Martha Moxley Case Revisited: Kennedy Cousin Highlights 'Bold-Faced Lies' and Missing Evidence

The decades-old murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley continues to generate questions after Michael Skakel — a cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. whose conviction was later vacated — broke his silence and pointed to unresolved leads, inconsistent witness accounts, and missing evidence. The final episode of NBC News’ podcast Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder revisited the case, highlighting fresh details and lingering doubts about who killed Martha on Oct. 30, 1975.

Kennedy relative Michael Skakel gets into a car after walking out of a Stamford, Conn., courthouse in November 2013 after his murder conviction in the death of Martha Moxley was vacated when a judge ruled he did not receive adequate representation in his 2002 trial.(Getty Images)

Key New and Revisited Details

The podcast and accompanying reporting drew attention to a possible blood smear discovered in the Moxley family TV room the morning after the killing. Theresa Tirado, the family housekeeper, told police she saw smear marks she believed could be blood and said she wiped them up without realizing their possible significance. That detail was mentioned in a pretrial memo, but Skakel’s trial attorney did not pursue it at the time.

Martha Moxley when she was 14 years old

Investigators and subsequent reviews — including the Sutton Report from the 1990s — have explored multiple persons of interest. John Moxley, Martha’s brother, gave varying accounts about his whereabouts and how long he searched for Martha, which investigators called inconsistent. The Sutton team ultimately concluded John Moxley was not the killer, and author Robert F. Kennedy wrote in his book Framed that he agreed with those findings.

The Moxley residence in the Bellehaven section of Greenwich, Conn., in 1975.

The podcast also revisited other figures connected to the household. Franz Wittine, a longtime handyman and gardener for the Skakel family, was noted for contradicting others about whether golf clubs were present on the lawn the night Martha was killed. Wittine resigned from the family’s employ a year later and died in 1997.

Martha Moxley at 13 with her father, David Moxley

Forensics and Lost Evidence

The program spotlighted apparent gaps in the forensic record. Swabs taken from Martha’s groin area — collected to determine whether a sexual assault had occurred — were reportedly not introduced at trial and were believed lost for decades. NBC News’ production team located the samples in state custody; they were retested in 2018 and reportedly contained only Martha Moxley’s DNA.

A photo from the trial evidence showing a close-up of the golf club head.

Other investigative threads cited in the reporting include an allegation by Cissy Ix that Rush Skakel Sr. told her Michael had once suggested he might have killed Martha, and accounts that Michael and his brother Tommy were seen at different locations that evening. Michael Skakel has said memory issues stemming from time at the controversial Elan School complicated recollections of that period. He was later examined by Dr. Stanley Lesse, who cleared him after administering sodium pentothal.

Legal Outcome and Ongoing Mystery

Michael Skakel was convicted in relation to the killing, served 11 years, and was released in 2013. On May 4, 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated his conviction; prosecutors later declined to pursue a retrial. With Skakel no longer facing charges, the identity of Martha Moxley’s killer remains officially unresolved, and her family and the Greenwich community continue to seek answers.

Note: This article summarizes public reporting from NBC News' podcast Dead Certain, the Sutton Report, Connecticut Insider, and court records related to the case.