Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel getting first parole hearing

SUFFIELD, Conn. Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel will get his first parole hearing to determine whether he should be released from prison a decade after he was convicted of killing his neighbor.

Skakel is serving 20 years-to-life for fatally beating Martha Moxley with a golf club in Greenwich in 1975, when they were 15. Skakel is a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy.

The hearing will be held Wednesday at McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield.

Skakel's supporters say he deserves to be released from prison because he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice and has been a model inmate.

But the victim's relatives want Skakel kept in prison the rest of his life, saying he was properly convicted and has shown no remorse.

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The Ghosts Of Greenwich

At left, watch a re-examination CBS News' "48 Hours Mystery" performed on the case against Skakel in 2008

Skakel, convicted in 2002, is eligible for parole consideration because of laws in place at the time of the crime, including good behavior credits.

In letters to the parole board, Skakel's supporters, including his cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., say Skakel has helped alcoholics recover. They also portray him as religious and devoted to his son.

Many letters cite Skakel's art work in prison, saying he has made uplifting paintings that show his true nature, give joy to others and encourage family values.

Letters objecting to his parole cite the heinous nature of the crime and say releasing him early would be devastating to the victim's family.

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"This person committed a heinous crime that gave many people a sentence of suffering that was irreversible," one of the letters states. "Why then should this person be given relief, when none is available for those who suffered the loss of a daughter, a sister, a dear friend."

The 52-year-old Skakel has insisted on his innocence. Dorthy Moxley, the victim's mother, rejected Skakel's claims of innocence.

The Hartford Courant also reported Tuesday that Skakel had filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN television host Nancy Grace and Tru-TV host Beth Karas, alleging they made false statements about evidence of Skakel's DNA near the crime scene.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court in Stamford, also names media companies Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting as defendants.

[verifabletruthmatters]

The evidence was much stronger that he didn't do it. There was another fellow working for them at the time who was mentally ill and unstable and much more likely to have responded in this manner, when she rejected his advances. At 15 Michael Stakel was a skinny kid that weighed les than 100 pounds. The other guy was much bigger and was a kind of male nanny to the Stakel children. There never should have been a conviction in the first place. Apparently the mother of Marth Moxley thinks she has the right to destroy the life of an innocent man and has no conscience about that.

[mom23terrier]

Awww Gee comm-on!!!... aren't Kenedy's who kill girlfriends granted a free pass??? oh that's right Skakel probably had a seat in congress being kept warm for him.... when it should have been the electric chair.

If he's painting... sell the paintings BUT every penny must go to the victim's family or must go to a fund for all victims in PA....

Yes, people can change... God will take that into account when they face HIM... but down here, we mere mortals do keep a scales of justice and he already had his 'bonus' years free BEFORE he was finally convicted... he MIGHT have been eligible for parole IF he had been convicted back in '75.... he's all ready had his 'get out of jail free' card punched and it's all used up and invalidated.

[IPonUall2]

no, you are wrong about this.
In 75, he would have gotten up to 7 years as a minor.
Remember they were only 15 at the time.

Secondly, Don't push your mythology on him. There is no god.

As for bonus years, no again, he was not charged until much later.
You seem to hate him for being a Kennedy relative more than being a stupid kid.

[IPonUall2]

When they were 15?
I'd give him another 5 at least, unless evidence shows why any other action should be taken...
My 2 centavos.

[lillyhorton]

Many prisoners seem to be well fed. I wonder if he helps out in the kitchen. The crime took place in 1975 but he was not convicted until 2002 which gave him 25 years to own up to his crime. That didn't happen so it seems to me he has absolutely no remorse for killing the girl. I believe he is a good christian, prisoners are, and he may have helped an alcoholic while in prison but what has he done for the victims family besides offer money which they already had? He can't bring the child back can he? He needs to do himself a favor by cutting back on food intake.

[DigoPogo]

They seem to feed the prisoners well at McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield.