Moxley’s story may have reached final chapter

The saga of Martha Moxley’s 1975 murder investigation has had everything but a conclusion.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it won’t review a Connecticut decision to overturn Michael Skakel’s murder conviction appears to be the latest false ending.

State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo, based in Stamford, has the unenviable task of deciding whether to pursue another trial 43 years after the crime.

Colangelo is sure to put appropriate weight on the desires of Martha’s family. Her mother, Dorthy, 86, wants to see Skakel back in prison. He’s been out since the latest merry-go-round of legal spins.

It’s virtually impossible for a new trial to satisfy any of the parties. The passage of time has compromised Colangelo’s potential witness list.

Skakel’s fate tilted again over his former lawyer’s failure to summon Dennis Ossorio’s testimony that he saw Skakel watching “Monty Python” at the time of the Greenwich murder. It’s an indicator of the fragility of the state’s case.

The case has always been the stuff that dreams of tabloid headlines are made of. Martha was a popular 15-year-old stabbed to death with the broken shaft of

Notoriety as a “Kennedy nephew” has worked for and against Skakel. Few other convicted killers would get the same reconsideration. But privilege has also slowed the wheels of justice to keep Skakel in legal purgatory.

a women’s 6-iron golf club. Skakel is the nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy.

Notoriety as a “Kennedy nephew” has worked for and against Skakel. Few other convicted killers would get the same reconsideration. But privilege has also slowed the wheels of justice to keep Skakel in legal purgatory.

Had Skakel been convicted as a teenager, he would surely have been released from prison in the 1980s. But the investigation faded until Greenwich Time and the Stamford Advocate published a lengthy article in 1991. Weeks later, the case was re-opened.

It took a decade before Michael Skakel entered the Greenwich police station to be arrested for the crime, which was already more than a quarter century old.

An even more unlikely twist came when Skakel was deemed guilty in 2002.

He was sentenced to 20 years to life. He had served 11 years when he was released on bail in the wake of a judge’s ruling that he had inadequate representation. The Connecticut Supreme Court flipped that decision 4-3, then flipped again after one justice retired and was replaced.

On paper it appears this never-ending story has only managed to return to its opening chapter. It’s a narrative that keeps looping back onto itself.

The only value in going back to Chapter One is to remember Martha, to reflect on the profound loss suffered by her family and friends.

The latest decision does not exonerate Skakel. In a more traditional narrative, he would have been released on parole by now. But the same privilege that has earned him legal victories has also stretched his sentence.

New trial or not, it seems unlikely there will ever be justice for Martha Moxley, who would now be 58.

But one name remains associated with her death. That is a prison Michael Skakel has not escaped.