Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison For a Murder He Didn't Commit Read online

  Advance Praise for Framed

  “Michael Skakel is fortunate to have a cousin as loyal as Robert Kennedy Jr. In Framed, Kennedy presents a compelling, methodical case that Skakel is innocent of murder and is a victim himself. Americans interested in justice should be captivated by this book.”

  —Bill O’Reilly, Fox News anchor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killing Lincoln

  “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new book, Framed, is a furious and fascinating condemnation of the persecution of Michael Skakel. This account will shock and astound those who read the press reports of the case at the time, particularly Dominick Dunne’s reportage, and believed Skakel to be the monster portrayed there. It is deeply researched, bitingly written, and entirely convincing.”

  —Stuart Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stone Barrington series and Holly Barker series

  “A brilliantly written autopsy of a wrongful prosecution and conviction, Kennedy’s book is a masterpiece that chronicles the Kafkaesque persecution of an innocent man. It is a riveting narrative of greed, hubris, envy and sloth. Michael Skakel’s saga is a heartbreaking account of an abuse of power paralleled in infamy only by the Duke Lacrosse prosecutors.”

  —Anne Bremmer, American attorney, television personality, defense counsel in Amanda Knox’s Italian murder trial

  “Bobby Kennedy pulls no punches in making the compelling case for his cousin’s, Michael Skakel’s, absolute innocence. But he goes much further: indicting those who he believes were complicit in what he calls a frame-up by prosecutors, police, and the media. … This book is a devastating indictment of our justice system and media for their systemic unwillingness to confront their own errors. It is a must-read for those who care about justice and integrity in our public institutions.”

  —Alan M. Dershowitz, author of Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law

  “An exciting page turner.”

  —Morris Dees, author, attorney, and co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center

  “In Framed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with Capote-like precision, tells his gripping story of an innocent man caught up in a Kafkaesque nightmare between a corrupt prosecution and a disastrously inept criminal defense that resulted in 11½ years in prison for a crime Skakel didn’t and couldn’t have committed. RFK Jr. lays it all out in a page-turner that will convince all but the most rabid Kennedy haters. Then again, the arguments are so compelling, maybe even they’ll be convinced.”

  —Michael Shapiro, Perennial Superlawyer, Former Queens County District Attorney, New York Special Prosecutor, faculty Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law, adjunct Harvard Law School

  “Framed is the riveting true story of a life turned upside down by unethical prosecutors and irresponsible journalists in a justice system which is anything but. It is both the story of one man’s nightmare and a cautionary tale for us all … because while it is true that we can ensure that we do not COMMIT a crime, we can never ensure that we are not CHARGED with one. Kudos to Kennedy, not only for writing a page-turner, but for never giving up his quest for the Truth.”

  —Shawn Holley, defense attorney for O.J. Simpson’s Dream Team and in over 60 trials for high-profile clients, including Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, and others

  “Crime thrillers and true crime stories both aim to explore our notions of justice. Framed by Robert Kennedy Jr. combines the best of both with a powerful story that grabbed me in the first few pages and wouldn’t let go. Kennedy meticulously torpedoes the case that convicted his cousin Michael Skakel of murder. He chronicles a decades-long horror show of incompetence, prejudice, malfeasance, and outright misconduct. What I didn’t expect, though, were the feelings that surfaced while I was reading. Kennedy took me from rage to tears at the injustices suffered by his cousin and family. Framed is a must-read for anyone who cares about our judicial system.”

  —Libby Fischer Hellmann, award-winning author of Easy Innocence and other crime thrillers

  “An electrifying, meticulous exposé. Kennedy shows how his cousin was wrongfully convicted by a grim yet fascinating cast of characters cruelly assembled, as it were, to thwart justice; corrupt police and prosecutors, an incompetent defense lawyer, a judge who falls in love with the 24 hour news cycle while forgetting his role as neutral arbiter, and the TV “commentators” who directed the outcome of the case for ratings and not justice—all conspiring to convict an innocent man while allowing the real murderers to go free. Kennedy gives the reader a front-row seat, and, unlike the jury, all of the evidence necessary to watch, in horror, the conviction of yet another innocent man. If this book does not wake people up to the terrifying reality of how our criminal justice has become a game not of seeking justice but of winning, I do not know what will. This book is mandatory reading for anyone who cares about truth, individual rights, and the corruption of justice in America.”

