The police later find out that no teacher at Tommy's school ever assigned this paper. Reply. At the dance, he kept putting his arms around me and making moves.". and I remember just having a feeling of panic. Although Tommy Skakel became a suspect as the last person known to have seen Martha alive, he had an alibi and Greenwich Police Department didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. I really have to stop going over there.". Martha headed across the street to hang out with her very wealthy neighbors, the Skakel family. STAMFORD, Conn. Since Michael C. Skakel's conviction in 2002 in the 1975 murder of his Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley when they were both 15, Mr. Skakel and his family have . Tori Holland: I was still in shock that she was gone but that this had to be a beautiful tribute to her, to send her off. Dorothy Moxley sensed that her daughters absence was not routine. She had a 9:30 p.m. curfew and she wouldnt stay away without calling. The mystery has attracted . More than three hundred people were questioned, some half a dozen times or more, police say. Their father Rushton struggled to parent them. She never made it. Despite the judge's ruling, almost a decade later in 2016, Robert Kennedy Jr. repeated Bryant's allegations in his book "Framed". From the Archives: Martha Moxley and 'The Doorbell Night Murder' (January 1977), National Signing Day 2022-2023: Connecticuts signing list. I'm a Kennedy.'". UNSOLVED: Teenager Peter Reilly, a poor Canaan resident, was railroaded for the murder of his mother, Barbara Gibbons. They all piled into a Lincoln parked in the driveway. If the police went near that boy bam!wed put a stop to it. Skakel confirms what the police and the prosecutor would notthat his son is off-limits for questioning. Martha Moxley's murder however was unusual, and in their attempts to uncover the murderer, the police would face some very unusual problems. How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh, Five deaths with a connection to Alex Murdaugh's family investigated, Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death. That has changed. It was the night before Halloween, October 30, 1975, also known as Mischief Night. In her entries, she described her relationship with the Skakel brothers. And on October 4, a little over three weeks before her murder, Martha wrote: "I went to a party! Martha Moxley, 15, fails to show up at home after roaming her neighborhood in Greenwich with friends. Erin Moriarty: I mean, did you ever ask him point-blank? They had tents. Lynne Tuohy: all the national media was there. Check out the Martha Moxley . Surely she had no reason to run away from home. Reilly won his freedom only after he attracted the attention and the financial help of his community and of celebrities such as playwright Arthur Miller and author William Styron. Really? In an enclave like Belle Haven, it is fact that Marthas playmates were not just another bunch of kids Doorbell Night rascals darting about hurling toilet paper in the trees, squirting shaving cream and toothpaste on mailboxes, ringing doorbells, and then disappearing. Before the killing, some families had felt so secure, they didnt bother locking their houses behind them. When Martha still wasn't home by around 2 a.m., Dorthy called the house of her daughter's friend Sheila McGuire, whose mom . Michael told police that after watching "Monty Python's Flying Circus" at his cousin Jimmy Terrien's house, he came home around 11:30 p.m. and went straight to bed, but he told his dad's investigators another story: MICHAEL SKAKEL (audio recording): And I remember thinking, oh my God, if I tell anybody that I was out that night, they're going to say I did it. Len Levitt (2003): He's feeling horny. JUDGE: Michael Skakel versus the state of Connecticut has been concluded. Girl, 15, Found Slain Near Plush Home; Girl, 15, Found Murdered At Her Greenwich Home; Executive's Daughter Found Slain; Police Say No Arrests Near In Martha Moxley Murder; Greenwich Family Linked To Slaying; Slaying: Rumors that William Kennedy Smith knew something about teen's death led nowhere. Richard Burns: after she was was murdered everything had changed. Asked if this reporter could question his son Thomas, Skakel said no, nobody can ask him questions now. / CBS News. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. And Michael was allegedly there. The beasts lived on the tennis court and dined on fish in a stocked pond.) And so, after almost half a century of questions, and two families shattered, all that remains is one terrible truth. Martha Moxley had been beaten and stabbed with a Toney Penna golf club. 