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.
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 the weekly radio show Ring of Fire.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new book, Framed, is a furious and
fascinating condemnation of the persecution of Michael Skakel. This
account will shock and astound those who read the press reports of
the case at the time, particularly Dominick Dunne’s reportage, and
believed Skakel to be the monster portrayed there. It is deeply
researched, bitingly written, and entirely convincing.”
—Stuart Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stone
Barrington series and Holly Barker series
“A brilliantly written autopsy of a wrongful prosecution and
conviction, Kennedy’s book is a masterpiece that chronicles the
Kafkaesque persecution of an innocent man. It is a riveting
narrative of greed, hubris, envy and sloth. Michael Skakel’s saga
is a heartbreaking account of an abuse of power paralleled in
infamy only by the Duke Lacrosse prosecutors.”
—Anne Bremner, American attorney, television personality, defense
counsel in Amanda Knox’s Italian murder trial
“Bobby Kennedy pulls no punches in making the compelling case for
his cousin’s, Michael Skakel’s, absolute innocence. But he goes
much further: indicting those who he believes were complicit in
what he calls a frame up by prosecu¬tors, police, and the media. .
. . This book is a devastating indictment of our justice system and
media for their systemic unwillingness to confront their own
errors. It is a must-read for those who care about justice and
integrity in our public institutions.”
—Alan M. Dershowitz, author of Taking the Stand: My Life in the
Law
“An exciting page turner.”
—Morris Dees, author, attorney, and co-founder of the Southern
Poverty Law Center
“In Framed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with Capote-like precision,
tells his grip¬ping story of an innocent man caught up in a
Kafkaesque nightmare between a corrupt prosecution and a
disastrously inept criminal defense that resulted in 11½ years in
prison for a crime Skakel didn’t and couldn’t have committed. RFK
Jr. lays it all out in a page-turner that will convince all but the
most rabid Kennedy haters. Then again, the arguments are so
compelling, maybe even they’ll be convinced.”
—Michael Shapiro, Perennial Superlawyer, Former Queens County
District Attorney, New York Special Prosecutor, faculty Benjamin N.
Cardoza School of Law, adjunct Harvard Law School
“Framed is the riveting true story of a life turned upside down by
unethical prosecutors and irresponsible journalists in a justice
system which is anything but. It is both the story of one man’s
nightmare and a cautionary tale for us all . . . because while it
is true that we can ensure that we do not COMMIT a crime, we can
never ensure that we are not CHARGED with one. Kudos to Kennedy,
not only for writing a page-turner, but for never giving up his
quest for the Truth.”
—Shawn Holley, defense attorney for O.J. Simpson’s Dream Team and
in over 60 trials for high-profile clients, including Tupac Shakur,
Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, and
others
“Crime thrillers and true crime stories both aim to explore our
notions of jus¬tice. Framed by Robert Kennedy Jr. combines the best
of both with a power¬ful story that grabbed me in the first few
pages and wouldn’t let go. Kennedy meticulously torpedoes the case
that convicted his cousin Michael Skakel of murder. He chronicles a
decades-long horror show of incompetence, prejudice, malfeasance,
and outright misconduct. What I didn’t expect, though, were the
feelings that surfaced while I was reading. Kennedy took me from
rage to tears at the injustices suffered by his cousin and family.
Framed is a must-read for anyone who cares about our judicial
system.”
—Libby Fischer Hellmann, award-winning author of Easy Innocence and
other crime thrillers
“An electrifying, meticulous exposé. Kennedy shows how his cousin
was wrong¬fully convicted by a grim yet fascinating cast of
characters cruelly assembled, as it were, to thwart justice;
corrupt police and prosecutors, an incompetent defense lawyer, a
judge who falls in love with the 24 hour news cycle while
forgetting his role as neutral arbiter, and the TV “commentators”
who directed the outcome of the case for ratings and not
justice—all conspiring to convict an innocent man while allowing
the real murderers to go free. Kennedy gives the reader a front-row
seat, and, unlike the jury, all of the evidence necessary to watch,
in horror, the conviction of yet another innocent man. If this book
does not wake people up to the terrifying reality of how our
criminal justice has become a game not of seeking justice but of
winning, I do not know what will. This book is mandatory reading
for anyone who cares about truth, individual rights, and the
corruption of justice in America.”
