Skakel sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for 1975 killing

NORWALK, Conn. -- A judge sentenced Michael Skakel to 20 years to life in prison Thursday for bludgeoning his teenage neighbor with a golf club in 1975 after hearing the Kennedy cousin tearfully proclaim his innocence and link his suffering to that of Jesus Christ.

Skakel told Norwalk Superior Court Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. he could not apologize for a crime he had not committed.

"I would love to be able to say I did this crime so the Moxley family could have rest and peace, but I can't," he said, sobbing. "To do that would be a lie."

Kavanewsky said he was imposing a substantial sentence on Ethel Kennedy's nephew because of the brutality of the crime and because Skakel was unrepentant.

"For the last 25 years or more ... the defendant has been living a lie about his guilt," the judge said. "This defendant has accepted no responsibility, he has expressed no personal remorse."

Skakel, 41, was convicted in June of killing Martha Moxley when they were 15-year-old neighbors in wealthy Greenwich. He plans to appeal.

Skakel, who did not testify at his trial, gave a rambling, tearful speech in which he said he had screamed at God to protest his fate.

Responding to prosecutors' arguments that Skakel was rarely employed, Skakel said, "And as far as a job is concerned, I mean, what did Jesus Christ do? He walked around the world telling people that he loved them. Should he go to jail for that?"

"It sounded to me like he was trying to compare himself with someone being crucified," prosecutor Jonathan Benedict said later. Benedict had urged the court to impose a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, calling the murder "cold-bloodedly evil."

Under 1975 sentencing guidelines, Skakel will become eligible for parole on April 27, 2013. Kavanewsky rejected a defense motion to free Skakel on bond while the conviction is appealed.

Defense lawyer Michael Sherman submitted letters from numerous supporters, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Ethel Kennedy.

In a steady rain outside the courthouse, Martha's mother, Dorthy Moxley, called the sentence reasonable. Brother John Moxley said he was numb.

"There's no celebration," John Moxley said. "There's no party to go to."

Martha's battered body was discovered on Oct. 31, 1975, under a tree on her family's estate near the Skakel home in a gated Greenwich community. She had been repeatedly beaten with a golf club -- later traced to a set owned by Skakel's mother -- and stabbed in the neck with the club's shaft.

At trial, prosecution witnesses said Skakel was romantically interested in Martha, but suggested he was upset because his older brother, Thomas, an early suspect in the slaying, was making advances on their attractive blonde neighbor.

The case went unsolved, creating speculation that wealth, privilege and the Kennedy connection had protected the Skakel family.

Attention turned to Michael in the early 1990s, when he gave new details of his activities the night of the murder to a private investigator hired by the Skakel family. Skakel was arrested in 2000 after a grand jury investigation.

He fought to have his case heard in juvenile court, but a judge ruled the state had no juvenile facility in which to lock up a middle-age man. The case was transferred to adult court in January 2001.

Prosecutors had no eyewitnesses and little forensic evidence. Instead they presented about a dozen people who said they had heard Skakel confess or make incriminating statements.

One such witness, Gregory Coleman, died of heroin use by the time Skakel's trial began. But prosecutors were permitted to read Coleman's pretrial testimony into the record, including an allegation that Skakel once told him: "I'm going to get away with murder, because I'm a Kennedy."