belief that he was involved somehow. Oh shit.
It was eventually proven to be unfounded, but not before
a new investigation was launched into the cold case. There
was a private investigator on the case now and it
(04:17):
was leaked to the media sharing that Thomas and Michael
Skeakell had altered their stories about the night of Martha's murder.
In nineteen ninety eight, there was a book published written
by Mark Furman called Murder in Greenwich, where Michael Skeakell
was deemed the murderer and there were various mistakes pointed
out in the book that the investigators apparently made during
the investigation of her murder. So let's go over a
(04:41):
quick timeline, shall we. In June of nineteen ninety eight,
a rarely invoked one man grand jury was convened to
review the evidence of the case. After an eighteen month investigation,
it was decided that there was enough evidence to charge
Michael Skeakele with murder. On January ninth, two thousand and
arrestaurant was issued for an unnamed juvenile for Martha's murder.
(05:02):
Michael Skeaikele surrendered to authorities later that day. He was
released shortly thereafter on a five hundred thousand dollars bail.
On March fourteenth, Skeaygle was arraigned for murder in a
juvenile court since he was fifteen years old at the
time of Moxley's murder. On January thirty one, two thousand
and one, a judge ruled that Skeaykell would be tried
as an adult, and Skeagle's trial began on May seventh,
(05:26):
two thousand and two, in Norwalk, Connecticut. Skeakegle's alibi was
that at the time of the murder, he was at
his cousin's house, and then during the trial, the jury
heard part of a taped book proposal which included Skeaykele
speaking about masturbating in a tree on the night of
the murder, which was believed to be the same tree
under which Martha's body was found the next morning. In
(05:47):
the book proposal, Skeakell did not admit to committing murder,
and prosecutors took words from the book proposal and overlaid
them on graphic images of her dead body in a
computerized multimedia presentation shown to during closing arguments. In the audiotape,
Skekell said that he was afraid he might have been
seen the previous night quote unquote jerking off, and he
(06:08):
had panicked. Though the jury heard the whole tape during
the closing arguments, the prosecutor did not play the portion
of the audio tape in which Skeykeell had said, quote
unquote jerking off, giving the impression that he was confessing
to the murder. On June seventh, two thousand and two,
Skekell was found guilty of murdering Moxley and was sentenced
to twenty years to life in prison. He was assigned
(06:30):
to the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, Connecticut. In twenty thirteen,
Skekell was granted a new trial by a Connecticut judge
who ruled that his council had been inadequate, and he
was released on a one point two million dollar bail.
On December thirtieth, twenty sixteen, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled
four to three to reinstate Skegell's conviction. The Connecticut Supreme
(06:52):
Court reversed itself on May fourth, twenty eighteen, and ordered
a new trial. June of twenty nineteen, Oxygen premiered a
fie three part documentary titled Murder and Justice, The Case
of Martha Moxley, hosted by legal analyst and former prosecutor
Laura Coates. On October thirtieth, twenty twenty, the forty fifth
anniversary of Moxley's murder, the state of Connecticut announced it
(07:15):
would not retry Scalpell from Moxley's murder. So Who is Michael?
Michael Christopher Skegel was born on September nineteenth, nineteen sixty,
to Rushton Walter Skekele and Anne Reynolds Russian's sister, Ethel
(07:38):
was the widow of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and
his grandfather was the founder of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation,
which is a coal company that was one of the
largest and wealthiest privately held corporations in the US. So
to say their family was affluent is an understatement. After
Michael's mother died of brain cancer in nineteen seventy three,
(08:00):
Michael began abusing alcohol. He wasn't the best student and
flunked out of school after school. After school, he also
struggled with dyslexia, which was undiagnosed until he was twenty
six years old. Eventually, his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Junior,
wrote a letter stating that Michael was the runt of
the litter. There were seven children, and he had a
(08:22):
violent and alcoholic father who would ignore and abuse Michael,
and according to friends and neighbors, the Scalgol kids were
given unlimited amounts of money and were largely unsupervised, according
to a CNN article from two thousand and seven, In
nineteen seventy eight, Skagel was arrested for drunk driving in
New York State. To avoid criminal charges, his family sent
(08:44):
him to the Elon School in Poland, Maine, where he
purportedly received treatment for alcoholism. He ran away from the
school twice before leaving after two years. Skegule later attended
Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts, and earned a bachelor's degree
in English. During the nineteen eighties, he attended several drug
rehabilitation facilities before he finally becoming sober in his twenties.
(09:07):
Skeakell also pursued a career as a professional athlete. He
competed on the International speed skiing circuit and tried out
for the speed skiing demonstration team that appeared at the
nineteen ninety two Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. In nineteen
ninety one, Scagelle married professional golfer Margaret Sheridan, with whom
he has one child. Sheridan filed for divorce shortly after
(09:30):
Skeaygell was arrested for Moxley's murder in January of two thousand.