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The golf club she was struck with shattered from the force of the blows. [1] Martha Moxley had been beaten and stabbed with a Toney Penna golf club. The Wall Street Journal noted that might be the Lesley Stahl: In hearing this myself, without the the preamble about masturbating to anybody is that he's actually talking about murdering her. Geoffrey Byrnes father heads a metals company that bears his name, and Sheila McGuire, who couldnt make it that night, is daughter of the vice president of the pharmaceutical company that makes Vicks products. But the rumor mill could not have had a juicier subject than the Skakel clan being close to a murder; the Skakels, that large family with a lavish lifestyle and an occasional flair for the eccentric. The teenager was probably out partying with a boyfriend or sleeping it off or possibly even running away from the big, beautiful home her parents thought she loved. Like others in Belle Haven, she feels the need to defend him. Up until October 2021 he was serving a 7-year sentence in a Florida prison for tax evasion. Father Richard Manus eulogized her as a bubbly girl who made more friends than most people make in a lifetime. Just recently, he noted, Martha Moxley had mused to a girlfriend that when she died she wanted her funeral to be happy, with friends remembering all the good times. Instead, as nine friends approached Marthas coffin with yellow roses, they burst into tears. Steve Carroll was among the first investigators from the Greenwich Police Department to walk up to Martha's body. While the worried mother spent hours making frantic calls around the Belle Haven neighborhood and while the police were searching the Moxleys three-acre spread, Marthas body lay close by. The Skakel family business, founded in 1919, controlled a large enough share of the coke market that the Federal Trade Commission charged in 1969 that the firm had too much market power in the field. Girl, 15, Found Slain Near Plush Home, Girl, 15, Found Murdered At Her Greenwich Home, Police Say No Arrests Near In Martha Moxley Murder. It was October 30, 1975, traditionally known as Doorbell Night, when youngsters roamed around pulling pranks the night before Halloween and giving the cops a headache. Correspondent Lesley Stahl asked Benedict about it. But the effort backfired because that report, for the first time, pointed a finger at another of Rushton's sons Michael Skakel. Robert Kennedy Jr: His tape-recorded words were used out of context by the prosecutor to imply that he was confessing to the crime. Moxley went missing on October 30, 1975, after a night of partying with Skakel, his older brother Tommy Skakel and other teenagers in an affluent gated community in Greenwich, Connecticut. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. We danced the whole night. After hearing from Coleman and other former Elan students, state's attorney Jonathan Benedict convened an unusual and rarely used one-person grand jury to look at all the evidence and all the suspects in the case. I think it's a fair . Produced by Asena Basak and Josh Gelman. The Moxley case has joined an ever-growing number of unsolved murders and a young suspect may carry an unfair and unearned burden for the rest of his life. And the friends are so embarrassed that they leave and go home, leaving Martha with Tommy. We achieved our fantasy. Circumstance put Thomas Skakel on the lawn with Martha that night; there was nothing else to link him to the crime. The 1888 mansion, dubbed the McCutcheon House as a nod to its former owner, wealthy linen merchant James McCutcheon, is one of only a few homes built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, which is named after the late Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson and the Romanesque style he reinterpreted. It was it was so obvious because, I mean, the next day, it was all over. To the four cops dispatched to the Moxley estate, the call was routine. Richard Burns: But everybody in Greenwich, you know, was very kind of reserved North-Eastern personalities. On the night of Martha's death, he was away on a hunting trip. In closing arguments, Prosecutor Benedict played an edited excerpt for the jurors: MICHAEL SKAKEL (audio recording): " oh, my God, did they see me last night?" The Murder of Martha Moxley and the Kennedy Connection. I think she would have been a great mother. Martha's mother Dorthy spoke with "48 Hours" in 2000. The month before her death, Martha wrote, "Michael was so totally out of it that he was being a real ass----I really have to stop going over there.". Hes a good boy, a lovely boy. I hope to God nobody saw me j----- off.". Ethel Kennedy, wife of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was originally Ethel Skakel, Rushtons sister, and a Greenwich girl. The Skakels, like most of their neighbors, are special peopleonly in some ways more so. Demolition Garden Wall Do Anything Aerial View Holy Spirit Mount Rushmore Aerial view of the Moxley home. Lunney just wanted to remind him that he was still a suspect by telling him, I may have to be on this case for a hundred years, but Im gonna prove you did it or you didnt do it. Thomas Skakel says this incident