Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison For a Murder He Didn’t Commit

October 30, 1975…Young beauty Martha Moxley is brutally murdered in the affluent town of Greenwich, CT. The suspects are numerous, ranging from a local tutor to Moxley’s boyfriend to the young men from the affluent Skakel family. Locals gossip and name legions of possibilities, but nothing concrete. The investigation is considered slipshod, and the investigators are viewed under a powerful microscope. The case lay dormant until the 1990s, when former Detective Mark Furhman and journalist Dominick Dunne spun a yarn shining the spotlight on Michael Skakel. Skakel had an alibi but also a troubled past, with the former thrown aside and the latter exploited. In 2002, Michael Skakel would be convicted and sentenced to 20-years-to-life in prison. Justice was considered served, but cousin Robert Kennedy, Jr. felt differently. Through his own investigation, the case falls apart, Michael’s defense lawyer is pilloried for his work, and other suspects are highlighted. Skakel has been released, but the story still is not over.

Robert Kennedy’s experience as a lawyer makes him ideal to examine such a case. His story is far from a typical case procedural. Kennedy admits Michael and the Skakel’s faults but also highlights positives (i.e., Michael’s assistance to alcoholics and random strangers). Dunne, Fuhrman, and other investigators are seen as opportunists and libelous in their framing of the Skakels. Kennedy examines all possible suspects and names the two possible offenders. This is a book that will keep you up at night, the crime horrible, the miscarriage of justice even worse.