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In
1992, at the behest of a Skakel family attorney,
a prestigious Long Island private investigative
firm, Sutton Associates, began re-investigating
the murder of Martha Moxley. The firm spent
several years and reportedly over a million
dollars poring over the case and re-interviewing
witnesses.
Here
is an excerpt of the report:
Even
conservatively, there are a number of clearly
condemning circumstances pointing directly
at our principal suspects in the murder
of Martha Moxley. These facts function as
the board off which we must dive into the
murky waters of speculation. Despite all
the many obstacles and limitations, it is
incumbent upon us to take this jump in order
to, at the very least, get a tighter grip
on the lose ends of this investigation.
First and foremost:
1. Tommy
Skakel has lied to authorities about the
night of October 30, 1975.
2. Michael
Skakel has lied to authorities about the
night of October 30, 1975.
We
know Tommy Skakel lied, because he, admittedly,
altered his story to now include highly
relevant facts he purposefully concealed
from the Greenwich Police Department, Dr.
(Stanley) Lesse, and others. For example,
he told the Greenwich Police and Dr. Lesse
that the last time he saw Martha Moxley
on the night of her murder was at the side
of his house, around 9:30 pm. He has subsequently
advised Sutton Associates that he actually
spent, approximately, an additional thirtv
minutes with Martha, engaging in a sexual
encounter. If he was not lying then, he
is lying now, and visa-versa.
We
know Michael Skakel lied, because, in terms
of his story, he did the same thing as his
brother. If he was not lying then, he is
lying now, and visa-versa.
We
suspect Ken Littleton has lied because
he failed at least two lie-detector tests.
This remains only a suspicion, however,
because the results of these lie-detector
tests (administered under circumstances
unclear to Sutton Associates) cannot entirely
be trusted. Tommy, we have good reason to
believe, was able to pass at least one lie-detector
test with his original story. While it is
possible Tommy told the truth back then
and is lying now, such a scenario seems
highly unlikely. (Why would Tommy start
telling self-implicating lies after previously
telling the truth?) More probably, Tommy
was able to fool the polygraph.
Certain
individuals are capable of such deception.
(If the perpetrator is in some state of
denial, for example, their responses may
not register on the polygraph.) Tommy, we
know, successfully lied to Dr. Lesse. It
would seem his capacity for deception is
formidable. (Then again, as we will consider
in greater depth, later in this section,
Tommy may not have murdered Martha Moxley.
His deception may have been easier to maintain
if executed on the behalf of whoever did
murder Martha.)
Just
as the polygraph will let some who are lying
slip by, it can also falsely identify others
who are not lying. Certain individuals,
know matter what they say, will fail the
polygraph. Such people are usually very
nervous, unstable, or agitated. Littleton
is all three.
On Kenneth Littleton:
On
October 30, 1975, a twenty-three year-old
teacher and coach from the exclusive Brunswick
School in Greenwich, Connecticut, spent his
first night in residence as a tutor for the
Skakel family children. It was a job, and
a night, which dramatically changed the course
of Ken Littleton's life for the worse. Young,
athletic, handsome, and a recent graduate
from Williams, it seemed his future was full
of nothing but promise. In the wake of Martha
Moxley's murder, however, Ken Littleton fell
victim to heavy substance abuse and extreme
psychiatric problems. He was arrested in the
summer of 1976, on Nantucket, for grand larceny,
breaking and entering, and burglary. His criminal
record would grow from that point to include
shoplifting, assault and battery, and numerous
DWI convictions. Within five years, he was
working on a loading dock.
While
there is no doubt Littleton was profoundly
affected by Martha Moxley's murder and its
subsequent investigation, to what end his
problems can be attributed to this event
is uncertain. He is a haunted man, but why?
Is he somehow responsible? Is he involved
in some complicity, some conspiracy?
Ken
Littleton is a wild card š literally and
figuratively. If he is entirely innocent
of any involvement in the murder of Martha
Moxley, he has certainly gone to great lengths
to make it seem otherwise.
A
couple of years ago, the tabloid television
program, A Current Affair, ambushed
Littleton in Canada for an expose-style
interview. Anxious, stuttering, and shaking
uncontrollably, Ken initially tried to flee
the encounter, but then awkwardly relented.
He made a few comments and answered some
questions while remaining just barely within
the realm of coherence. He is a man who
suffers from severe depression and alcoholism,
and his demeanor is inherently disabled.
In this regard, he is his own worst accuser.
