The House of Kennedy(75)
Surprising some and thrilling others, Michael Skakel is found guilty of the 1975 murder and given a twenty-year prison term. But in 2013, his conviction is vacated, citing poor representation by his legal counsel. Then in 2016, his conviction is reinstated…and again overturned in 2018.
“The state of Connecticut had a very, very, very good case, and we absolutely know who killed Martha,” Dorthy Moxley, Martha’s mother, declares in January 2019. “If Michael Skakel came from a poor family, this would have been over. But because he comes from a family of means they’ve stretched this out all these years.”
“The evidence shows that Michael [Skakel] spent eleven years in prison for a crime he did not commit,” Skakel’s attorney, Roman Martinez, rebuts. “The Supreme Court’s decision rejecting review should end this case once and for all.”
Throughout his cousin’s trials, Bobby Jr. stands by Skakel’s side, convinced of his innocence. In 2016, he writes a book called Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit.
“Michael dished some pretty nasty dirt on [the family],” says Timothy Dumas, a Greenwich local and former classmate of Martha’s, and author of the book A Wealth of Evil: The True Story of the Murder of Martha Moxley in America’s Richest Community. “But the Kennedys are known for their loyalty and for drawing together in times of crisis.”
Chapter 51
Despite Norfolk district attorney Jeffrey Locke’s willingness to pursue the allegations of statutory rape, if it can be shown that Marisa Verrochi was under sixteen when her sexual affair with Michael Kennedy began, by July 1997 the investigation is dropped due to lack of cooperation.
The Verrochis release a statement citing fears of the same media hysteria that dogged the William Kennedy Smith rape trial a few years earlier, pointing out how “a protracted investigation and trial, accompanied by unrelenting media coverage, would cause potentially irreparable harm to the victim of this outrageous conduct.” So while “Michael Kennedy has caused us great pain and suffering by his outrageous conduct and his breach of the trust we placed in him as a neighbor and friend,” their priority is their daughter’s “health and well-being [which]…cannot be further jeopardized.”
Michael’s wife, Vicki, steps in as well, denying any knowledge that her estranged husband committed a criminal act.
“Without the willing involvement of the victim, there is no basis to proceed further,” Locke concedes, and Michael quickly issues a statement, saying, “I deeply apologize for the pain I have caused. I intend to do all I can to make up for the serious mistakes I have made and to continue to obtain the help I need.”
Nevertheless, fallout from the revelations about Michael’s illicit relationship with the babysitter continues, sparking more stories in the press about the less-than-admirable behavior of the younger Kennedys in decades past, dredging up David’s death from overdosing, Bobby Jr.’s drug arrest, the jeep accident Joe caused which paralyzed Pamela Kelley. And there’s no denying that a high percentage of the family are admitted alcoholics: “It’s easier to get an AA meeting together than a touch-football team now,” Christopher Kennedy quips.
But the articles largely ignore how “none of the RFK sisters appears to have suffered a turbulent youth or later moral failings.” In fact, the oldest Kennedy grandchild, Kathleen, has “none of the rakehell appetites of the Kennedy men,” and founder of the Washington Monthly, Charlie Peters, calls her “the embodiment of the best the family represents. She’s stayed loyal to the true faith.” The sisters Michael is sandwiched between, Kerry and Courtney, are both active in humanitarian issues, and Rory, the baby of the family, is a serious documentary filmmaker who focuses on social justice issues. Even reformed addict Bobby Jr. is now described as “messianic” in his impulse to continue his father’s work. “After my father died, I had a feeling I should pick up the torch…er, pick up the flag,” he tells reporters.
The attitude toward the family is still rather askance after these latest scandals, however, and after examining his poll numbers, in August 1997 Joe Kennedy decides to bow out of the governor’s race. Earlier that year, the president of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, Samantha Overton, had noted, “Everyone I know was saying Joe Kennedy could just walk right into the governor’s office,” but after the “one-two punch” of the annulment and babysitter scandals, women voters are no longer looking favorably on Joe. “I don’t know if he can get beyond it,” she’d cautioned at the time, and it seems Joe agrees.
The most unexpected media blow comes from one of their own.
In the September 1997 issue of his pop-political glossy magazine, George, John F. Kennedy Jr. appears to take a potshot at his troubled cousins. In an issue that evokes the Garden of Eden, with a photo of Kate Moss and a snake on the cover and JFK Jr. himself with an apple in the interior (both seemingly nude), the editor’s letter John Jr. writes references “temptation” and “desire” and “the distraction of gawking at the travails of those who simply couldn’t resist.”
He goes on to specify how “two members of my family chased an idealized alternative to their life” and in so doing, “became poster boys for bad behavior.” Paraphrasing Grandma Rose’s favorite Bible verse, John Jr. writes, “To whom much is given, much is expected, right? The interesting thing was the ferocious condemnation of their excursions beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior. Since when does someone need to apologize on television for getting divorced?”