Their divorce was finalized in two thousand and one. So
what are your thoughts on this case? Do you think
Michael got away with murder or do you think he's innocent?
I'd love to hear more from you, so please email
(09:50):
me at Nature versus Narcissism at gmail dot com. This
is actually the first time that I ever looked into
this case, and I know that there's a lot more
out there, So if anybody he has more information or
would like to discuss this further, I'm all ears and
I would love to update this episode, so please reach
out to me again Nature versus Narcissism at gmail dot com.
(10:11):
And until next time, stay inside, stay alive, and don't
call the cops. Bye.
Welcome back to Nature Versus Narcissism. As always, I'm your host, Heather,
and today I'm rolling solo. Many of our longtime listeners
know that each Spooky season we'd like to throw a
bit of a curve ball and share a series with
you that doesn't quite follow the main Feed format, and
this year is no different. This year, we're aiming to
bring you at least one main Feed episode per day
in October, plus some Patreon episodes sprinkled throughout this year.
(00:43):
We're bringing you a story about a crime that occurred
on or has a connection to each day in October,
and today we're talking about October thirtieth, So why don't
we get started. In today's episode, I would like to
discuss the murder of Martha Moxley. Martha Elizabeth Moxley was
born on August sixteenth, nineteen sixty in San Francisco, California,
(01:04):
but at the time of her murder, she was fifteen
year old student attending high school in Greenwich, Connecticut. She
was last seen alive at the home of this Scaygle family,
who lived in the home across the street from her
in Belle Haven, Connecticut. Well Scagle also fifteen years old,
was eventually convicted in two thousand and two of murdering
Martha and sentenced to twenty years to life in prison.
(01:26):
But what the fuck? What transpired to cause a fifteen
year old to kill their peer and why did it
take so long to convict someone. Reports indicate that on
October thirtieth, nineteen seventy five, Martha decided to participate in
Mischief Night with her friends, which is the night before
Halloween where people will ring doorbells and pool pranks on neighbors,
(01:48):
such as toilet papering their homes. Really harmless stuff, kind
of annoying sometimes, but harmless. During the evening, friends stated
that Martha started flirting with a boy named Thomas Skakele,
who was the older brother of Michael. Friends indicated that
they had last seen Martha and Thomas quote unquote falling
together behind the fence, and that was near the pool
(02:10):
in the Scalpol backyard. Around nine thirty pm on October
thirty first, nineteen seventy five, Martha's deceased body was found
in the Moxley's backyard beneath a tree. She had been
found with her pants and her underwear pool down, but
there was no indication of sexual assault. There were also
pieces of a broken six iron golf club near her body,
(02:31):
and the autopsy indicated that she had been bludgeoned and
stabbed with the club. The club was traced back to
the scalphl residence. We know that Thomas Scakell was reportedly
the last person to be seen with Martha, so where
does Michael fit into the equation? Initially, Thomas was the
prime suspect due to the obvious he was the last
(02:52):
person seen with her, but his father wouldn't allow his
school and mental health records to be accessed. There was
also a living tutor at the Scalicoll home who ended
up being a suspect for a while as well, but
no one was ever charged and the case went cold
for quite some time. Over the years, both Thomas and
Michael Scagell had changed their alibis for the night of
(03:13):
Martha's murder. Michael ended up saying that he had been
window peeping and masturbating in a tree near Martha's home
from eleven thirty PM until twelve thirty am, and according
to two articles from Marthamoxley dot com website and True
TV website, two former students from Elon's School, which is
a treatment center for troubled youths, testified that they heard
(03:35):
Michael confessed to killing Moxy with a golf club. One
of the former students, Gregory Coleman, testified that Michael was
given special privileges and he had bragged quote, I'm going
to get away with murder. I'm m Kennedy end quote.
In nineteen ninety one, a man by the name of
William Kennedy Smith was tried and acquitted for rape. There
(03:57):
was a rumor that came out stating that he was
in the Scagle house on the night of Martha's murder
and there was belief that he was involved somehow. Oh shit.
It was eventually proven to be unfounded, but not before
a new investigation was launched into the cold case. There
was a private investigator on the case now and it
(04:17):
was leaked to the media sharing that Thomas and Michael
Skeakell had altered their stories about the night of Martha's murder.
In nineteen ninety eight, there was a book published written
by Mark Furman called Murder in Greenwich, where Michael Skeakell
was deemed the murderer and there were various mistakes pointed
out in the book that the investigators apparently made during
the investigation of her murder. So let's go over a
(04:41):
quick timeline, shall we. In June of nineteen ninety eight,
a rarely invoked one man grand jury was convened to
review the evidence of the case. After an eighteen month investigation,
it was decided that there was enough evidence to charge
Michael Skeakele with murder. On January ninth, two thousand and
arrestaurant was issued for an unnamed juvenile for Martha's murder.