Littleton's
crime spree on Nantucket, which he attributed
to his drinking problem, brought him swiftly
to the forefront of speculation in the investigation
of Martha Moxley's murder. The Greenwich
Police Department's efforts to attach the
crime to Tommy Skakel had proven futile.
Their focus now shifted. Defenders of Littleton
insist the continued harassment of the Greenwich
Police š who frequently questioned Littleton
while he was working š lead to his dismissal
from teaching jobs.
Littleton
probably did lose teaching jobs because
of his status as a suspect and the Greenwich
Police's continued efforts to build a case
against him, but he has only himself to
blame for their interest. His foolish crimes
on Nantucket were a red flag to investigators.
Furthermore, to this day, he has left many
questions unanswered about his actions and
whereabouts on the night of October 30,
1975.
On
Tommy Skakel:
No one contests that Tommy Skakel is the last
person known to have seen Martha Moxley alive.
Partly as a result of this ominous distinction,
the second son of Rushton Skakel remains,
to this day, a leading suspect, if not the
leading suspect, in the investigation
of her murder. Those who have labored to establish
his innocence have faced as much difficulty
as those who have struggled to prove his guilt.
As such, Tommy has remained, for better or
worse, in a culpable limbo for nearly twenty
years.
Such
speculation has left quite a paper trail.
Tommy has been interviewed and examined
by doctors, detectives, police officers,
and mental health experts, on repeated occasions,
regarding the night of October 30, 1975.
Sutton Associates has amassed a collection,
as comprehensive as possible, of the materials
generated by Tommy‰s suspected involvement
in the 'incident. A few omissions were insurmountable:
certain files, physical evidence, and recorded
interviews, for example, remain in the possession
of the Greenwich Police Department, and
will likely never be made available.
In
addition to collecting and analyzing the
findings of other professionals, Sutton
Associates has conducted its own extensive
investigation into the murder. Tommy Skakel
has been among the numerous witnesses and
suspects interviewed for this investigation.
Sticking largely to the same story he has,
to the best of our knowledge, been telling
from the outset, Tommy maintains his innocence
and professes to have no first-hand knowledge
of how Martha Moxley was murdered. The few
changes he has made to his story, however,
are extremely revelatory. These changes
were solicited solely during interviews
with Sutton Associates. In conjunction with
other circumstantial evidence, they have
contributed substantial credence to the
possibility of Tommy's guilt and, at
the very least, suggest he has wilfully
deceived authorities, with considerable
success, for many years. We will illustrate
and explore the significance of these discrepancies.
While
this revelatory information brings us a
little farther from establishing Tommy‰s
innocence, it does not bring us much closer
to proving his guilt. As circumstances
now stand, the only means of answering this
issue, once and for all, he with Tommy,
himself. To obtain a better understanding
of the issue, then, we must come to a better
understanding of Tommy Skakel š and, specifically,
how he has endured under the scrutiny of
a high-profile, multi-faceted murder investigation.
The
Academy Group's profile of the probable
offender shares many obvious characteristics
with Tommy Skakel (as well as with other
leading suspects). Most notably, the Academy
Group believe the offender was between 14
and 18 years of age, resided within easy
walking distance of the victim's residence,
was in the same socioeconomic status as
the victim, had regular interaction with
the victim would have exhibited strong sibling
rivalry tendencies, would have experienced
behavioral problems both at school and at
home, and was under the influence of drugs
and/or alcohol at the time of this crime.
On
Michael Skakel:
At the beginning of the official police investigation
into the murder of Martha Moxley, Michael
Skakel was not a strong suspect. According
to some sources, he was ruled out almost immediately
due to what was then perceived as an air-tight
alibi, substantiated under polygraph by a
number of eye-witnesses. Some feel Michael
and other suspects were not thoroughly examined
at the time, due to a somewhat premature conviction,
on the part of local authorities, that Tommy
Skakel was the murderer. It was only later
when the spotlight of serious scrutiny was
placed directly on Michael. His arrest on
drunk driving charges in 1978 probably did
as much as anything to renew the police's
interest.
Michael,
at the time, was plagued with serious emotional
problems, living, by many accounts, a reckless
and drug-fueled existence. What gradually
emerged, from that point forward, was a
portrait of a deeply, and somewhat enigmatically,
troubled young man. In this light, and during
the course of Sutton Associates' investigation,
serious questions and unresolved issues
have been raised about Michael and the murder
of Martha Moxley. At the very least, it
is fair to say Michael Skakel has, for whatever
reason, often acted out in ways certain
to arouse suspicion. Reportedly, Michael
once even confessed to the murder of Martha
Moxley in a therapy session while a patient
at the Elan treatment center. He quickly
recanted.
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