led his attorney to consider going to court for a restraining order to prevent police from even approaching him. The one you posted was the one to the west. In December, 1966, Kathleen Skakel, his daughter, drove a convertible over a bump in a Greenwich road and a seven-year- old girl was thrown out of the back seat and killed. Erin Moriarty: But it wasn't just Tommy who changed his story, was it? Lynne Tuohy: It was a Toney Penna 6-iron golf club. Captain Keegan says the police are close-mouthed because their talking could jeopardize eventual prosecution of a suspect. There, he was approached by Detective Lunney and a Detroit investigator, who asked him into a back room for a talk, he says. When 15-year-old high school sophomore Martha Moxley didn't come home after a night out with friends, her mother, Dorthy, was anxious. And so, 46 years after her murder, Martha Moxley's case once again goes cold and her childhood friends have little hope that her killer will one day be brought to justice, unless somebody out there decides to reveal a secret they may have been keeping for all these years. Police later found a matching golf club from the same set on the Skakel property. "This little girl this cute, little amazing girl was murdered brutally by somebody. The former home of hotelier Leona Helmsley in suburban Greenwich, Connecticut is now on the market. A little over a month later, Moxley was dead, smashed over the head and stabbed with a shard of broken golf club in the driveway of her family's home and dumped next to a tree in the backyard . So, when Tommy's brother Michael Skakel was arrested for Martha's murder in 2000 after reports circulated that he had allegedly confessed to the killing, the story grabbed headlines worldwide. Len Levitt: Michael and Martha are in the front seat of the Skakel car . Richard Burns: You know, how can you kill someone like that? Police later found a matching golf club from the same set on the Skakel property. A girl's attention. HUBERT SANTOS: You spent most of your time talking to the media, right? The manner in which Martha was killed indicates that it was somebody who had a relationship with Martha. Tori was on her way to join the search when another friend discovered Martha's body under a tree towards the back of the Moxley property. Len Levitt (2003): He's got no motive to kill Martha. All his statement did was breed more of the same rumors, says attorney William Lapcevic, then Greenwichs assistant town counsel. It was daylight when Martha's body was found, but based on reports of neighborhood dogs barking the night before, investigators believed that Martha was killed sometime between 9:30 and 10 p.m., around the time she was thought to be at the Skakels. Between the guards and the numerous children who were about, someone would surely have noticed a suspicious outsider. Hopefully, Martha Moxley's family will finally see justice for Martha and case solved. A lot with Dicky ". Police Chief Baran initially theorized that an outsider, a hitchhiker perhaps, could have made his way into the elegant Belle Haven enclave, possibly from the nearby Connecticut Turnpike, to attack Martha. I did not hang around with them. At the time of her death, the girl was only fifteen. After spending more than a decade in prison for the murder, in 2013 a judge granted Skakel a new trial, saying his first attorney failed to adequately represent him. GREGORY COLEMAN (news report): He had made advances towards her and she rejected his advances and quote, unquote, that he drove her skull in with a golf club. TONY BRYANT: and I'm going to go grab somebody and pull them by the hair and do what cavemans do.". AP There they discovered a piece of the murder weapon: the shaft of a golf club. But nobody saw him 'cause he wasn't there. Martha Moxley's body had been dragged through the high grass in her family's backyard and left under a tree. Bryant claims Hasbrouck complained to him, saying: TONY BRYANT: "I don't understand why she is spending her time with those guys when she could be with me.". TONY BRYANT: I'm trying to remember at one of the mixers and he got jealous of other guys coming up to her and talking to her. The month before she died, Martha wrote about going for ice cream with Michael and Tommy: "Went driving in Tom's car and I was practically sitting on Tom's lap. Of the five, three manned the posts and two others patrolled. Colangelo said that he had basically reinvestigated the case and found no additional evidence to present. The plane exploded in the air over Oklahoma. Martha flourished as the new girl in town, and nine months after her arrival, she was voted the most popular girl at Western Junior High School, according to CNN. After Michael Skakel was sent off to prison in August 2002, his cousin Robert Kennedy Jr. became his staunchest supporter. Jackie Wetenhall was also along the night that Martha died. VITO COLUCCI: And then right after the murder, when you met up with both Adolph and Burt, they told you, we got we did it. