Key dates in the investigation into the murder of Martha Moxley:

—Oct. 30, 1975: As a pre-Halloween prank, 15-year-old Martha Moxley and friends spray shaving cream and strew toilet paper streamers about a neighborhood before stopping at the home of Thomas and Michael Skakel, nephews of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Their father, Rushton Skakel, is the brother of Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's widow.

—Oct. 31, 1975: Moxley is found dead under a tree in her back yard in Greenwich, Conn. The murder weapon, a golf club, was matched to a set owned by the Skakel family.

—1976: Skakel family ends cooperation with investigators.

—1978-1980: Michael Skakel attends the Elan school, a substance abuse center for teen-agers in Poland Spring, Maine. Prosecutors say during that time, he admitted some involvement in Moxley's killing to other students.

—1991: Police reopen the murder investigation after rumors circulate that William Kennedy Smith was at the Skakel home the night Moxley was murdered. The rumors proved to be unfounded. A published report says private investigators hired by the Skakel family revealed that both brothers had changed their stories about the night of Moxley's murder, giving different accounts than they gave to police in 1975.

—1993: Interest in the case is revived when a novel based on the murder, "A Season in Purgatory," by Dominick Dunne, is published.

—May 1998: The book "Murder in Greenwich," by former Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman, is published. The book asserts that Michael Skakel killed Moxley in a jealous rage after seeing his older brother kiss her.

—June 1998: Frustrated by a lack of progress in the investigation, Bridgeport State's Attorney, Jonathan Benedict, requests appointment of an investigative grand jury, which in Connecticut consists of a single judge. Superior Court Judge George Thim is then appointed with an 18-month deadline.

—Dec. 10, 1999: The 18-month term of the grand jury ends with Thim having heard testimony from more than 50 witnesses, some of them friends who were with Moxley the night she was killed. Thim's report due within 60 days.

—Jan. 19, 2000: Michael Skakel surrenders to face charges.

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