—Joe Cheshire, attorney in the Duke Lacrosse case, North Carolina’s
“Top Lawyer” three years running by SuperLawyer.com
“Kennedy exposes the toxic brew of incompetence and sensationalism
that led to his cousin’s conviction. The ‘cold case’ had every
ingredient that made it an irresistible stew that fed the ambition
and corruption by press, prosecutors, and police; the brutal,
senseless murder of a privileged teenage girl, a self-seeking
prosecutor with ‘elastic ethics’, a society gossip fabulist who
stirred the brew, a crooked cop, sloppy police work, a cavalier
defense lawyer, and a ‘Kennedy cousin’ with an ironclad alibi who
nevertheless became the perfect suspect. “Now, years after a
monumental miscarriage of justice, Kennedy, by careful
investigation, deconstructs the prosecution’s case, convincingly
shows Michael Skakel’s innocence, and identifies the true culprits
who have escaped justice for decades.”
—Dick DeGuerin, considered one of America’s top lawyers, most
notably for his defense of Tom DeLay, David Koresh, Robert Durst,
and others
“An awful, awful story brilliantly told. How many more innocent men
and women will be wrongfully convicted and punished with long and
terrible jail sentences? This book is a scream for change.”
—Martin Garbus, legendary criminal and constitutional attorney,
educator, and author of Courting Disaster and other books.
“The definitive account of the perfect storm that led to Michael
Skakel’s wrongful conviction, Kennedy recounts the blunders of
investigators, the miscon¬duct of prosecutors, the perjury of
witnesses, the legal ineptitude of judges and defense lawyers, and
the failings of a criminal justice system that cares more about
defending a conviction, even one that is wrongful, than in
delivering justice. And he answers the question that has remained
unanswered for more than 40 years: Who killed Martha Moxley?”
—David Cameron, Professor of Political Science, Yale University,
and member of Connecticut’s Eyewitness Task Force
“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.
“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.”
“Kennedy explains with new clarity and detail the pervasive
corruption in the Connecticut State Prosecutor’s Office that led to
Michael’s wrongful conviction. He shows, in a persuasive,
compelling narrative, of how four writers, pursuing their own
craven ambitions, orchestrated Michael’s media lynching and
wrongful conviction.”
—Randy Wayne White, New York Times bestselling crime writer, author
of more than 40 books, including the Doc Ford series, former member
of the Florida Judicial Nominating Committee and Florida Bar
Association Grievance Committee
“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
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new book, Framed, is a furious and
fascinating condemnation of the persecution of Michael Skakel. This
account will shock and astound those who read the press reports of
the case at the time, particularly Dominick Dunne’s reportage, and
believed Skakel to be the monster portrayed there. It is deeply
researched, bitingly written, and entirely convincing.”
—Stuart Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stone
Barrington series and Holly Barker series
“A brilliantly written autopsy of a wrongful prosecution and
conviction, Kennedy’s book is a masterpiece that chronicles the
Kafkaesque persecution of an innocent man. It is a riveting
narrative of greed, hubris, envy and sloth. Michael Skakel’s saga
is a heartbreaking account of an abuse of power paralleled in
infamy only by the Duke Lacrosse prosecutors.”
—Anne Bremner, American attorney, television personality, defense
counsel in Amanda Knox’s Italian murder trial
“Bobby Kennedy pulls no punches in making the compelling case for
his cousin’s, Michael Skakel’s, absolute innocence. But he goes
much further: indicting those who he believes were complicit in
what he calls a frame up by prosecu¬tors, police, and the media. .
. . This book is a devastating indictment of our justice system and
media for their systemic unwillingness to confront their own
errors. It is a must-read for those who care about justice and
integrity in our public institutions.”
—Alan M. Dershowitz, author of Taking the Stand: My Life in the
Law
“An exciting page turner.”
—Morris Dees, author, attorney, and co-founder of the Southern
Poverty Law Center
“In Framed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with Capote-like precision,
tells his grip¬ping story of an innocent man caught up in a
Kafkaesque nightmare between a corrupt prosecution and a
disastrously inept criminal defense that resulted in 11½ years in
prison for a crime Skakel didn’t and couldn’t have committed. RFK
Jr. lays it all out in a page-turner that will convince all but the
most rabid Kennedy haters. Then again, the arguments are so
compelling, maybe even they’ll be convinced.”
—Michael Shapiro, Perennial Superlawyer, Former Queens County
District Attorney, New York Special Prosecutor, faculty Benjamin N.