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. Just this week she had tried out for cheerleaders. Sherman also failed to convince the judge to allow tommy to testify, which could have raised doubts about Michael's involvement. State of Connecticut Dept. But the judge wasn't persuaded and ruled against Michael Skakel. He "I didn't do it and it ruined my life.". Using Natural Predators Thomas Skakel says he answered police questions and kept answering until he thought he was done with it several weeks after the murder. MattC September 18, 2017 at 8:04 AM. However, to my mind the actual location should be further from the house. Her dad is president of Cadbury-Schweppes, USA, the candy and soda manufacturers. In 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated his murder conviction and ordered a new trial. GREENWICH An attempt to track down an old golf club handle, which defense lawyers hope might cast additional light on a longtime murder investigation into the 1975 death of Martha Moxley, is being tied up over procedural issues, the lawyers say. In 1995, a leaked document from an investigation ordered by Rushton Skakel pointed a finger at Michael Skakel for the first time. He also fired Ken Littleton whose life unraveled shortly after. because he could be charged with that crime. The murderer apparently used the time well, for police indicate that they have virtually no material evidence in the case. Her body was found dead in the house's backyard, under a tree. It is many of these same people who are most bitter about the Moxley case and use it as a chance to vent longstanding frustrations about their better-off neighbors. Angry and frightened townspeople say that family influence has put Thomas Skakel beyond the reach of the system that hounded Peter Reilly. Robert Kennedy Jr.: It appeared to anybody who looked at it that he was confessing- that he was saying that he was panicked because he had committed this crime. In 2013, after spending 11-and-a-half years in prison, Michael Skakel got a huge break when a judge agreed that Skakel's representation had been inadequate and overturned his conviction, granting him a new trial. A semi-sexual encounter And suddenly casts himself as being, most likely the last person to see her alive. Her body was found the next day on the three-acre estate. Investigators honed in on the Skakel tutor, speculating that his downfall could be rooted in his involvement in Martha's murder. If they had, they would have found what young Sheila McGuire, Marthas friend, found eight hours later when the kids started gathering at the home of the missing girl. "48 Hours:" Friends of murder victim speak out after 46 years, Martha Moxley recorded in her diary that she was particularly concerned with Michael's behavior. But in 2020, prosecutors said they would not retry him. It could ruin his life. Within six weeks of the killing, the talk around Greenwich had grown so intense that the local daily newspaper, GreenwichTime, was moved to run an editorial entitled Rampant Rumors, decrying the unfounded accusations against a very young man the newspaper did not name. "I was getting more and more worried it just wasn't like her," Dorthy Moxley told "48 Hours.". If the kid is from Chickahominy, they take him to jail. Adds the firemans companion, Ive gone to the slammer and Ive seen them go home. Them is the rich, who run Greenwich, according to Evaristo and others. Lynne Tuohy: This was devastating to the Moxley family. Forty-five years to the day after 15-year-old Martha Moxley went missing, prosecutors for the state of Connecticut said Friday that they would not retry Michael Skakel in her brutal slaying. Martha Moxley was initially assaulted in the area to the left of this photo (inside the arc of the original driveway), and was then dragged across the gravel driveway to a site beyond the tree on the right of the photo, where she was fatally assaulted with a golf club. by Bipin Dimri. Judy Tygard is the executive producer, First published on November 6, 2021 / 10:59 PM. Every morning Martha laid out her fathers clothes for his daily commute to Manhattan, where he ran the office of Touche Ross, Inc., an international accounting firm. TONY BRYANT: Well, that night We decided to go up to Greenwich and hang out . its a one-armed battle we cant win against gossip. Moxley, who was 15 at the time, was beaten to death with a golf club on Oct. 30, 1975 in the Belle Haven neighborhood in Greenwich. On Halloween 1975, Martha was found brutally murdered - bludgeoned and stabbed to death with a golf club - beneath a tree on her own front lawn in the exclusive community of Greenwich, Conn. I know that boy. Like many of the more than fifty people Connecticut approached to discuss the Moxley murder and its after- math, this Belle Haven woman was reluctant to talk and would do so only if she were not named. My heart goes out to the Moxleys. Yes, he