The Murder of Martha Moxley (Part 1)
6/1/202655 min
On October 30, 1975, fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley failed to return home after a night out with friends in Belle Haven, an exclusive wealthy enclave in Greenwich, CT. The following morning, Moxley’s badly beaten body was discovered underneath a tree, just a few hundred feet from her house, triggering one of the most notorious murder mysteries in the state’s history.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
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References
Associated Press. 1975. "Parents guarding children in Greenwich murder area." Connecticut Post, November 10: 2.
—. 1998. "1975 murder case before grand jury." Hartford Courant, July 12: 22.
—. 1998. "Fuhrman book on 1975 slaying points to Kennedy relative." Hartford Courant, May 10: 28.
Brown, Marian Gail. 2002. "Verdict shocks court observers 27 years after Moxley slaying." Connecticut Post, June 8: 1.
CNN. 2007. Moxley case: Excerpts from the Sutton Report. December 17. Accessed November 26, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/17/court.archive.skakel11/index.html.
—. 2002. Moxley Case: Who was Martha Moxley? Accessed November 21, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/17/court.archive.skakel9/index.html.
Connecticut Post. 1975. "Girl, 15, found murdered at her Greenwich home." Connecticut Post, November 1: 1.
Ellement, John, and Lisa Prevost. 2000. "Skakel is arrested in '75 Conn. murder." Boston Globe, January 20.
Gaines, Judith. 1998. "Grand juror to probe '75 Conn. murder." Boston Globe, June 18.
—. 1991. "Police taking a fresh look at 1975 murder of Conn. teen-ager." Boston Globe, October 7.
Hartford Courant. 2002. "Skakel jurors." Hartford Courant, July 28: H2.
Lang, Joel. 1997. "Martha's murder." Hartford Courant, May 18: 10.
Levitt, Leonard. 2004. Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder . New York, NY: Regan Books.
Mahony, Edmund. 2020. "No retrial for Skakel." Hartford Courant, October 31: 1.
Merchant, Robert. 2016. "Skakel murder conviction reinstated." Connecticut Post, December 31: 1.
Ondek, Richard. 1976. "Prosecutor says family impedes murder probe." Connecticut Post, March 26: 1.
Owens, David. 2013. "Freed on bail." Hartford Courant, November 22: 1.
2003. Mugshots: Michael Skakel. Performed by Single Spark Productions.
State of Connecticut v. Michael Skakel. 2004. S.C. 16844 (Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut, June 23).
Tofig, Dana. 1999. "Suspect's lawyer seeks to suprress comments." Hartford Courant, May 27: B7.
Tuohy, Lynne. 2002. "A life, a death revisited." Hartford Courant, May 8: 1.
—. 2000. "Kennedy nephew facing arrest in killing." Hartford Courant, January 19: 1.
—. 2002. "No apology, no remorse." Hartford Courant, August 30: 1.
—. 2002. "One final chance to make their cases." Hartford Courant, June 4: 1.
—. 2002. "Prosecution puts on its rebuttal."
Hartford Courant
, May 30: 1.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAlayna· Host0:00
Hey, weirdos. I'm Alayna.
Ash Kelley· Host0:02
I'm Ash.
Alayna· Host0:02
And this is Morbid.
Ash Kelley· Host0:05
[gentle music] Morbidito.
Alayna· Host0:19
It certainly is.
Ash Kelley· Host0:20
Period. [laughs] I channeled Caleb on that one.
Alayna· Host0:24
You did. I felt it.
Ash Kelley· Host0:25
Yeah. I miss Caleb.
Alayna· Host0:26
I do too. I need Caleb to come here.
Ash Kelley· Host0:28
Caleb.
Alayna· Host0:29
We miss the Caleib.
Ash Kelley· Host0:30
We do.
Alayna· Host0:31
Um, and also this is a case, um, that pe- I wonder if it's, like, people of a certain age are gonna see this case and be like, "Oh, I remember that."
Ash Kelley· Host0:40
Mm.
Alayna· Host0:40
And then people of a lesser age are gonna say, "What?"
Ash Kelley· Host0:43
[laughs] I know I, I know I've heard of this case.
Alayna· Host0:46
Yeah.
Ash Kelley· Host0:47
And I think we've discussed it, like, together before.
Alayna· Host0:49
Yeah.
Ash Kelley· Host0:50
But never on the pod.
Alayna· Host0:51
Never on the pod.
Ash Kelley· Host0:53
Never on the microphone, on the ones and the twos.
Alayna· Host0:55
It's pretty, it's a crazy case.
Ash Kelley· Host0:58
Yeah. It's... Uh, you know what? I'm j- I'm just gonna let you tell it. I'm not even gonna ask things yet.
Alayna· Host1:03
It's a wild one. It's got a lot of scandal involved in it.
Ash Kelley· Host1:07
Scandal.
Alayna· Host1:07
A lot of very wealthy f- people.
Ash Kelley· Host1:09
Oh, you know I love a wealthy story.
Alayna· Host1:11
Yeah, there's a lot of cover-up, uh, rumors- Hate that ... happening here. Lots, all that kinda stuff, a lot of scandalous... And the, and the murder itself is absolutely horrific. I mean, it's a horrific story. I mean, Martha's young. She's, like, she was an amazing gal.