  —Joe Cheshire, attorney in the Duke Lacrosse case, North Carolina’s “Top Lawyer” three years running by SuperLawyer.com

  “Kennedy exposes the toxic brew of incompetence and sensationalism that led to his cousin’s conviction. The ‘cold case’ had every ingredient that made it an irresistible stew that fed the ambition and corruption by press, prosecutors, and police; the brutal, senseless murder of a privileged teenage girl, a self-seeking prosecutor with ‘elastic ethics’, a society gossip fabulist who stirred the brew, a crooked cop, sloppy police work, a cavalier defense lawyer, and a ‘Kennedy cousin’ with an ironclad alibi who nevertheless became the perfect suspect.

  “Now, years after a monumental miscarriage of justice, Kennedy, by careful investigation, deconstructs the prosecution’s case, convincingly shows Michael Skakel’s innocence, and identifies the true culprits who have escaped justice for decades.”

  —Dick DeGuerin, considered one of America’s top lawyers, most notably for his defense of Tom DeLay, David Koresh, Robert Durst, and others

  “An awful, awful story brilliantly told. How many more innocent men and women will be wrongfully convicted and punished with long and terrible jail sentences? This book is a scream for change.”

  —Martin Garbus, legendary criminal and constitutional attorney, educator, and author of Courting Disaster and other books. “One of the world’s finest trial lawyers,” according to The Guardian

  “The definitive account of the perfect storm that led to Michael Skakel’s wrongful conviction, Kennedy recounts the blunders of investigators, the misconduct of prosecutors, the perjury of witnesses, the legal ineptitude of judges and defense lawyers, and the failings of a criminal justice system that cares more about defending a conviction, even one that is wrongful, than in delivering justice. And he answers the question that has remained unanswered for more than 40 years: Who killed Martha Moxley?”

  —David Cameron, Professor of Political Science, Yale University, and member of Connecticut’s Eyewitness Task Force

  “Kennedy explains with new clarity and detail the pervasive corruption in the Connecticut State Prosecutor’s Office that led to Michael’s wrongful conviction. He shows, in a persuasive, compelling narrative, of how four writers, pursuing their own craven ambitions, orchestrated Michael’s media lynching and wrongful conviction.”

  —Randy Wayne White, New York Times bestselling crime writer, author of more than 40 books, including the Doc Ford series, former member of the Florida Judicial Nominating Committee and Florida Bar Association Grievance Committee

  Copyright © 2016 by Ro
bert F. Kennedy Jr.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

  Skyhorse® and Skyhorse Publishing® are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Brian Peterson

  Cover photo credit: Chris Buck

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-0177-9

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0178-6

  Printed in the United States of America

  To Cheryl,

  the wisest person I know

  and

  To my mother,

  who tried to give her children her love for reading and language

  and who taught us, through word and actions, to trust in God,

  but to be skeptical of dogma and to always question authority.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Andrew Goldman was my invaluable partner and collaborator in researching, writing, and structuring this book. I watched him evolve from a skeptic into Michael Skakel’s passionate and energetic defender. Andrew has all the qualities of a great journalist. He is tough, thorough, meticulous, fearless, probing, and hungry for truth. His deep research cracked the code on lawyer Sheridan’s key role in framing Michael—a role that the Skakels had long suspected, but were never able to prove. I’m grateful that Andrew cheerfully continued to volunteer his time to this project for three months after completing his work.