says, he appreciates Connecticuts effort to tell his side of a sad story, but his lawyer has said he should not talk, as has a second attorney, Emanuel Margolis, a Stamfordite whom he has retained for his son, Thomas. Erin Moriarty: Did you ever meet Al Hasbrouck? Since then, its been unclear if a new trial would be held. A police source who has seen his share of wounds describes it as the worst he has seen, a real crime of passion. Near the body, police found the bloodied head of the club, with only part of the shaft attached. Five days after the murder, the police had reason to believe that Marthas killer might attend the funeral. Benedict put holes in Michael's alibi, but he later said Michael himself provided the most damaging evidence. The Skakels, relatives of the Kennedys, were one of the wealthiest families in the country. Mr. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel. Police initially swarmed all over the Skakel estate where Martha was last seen alive. Len Levitt (2003): Michael lied to the police. It's very upsetting. He was doing 20 to 25 bags of heroin a day. Bryant has a criminal history that includes a 1993 conviction for armed robbery in California. Richard Burns and Tori Holland, childhood friends of Martha Moxley, speak out about the case for the first time since her murder to "48 Hours.". Skakel would like to speak out, he says, but feels it would not put rumors to rest. Fortunately, there are a variety of methods you can use to protect your garden from these pesky critters. there was a lot of partying going on in that house. On September 12, Martha wrote in her diary about going for ice cream with Michael and Tommy: "Went driving in Tom's car I was practically sitting on Tom's lap He kept putting his hand on my knee.". Lynne Tuohy: He moved to Nantucket, he drank heavily, did drugs committed crimes of petty larceny. She was always a great friend. "Dear Diary, today is the last day of '74. The feeling is that the police just aren't trying very hard on this case., Police Chief Baran, who has worked in Greenwich for thirty-one years, has heard these allegations before and they infuriate him. The Moxley family moved from Piedmont, California, to their sprawling home in Greenwich, Connecticut, during the summer of 1974. Since 1975, the tony neighborhood of Belle Haven, in Greenwich, Connecticut, has been haunted by the death of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old girl who was bludgeoned with a golf club. Now, for the first time since Martha Moxley was murdered, her childhood friends Richard Burns and Tori Holland are speaking together to "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty. Well, hope '75 is as good.". There is lots of evidence that ties them to the crime. And that drinking may have created conflict with Martha. At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, The Saturday Six: Dental device controversy, scientist's bug find and more, Indonesia fuel depot fire kills 18; more than a dozen missing, 3 children killed, 2 others wounded at Texas home, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Nikki Haley slams potential GOP contenders, and Trump and George W. Bush, Duo of 81-year-old women plan to see the world in 80 days, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh trial: What to know about the double murder case. It's the Black guy Let's blame him why not. Only a few hundred feet and Martha would have been safely home. The authorities say Miss Moxley was attacked in the driveway of her family's home on Oct. 30, 1975. He looked well, I actually think he looked hungover. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Like Martha, many had curfews, so by the time the youngsters reached the Skakel home at about 9 p.m., their number had dwindled to just threeHelen lx, twelve-year-old Geoff, and Martha. Tori Holland: I think she would've done great things. I must say I like the Skakel house at 71 Otter Rock a lot better. That trial would never happen. "The first words he ever said to me was, 'I'm going to get away with murder. Whoever murdered Martha Moxley had up to fifteen hours to cover his (or her) tracks before the body was found; fifteen hours to dispose of the section of golf club, wash off the blood, wash or dispose of bloodied clothes, and compose an alibi. Gardening can be a rewarding experience, but it can also be a challenge. The house built on the old building site is much larger. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. MICHAEL SKAKEL (in court): Mickey had me believing he was the real deal. In 1991, the trial of another Kennedy cousin - William Kennedy Smith - who was charged with rape in Florida, but acquitted, would open a new chapter in the Moxley case. On October 30, 2020, the 45th anniversary of Martha Moxley's murder, the State of Connecticut announced it would not retry Michael Skakel. Dorothy Moxley sensed that her daughter's absence was not "routine." She had a 9:30 p.m. curfew and she wouldn't stay away without calling. They were allowed to do whatever they'd like. Coleman says Michael detailed what he did to Martha that night. Erin Moriarty: Seeing Tony Bryant, do you remember that at all? When Carroll spoke with "48 Hours" in 2000, he was still shaken by what he had seen. A lot of people think whoever did it is still walking around, says former Greenwich First Selectman William Lewis, and it worries people. A friend of the Moxleys, Mrs. Thomas McGuire, says that underneath all the layers of time is the fear that the killer could live nearby and strike again. Erin Moriarty: As we sit here today, no one has been convicted of Martha Moxley's murder. the two of them were fierce rivals for anything you know, from sports to affection. Remember, Michael told police that after watching "Monty Python" at his cousin's house, he came back home around 1130 p.m. and went straight to bed. On April 16, 2013, Skakel was back in court with his attorney, Hubert Santos and a new argument that that media savvy defense attorney Mickey Sherman hired to defend Michael at his 2002 trial had botched the case. appreciated. Hours passed. It is a terrible thing this boy has to live with, says neighbor McGuire of Thomas Skakel. She was then dragged more than a hundred feet to beneath the spreading pine tree. Hannah Vair is the associate producer. While Browne did not name the family or say who advised them to remain silent, he might as well have, judging from public reaction. Al Hasbrouck declined to be interviewed, and "48 Hours" was unable to reach Burton Tinsley. Hello, Brielle14! On the night of the murder, Bryant says he was with Hasbrouck and Tinsley when they all picked up golf clubs from the Skakel backyard. "I know Michael Skakel and I know he didn't commit this crime," Kennedy told "48 Hours.". Erin Moriarty: Do you remember either of the Skakels having a crush on Martha? Let's blame somebody else. Since 1975, the tony neighborhood of Belle Haven, in Greenwich, Connecticut has been haunted by the death of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old girl who was bludgeoned with a golf club. But Skakel cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., says, "The evidence is much stronger in suggesting that other people may have committed the crime.". The autopsy by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elliot Gross concluded that Martha Moxley died of multiple lacerations of the skull and contusions and lacerations of the brain. Martha was not just struck down, but was beaten repeatedlywith an iron golf club. We left no stone unturned, insists Keegan. It is many of these people whom Evaristo represents in the working-class section of Greenwich called Chicka- hominy. No commoners, these children; rather they are heirs to Whos Who in the world of American business. Below is an evolving list of Connecticut natives and state prep school football players in the Class of 2023 who have signed letters of intent to play football in college. 2. HUBERT SANTOS | Michael Skakel's attorney: Your Honor, the petition for new trial that we've filed on behalf of Michael Skakel claims newly discovered evidence which involves the allegations concerning Tony Bryant. Yet. Dorthy to this day remains convinced Martha was killed by Michael Skakel. Just a few hours later, while canvassing the Skakel property, police discovered a matching golf club that came from the same set as the 6-iron that was used to kill Martha. It will remain until the case is solved. Jonathan Benedict: No, I don't think so. On August 24, 2003, Tony Bryant, a former classmate of Michael Skakel's, told Michael's attorneys two of his friends who were visiting Belle Haven the night of Martha Moxley's murder had confessed to killing a girl. She was right. After only a year in town, Martha was chosen the girl with the best personality by her classmates. Bizarre tragedies would strike twice more in the year following George, Jr. s death. Armed with Bryant's story, Skakel's defense team requested a new trial. That they were going after this Black kid from New York City, I mean, you know, really? Erin Moriarty: Don't you think you would have remembered if she was dancing with someone else who seemed possessive of her? According to police, no one did. Literally, it means beautiful shelter and Belle Haven is exactly that, a mile-square chunk of suburban paradise jutting out into Long Island Sound, graced by ninety-four of some of the largest, most beautiful homes in the state. It doesnt matter what we say or do . ", Bryant stated that while his friends never mentioned Martha Moxley by name . And one portion of the shaft was driven through her neck. On the night of October 30, 1975, sixteen-year-old Martha Moxley was hanging out with her friends in their upscale neighborhood. Its a relief that the state has concluded they could not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt they never could, Seeger said.