Cardoza School of Law, adjunct Harvard Law School
“Framed is the riveting true story of a life turned upside down by
unethical prosecutors and irresponsible journalists in a justice
system which is anything but. It is both the story of one man’s
nightmare and a cautionary tale for us all . . . because while it
is true that we can ensure that we do not COMMIT a crime, we can
never ensure that we are not CHARGED with one. Kudos to Kennedy,
not only for writing a page-turner, but for never giving up his
quest for the Truth.”
—Shawn Holley, defense attorney for O.J. Simpson’s Dream Team and
in over 60 trials for high-profile clients, including Tupac Shakur,
Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, and
others
“Crime thrillers and true crime stories both aim to explore our
notions of jus¬tice. Framed by Robert Kennedy Jr. combines the best
of both with a power¬ful story that grabbed me in the first few
pages and wouldn’t let go. Kennedy meticulously torpedoes the case
that convicted his cousin Michael Skakel of murder. He chronicles a
decades-long horror show of incompetence, prejudice, malfeasance,
and outright misconduct. What I didn’t expect, though, were the
feelings that surfaced while I was reading. Kennedy took me from
rage to tears at the injustices suffered by his cousin and family.
Framed is a must-read for anyone who cares about our judicial
system.”
—Libby Fischer Hellmann, award-winning author of Easy Innocence and
other crime thrillers
“An electrifying, meticulous exposé. Kennedy shows how his cousin
was wrong¬fully convicted by a grim yet fascinating cast of
characters cruelly assembled, as it were, to thwart justice;
corrupt police and prosecutors, an incompetent defense lawyer, a
judge who falls in love with the 24 hour news cycle while
forgetting his role as neutral arbiter, and the TV “commentators”
who directed the outcome of the case for ratings and not
justice—all conspiring to convict an innocent man while allowing
the real murderers to go free. Kennedy gives the reader a front-row
seat, and, unlike the jury, all of the evidence necessary to watch,
in horror, the conviction of yet another innocent man. If this book
does not wake people up to the terrifying reality of how our
criminal justice has become a game not of seeking justice but of
winning, I do not know what will. This book is mandatory reading
for anyone who cares about truth, individual rights, and the
corruption of justice in America.”
—Joe Cheshire, attorney in the Duke Lacrosse case, North Carolina’s
“Top Lawyer” three years running by SuperLawyer.com
“Kennedy exposes the toxic brew of incompetence and sensationalism
that led to his cousin’s conviction. The ‘cold case’ had every
ingredient that made it an irresistible stew that fed the ambition
and corruption by press, prosecutors, and police; the brutal,
senseless murder of a privileged teenage girl, a self-seeking
prosecutor with ‘elastic ethics’, a society gossip fabulist who
stirred the brew, a crooked cop, sloppy police work, a cavalier
defense lawyer, and a ‘Kennedy cousin’ with an ironclad alibi who
nevertheless became the perfect suspect. “Now, years after a
monumental miscarriage of justice, Kennedy, by careful
investigation, deconstructs the prosecution’s case, convincingly
shows Michael Skakel’s innocence, and identifies the true culprits
who have escaped justice for decades.”
—Dick DeGuerin, considered one of America’s top lawyers, most
notably for his defense of Tom DeLay, David Koresh, Robert Durst,
and others
“An awful, awful story brilliantly told. How many more innocent men
and women will be wrongfully convicted and punished with long and
terrible jail sentences? This book is a scream for change.”
—Martin Garbus, legendary criminal and constitutional attorney,
educator, and author of Courting Disaster and other books.
“The definitive account of the perfect storm that led to Michael
Skakel’s wrongful conviction, Kennedy recounts the blunders of
investigators, the miscon¬duct of prosecutors, the perjury of
witnesses, the legal ineptitude of judges and defense lawyers, and
the failings of a criminal justice system that cares more about
defending a conviction, even one that is wrongful, than in
delivering justice. And he answers the question that has remained
unanswered for more than 40 years: Who killed Martha Moxley?”
—David Cameron, Professor of Political Science, Yale University,
and member of Connecticut’s Eyewitness Task Force
“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.
“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.”
“Kennedy explains with new clarity and detail the pervasive
corruption in the Connecticut State Prosecutor’s Office that led to
Michael’s wrongful conviction. He shows, in a persuasive,
compelling narrative, of how four writers, pursuing their own
craven ambitions, orchestrated Michael’s media lynching and
wrongful conviction.”
—Randy Wayne White, New York Times bestselling crime writer, author
of more than 40 books, including the Doc Ford series, former member
of the Florida Judicial Nominating Committee and Florida Bar
Association Grievance Committee
“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
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