  I could not have written this book without the aid of Stephen Skakel, who archived tens of thousands of relevant documents and took the leadership role in screening and hiring Michael’s new lawyers and orchestrating his defense. His encyclopedic knowledge of Michael’s case far exceeds anybody’s, including Michael’s. Stephen was available to Andrew and me 24/7. Stephen inspired me, both with his love for Michael, and for justice; he spent a decade making grueling personal sacrifices to defend his brother heroically when all the world believed Michael guilty. Stephen has made a career pursuing St. Paul’s admonition that we pursue peace, labor for justice, comfort the afflicted, care for the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and welcome refugees. His devotion to Michael is proof of Emerson’s notion that “If a single man plants himself firmly upon his own ideal, and there abides, the whole wide world will come round to him.”

  Three people—Lori Morash, Dr. Val Chamberlain, and Christine O’Neill—typed this manuscript. All of them worked grueling hours on an insanely tight schedule and somehow managed to unscramble many hundreds of handwritten legal pad pages of my reprehensible penmanship. Dr. Val Chamberlain, a retired archaeologist and professor at the University of Idaho, moved into my home for nearly six weeks and put in 14-hour work days with me as I raced to complete the manuscript. I benefited from her beautiful sense of structure, her impeccable Oxford grammar, her scrupulous fact checking, and her perpetual good cheer. My children loved hearing her dinner-table tales of college days at Oxford when she was the lone woman in her department. We have all relished hunting fossils with Val, learning from her some of the wonders of archaeology and paleontology.

  Christine O’Neill typed all of these chapters through their various iterations and edits, while simultaneously managing my complex schedule, supporting my litigation and teaching responsibilities, and fielding phone calls—and doing everything with grace and humor. She often worked until dawn and was up bright eyed and ready for more work after breakfast.

  I’m grateful to my children for taking care of each other while I worked on the book—and for always rooting for Michael.

  I owe too much to Cheryl to inventory here. She supported me in every way and at every moment as I researched and wrote this book. She was the first to read it and gave me brilliantly targeted notes, all of which are incorporated here.

  I owe special thanks to David Michaelis and Nancy Steiner, who provided me my home away from home, wonderful garden-fresh homegrown and home-cooked meals, and who read selective chapters for me. I’m particularly grateful that they hosted Michael Skakel for dinner once each week and gave us all love and support.

  To my mother, who inherited the rich portfolio of Skakel virtues—her humor and courage, her reckless generosity and her competitive spirit, her peculiar combination of faith and irreverence, her love of nature, and her curiosity about everything and everybody—and who tried to give those gifts to her children.

  To my best friend, New York Observer editor Peter Kaplan, who worked unsuccessfully in 2003 to help me find an independent journalist willing to venture beyond the seductive narratives and write the real story of Michael Skakel’s persecution. When those efforts failed, Peter observed, “Every reporter is scared of appearing to have been seduced by your family. You need to write this story yourself.” Shortly before his death in 2013, he read my chapter on “The Ghosts” and told me to turn it into a book. I felt his presence every day that I worked on this project. Peter’s widow, Lisa Chase, recommended Andrew Goldman to help me with research and writing.

  To my agent, Kris Dahl, who I think must be the savviest and coolest agent in the book business, and to my amazing team at Skyhorse—President and Publisher Tony Lyons, Publicity Director Charlie Lyons, Creative Director Brian Peterson, Senior Editor Mike Lewis, Group Editorial Director Mark Gompertz, and Senior Production Editor Stacey Fischkelta—who believed in this project when no one else did and who supported me. Thanks to Mark’s supervision and Stacey’s furious editing, we managed to produce and publish this book on a world-record crash schedule. Despite daunting setbacks, no one ever lost their cool. With the book done, my hope is that Stacey can do her laundry again.

  All men make mistakes, but the good man yields when he knows

  his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only sin is pride.

