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

Description

A New York Times Bestseller! On Halloween 1975, Martha Moxley was found brutally murdered outside her home in swanky Greenwich, Connecticut. Twenty-seven years after her death, the State of Connecticut spent some $25 million to convict her friend and neighbor, Michael Skakel, of the murder. At Michael's criminal trial, the State offered no physical or forensic evidence, no fingerprints or DNA, no eyewitness linking Michael to the killing. The trial ignited a media firestorm that transfixed the nation. Now, Skakel's cousin, acclaimed attorney and award-winning writer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. solves the baffling whodunit and clears his cousin's name. Kennedy, with meticulous research and reporting, proves that Michael Skakel did not and could not have murdered Martha Moxley. He chronicles how Skakel was, nevertheless, railroaded amidst a media frenzy by the devious actions of a crooked cop, a trio of mendacious writers, a treacherous family lawyer nursing a secret grudge, a narcissistic defense attorney obsessed by the spotlight, a craven prosecutor gone rogue, and a parade of perjuring witnesses. These colorful characters leap off the pages like seedy villains in a dime-store crime novel... But it's all true. Kennedy also shows how he tracked down the likely killers, a pair of ghosts who moved in and out of Greenwich and whose presence was detected by neither police nor press during 30 years of costly yet shoddy investigation. Today, those men walk free. This startling expose-an explosive exploration of murder and fame-is the tragic true story of Skakel's conviction that the public has never heard. It is the product of hundreds of interviews with Skakel and those who knew both him and Martha Moxley. Kennedy gives us a real life thriller with twists and turns, and finally answers the 40-year-old question, "Who killed Martha Moxley?" The book is at once a riveting drama and an impassioned critique of the American media and legal system.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the nation's leading environmental activists. His writing has been included in anthologies of America's best crime writing, best science writing, and best political writing. He is president of Waterkeeper Alliance, the world's largest clean water advocacy group; a professor of environmental litigation at Pace University Law School in White Plains, NY; and a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Mr. Kennedy is a former Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. He cohosts thre weekly radio show Ring of Fire.

"If you think you know about this case, you don't. If you think that this case ended in justice being served, it didn't. I was literally left both speechless and enraged while reading this book and learning what actually happened." Mark Geragos, Esq., noted criminal defense attorney "Kennedy presents a compelling, methodical case Americans interested in justice should be captivated by this book." Bill O'Reilly, #1 New York Times bestselling author "A must read for those who care about justice and integrity in our public institutions." Alan M. Dershowitz, Esq. "This account will shock and astound those who read the press reports of the case at the time It is deeply researched, bitingly written, and entirely convincing." Stuart Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author "An exciting page turner." Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center "An awful, awful story brilliantly told." Martin Garbus, Esq., author of Courting Disaster "With Capote-like precision, Kennedy tells his gripping story of an innocent man caught up in a Kafkaesque nightmare of a corrupt prosecution and a disastrously inept criminal defense." Michael Shapiro, Esq. "Mandatory reading for anyone who cares about truth, individual rights, and the corruption of justice in America." Joe Cheshire, Esq., attorney in the Duke Lacrosse case "A powerful story that grabbed me in the first few pages and wouldn't let go." Libby Fischer Hellmann, author of Easy Innocence "Kennedy not only makes a compelling case that Skakel is innocent, he provides persuasive evidence of the identity of the true killers." Dick DeGuerin, Esq., one of "America's Top Lawyers" "A riveting true story of a life turned upside down a page-turner." Shawn Holley, Esq, defense attorney "A masterpiece a riveting narrative of greed, hubris, envy, and sloth." Anne Bremner, Esq, defense counsel in Amanda Knox's Italian murder trial "This book is a must-read for anyone who has been interested in the Martha Moxley case. It is also an important illustration for us all that miscarriages of justice can and do occur when the need for results, power, fame, and money supersede the need for justice." - Ann Marie Palladino, Book Review Blogger, "Lit. Wit. Wine & Dine." "If you think you know about this case, you don't. If you think that this case ended in justice being served, it didn't. I was literally left both speechless and enraged while reading this book and learning what actually happened." Mark Geragos, Esq., noted criminal defense attorney "Kennedy presents a compelling, methodical case Americans interested in justice should be captivated by this book." Bill O'Reilly, #1 New York Times bestselling author "A must read for those who care about justice and integrity in our public institutions." Alan M. Dershowitz, Esq. "This account will shock and astound those who read the press reports of the case at the time It is deeply researched, bitingly written, and entirely convincing." Stuart Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author "An exciting page turner." Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center "An awful, awful story brilliantly told." Martin Garbus, Esq., author of Courting Disaster "With Capote-like precision, Kennedy tells his gripping story of an innocent man caught up in a Kafkaesque nightmare of a corrupt prosecution and a disastrously inept criminal defense." Michael Shapiro, Esq. "Mandatory reading for anyone who cares about truth, individual rights, and the corruption of justice in America." Joe Cheshire, Esq., attorney in the Duke Lacrosse case "A powerful story that grabbed me in the first few pages and wouldn't let go." Libby Fischer Hellmann, author of Easy Innocence "Kennedy not only makes a compelling case that Skakel is innocent, he provides persuasive evidence of the identity of the true killers." Dick DeGuerin, Esq., one of "America's Top Lawyers" "A riveting true story of a life turned upside down a page-turner." Shawn Holley, Esq, defense attorney "A masterpiece a riveting narrative of greed, hubris, envy, and sloth." Anne Bremner, Esq, defense counsel in Amanda Knox's Italian murder trial "This book is a must-read for anyone who has been interested in the Martha Moxley case. It is also an important illustration for us all that miscarriages of justice can and do occur when the need for results, power, fame, and money supersede the need for justice." - Ann Marie Palladino, Book Review Blogger, "Lit. Wit. Wine & Dine."