Kennedy relative gets 20 years for 1975 murder
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Your support makes all the difference.A relative of the Kennedy family was sentenced to 20 years to life yesterday for murdering his neighbour on the lawn of her house when they were both 15 years old.
The sentencing of Michael Skakel, the 41-year-old nephew of Ethel Kennedy, widow of the late Senator Robert Kennedy, came after a day and a half of emotional testimony and tense legal sparring at the court in Connecticut. Attempts by Skakel's lawyers to have the jury verdict set aside failed.
Martha Moxley was found dead beneath a tree outside her home in Greenwich, Connecticut, by police on Hallowe'en in 1975.
Her head had been bludgeoned by what investigators identified as golf club belonging to Mr Skakel's late mother. The murder remained a mystery for more than 25 years.
"I would love to be able to say I did the crime so that the Moxley family could have peace,'' Skakel told the judge yesterday before sentencing. "But to do that would be a lie." The court was packed with members of both the Skakel and Moxley families.
A jury convicted Skakel of murder in June although the prosecution case was almost entirely circumstantial. Under the sentence, he could be eligible for parole in 2014.
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