  —Sophocles, Antigone

  CONTENTS

  Cast of Characters

  Timeline

  Introduction

  PART I: The Stage

  CHAPTER 1 The Murder

  CHAPTER 2 The Prosecutor

  CHAPTER 3 Skakels and Kennedys

  PART II: The Suspects

  CHAPTER 4 The Neighbor

  CHAPTER 5 The Brother

  CHAPTER 6 The Boyfriend

  CHAPTER 7 The Gardener

  CHAPTER 8 The Crush

  CHAPTER 9 The Tutor

  PART III: The Victims

  CHAPTER 10 Martha and Michael

  PART IV: The Frame

  CHAPTER 11 The Caller

  CHAPTER 12 The Gossip

  CHAPTER 13 The Perjurer

  PART V: The Witnesses

  CHAPTER 14 The Model

  CHAPTER 15 The Bully

  CHAPTER 16 The Junkie

  CHAPTER 17 The Handyman

  CHAPTER 18 The Barber

  CHAPTER 19 The Friend

  PART VI: The Lawyer

  CHAPTER 20 The Clown

  PART VII: The Ghosts

  CHAPTER 21 The Killers?

  Epilogue

  Index

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  THE MOXLEY FAMILY

  DAVID MOXLEY, Martha’s father

  DORTHY MOXLEY, Martha’s mother

  JOHN MOXLEY, Martha’s older brother

  MARTHA MOXLEY, murder victim, age 15

  THE MOXLEYS’ FRIENDS AND THEIR ASSOCIATES

 
VINNIE CORTESE, John Moxley’s friend, out with him on night of Martha’s disappearance

  JOHN HARVEY, John Moxley’s friend, out with him on night of Martha’s disappearance

  LOU PENNINGTON, Moxley family friend who told John that his sister had been killed

  JOHN SALERNO, John Moxley’s friend, out with him on night of Martha’s disappearance

  ZACHARY SMITH, Peter Ziluca’s Santa Fe roommate

  NANCY ZILUCA, Peter’s mother

  PETER ZILUCA, Martha’s boyfriend

  THE MOXLEY HOUSEHOLD HELP

  THERESA TIRADO, Moxley maid

  THE SKAKEL FAMILY

  ANNA MAE DECKER SKAKEL, Rucky’s wife

  ANNE GILLMAN SKAKEL, Tommy’s wife

  ANNE REYNOLDS SKAKEL, Michael’s mother

  DAVID SKAKEL, Michael’s younger brother

  GEORGIE SKAKEL, Michael’s son

  JOHN SKAKEL, Michael’s older brother

  JULIE SKAKEL, Michael’s older sister

  MARGOT SHERIDAN SKAKEL, Michael’s ex-wife

  MICHAEL SKAKEL, Martha’s friend and neighbor

  RUSHTON “RUCKY” SKAKEL SR., Michael’s father

  RUSHTON “RUSH” SKAKEL JR., Michael’s older brother

  STEPHEN SKAKEL, Michael’s younger brother

  TOMMY SKAKEL, Michael’s older brother

  THE SKAKEL RELATIVES

  GEORGEANN DOWDLE, Michael’s cousin

  JIMMY DOWDLE, Michael’s cousin

  JOHN DOWDLE, Georgeann Terrien’s first husband (deceased), father to Johnny, Jimmy, and Georgeann

  JOHNNY DOWDLE, Michael’s cousin

  GEORGEANN SKAKEL TERRIEN, Rucky’s sister (Michael’s aunt), mother of Jimmy, Johnny, and Georgeann Dowdle

  GEORGE TERRIEN, Georgeann’s second husband

  MARY ELLEN REYNOLDS, Anne Skakel’s sister, former nun who lived in the Skakel household

  ANN BRANNACK SKAKEL, Rucky’s mother, Michael and Bobby’s grandmother

  GEORGE SKAKEL, Rucky’s father, Michael and Bobby’s grandfather

  GEORGE SKAKEL JR., Rucky’s brother, Michael’s uncle