(05:02):
Michael Skeaikele surrendered to authorities later that day. He was
released shortly thereafter on a five hundred thousand dollars bail.
On March fourteenth, Skeaygle was arraigned for murder in a
juvenile court since he was fifteen years old at the
time of Moxley's murder. On January thirty one, two thousand
and one, a judge ruled that Skeaykell would be tried
as an adult, and Skeagle's trial began on May seventh,
(05:26):
two thousand and two, in Norwalk, Connecticut. Skeakegle's alibi was
that at the time of the murder, he was at
his cousin's house, and then during the trial, the jury
heard part of a taped book proposal which included Skeaykele
speaking about masturbating in a tree on the night of
the murder, which was believed to be the same tree
under which Martha's body was found the next morning. In
(05:47):
the book proposal, Skeakell did not admit to committing murder,
and prosecutors took words from the book proposal and overlaid
them on graphic images of her dead body in a
computerized multimedia presentation shown to during closing arguments. In the audiotape,
Skekell said that he was afraid he might have been
seen the previous night quote unquote jerking off, and he
(06:08):
had panicked. Though the jury heard the whole tape during
the closing arguments, the prosecutor did not play the portion
of the audio tape in which Skeykeell had said, quote
unquote jerking off, giving the impression that he was confessing
to the murder. On June seventh, two thousand and two,
Skekell was found guilty of murdering Moxley and was sentenced
to twenty years to life in prison. He was assigned
(06:30):
to the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, Connecticut. In twenty thirteen,
Skekell was granted a new trial by a Connecticut judge
who ruled that his council had been inadequate, and he
was released on a one point two million dollar bail.
On December thirtieth, twenty sixteen, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled
four to three to reinstate Skegell's conviction. The Connecticut Supreme
(06:52):
Court reversed itself on May fourth, twenty eighteen, and ordered
a new trial. June of twenty nineteen, Oxygen premiered a
fie three part documentary titled Murder and Justice, The Case
of Martha Moxley, hosted by legal analyst and former prosecutor
Laura Coates. On October thirtieth, twenty twenty, the forty fifth
anniversary of Moxley's murder, the state of Connecticut announced it
(07:15):
would not retry Scalpell from Moxley's murder. So Who is Michael?
Michael Christopher Skegel was born on September nineteenth, nineteen sixty,
to Rushton Walter Skekele and Anne Reynolds Russian's sister, Ethel
(07:38):
was the widow of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and
his grandfather was the founder of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation,
which is a coal company that was one of the
largest and wealthiest privately held corporations in the US. So
to say their family was affluent is an understatement. After
Michael's mother died of brain cancer in nineteen seventy three,
(08:00):
Michael began abusing alcohol. He wasn't the best student and
flunked out of school after school. After school, he also
struggled with dyslexia, which was undiagnosed until he was twenty
six years old. Eventually, his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Junior,
wrote a letter stating that Michael was the runt of
the litter. There were seven children, and he had a
(08:22):
violent and alcoholic father who would ignore and abuse Michael,
and according to friends and neighbors, the Scalgol kids were
given unlimited amounts of money and were largely unsupervised, according
to a CNN article from two thousand and seven, In
nineteen seventy eight, Skagel was arrested for drunk driving in
New York State. To avoid criminal charges, his family sent
(08:44):
him to the Elon School in Poland, Maine, where he
purportedly received treatment for alcoholism. He ran away from the
school twice before leaving after two years. Skegule later attended
Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts, and earned a bachelor's degree
in English. During the nineteen eighties, he attended several drug
rehabilitation facilities before he finally becoming sober in his twenties.
(09:07):
Skeakell also pursued a career as a professional athlete. He
competed on the International speed skiing circuit and tried out
for the speed skiing demonstration team that appeared at the
nineteen ninety two Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. In nineteen
ninety one, Scagelle married professional golfer Margaret Sheridan, with whom
he has one child. Sheridan filed for divorce shortly after
(09:30):
Skeaygell was arrested for Moxley's murder in January of two thousand.
Their divorce was finalized in two thousand and one. So
what are your thoughts on this case? Do you think
Michael got away with murder or do you think he's innocent?
I'd love to hear more from you, so please email
(09:50):
me at Nature versus Narcissism at gmail dot com. This
is actually the first time that I ever looked into
this case, and I know that there's a lot more
out there, So if anybody he has more information or
would like to discuss this further, I'm all ears and
I would love to update this episode, so please reach
out to me again Nature versus Narcissism at gmail dot com.
(10:11):
And until next time, stay inside, stay alive, and don't
call the cops. Bye.
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