Kennedy cousin jailed for murder gets re-trial
ONE OF America’s most fascinating criminal cases is back in the spotlight after a judge tossed Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel’s conviction for the 1975 murder of teenager Martha Moxley last week — setting the stage for a sensational re-trial of the cause celebre that inspired best-selling books and TV movies such as Dominick Dunne’s A Season in Purgatory and Mark Fuhrman’s Murder in Greenwich.
The 53-year-old son of Ethel Kennedy’s brother Rushton, Skakel has been fighting his conviction with a steady stream of appeals over the 11 years he has spent in jail after being found guilty of bludgeoning Moxley to death with a 6-iron golf club. Skakel and Moxley, next-door neighbours in the upscale suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut, were both 15 at the time of the crime.
On Wednesday, Connecticut judge Thomas Bishop ordered a new trial after agreeing that Skakel’s attorney Mickey Sherman had botched the defence in the 2002 trial. State’s attorney John Smriga plans to appeal Bishop's decision to void Skakel's conviction. “The state’s case relied on Michael Skakel’s uncontested connection to the murder weapon, strong evidence of motive, substantial evidence of consciousness of guilt, nearly a dozen incriminating admissions and three unequivocal confessions,” said Smriga, who plans to oppose a bail hearing set for next week. But he is far from the only person upset at being blindsided last week. Moxley's 81-year-old mother, Dorthy, who originally brought the case to Dominick Dunne’s attention, says nothing will shake her belief that Skakel is guilty. “There’s not a way they can erase what was said during the first trial,” she told CNN. “I have not given up, and I do believe Michael Skakel killed my daughter. If there is a new trial, I will be there.”
What became of JFK’s brain
NEARLY 50 years after the fact, one of the more mindboggling puzzles surrounding the assassination of John F Kennedy appears to be solved: namely, what happened to the President’s brain, which mysteriously vanished three years after his death?
Because it was considered a piece of evidence in the criminal investigation, it was not buried with JFK’s remains when he was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery on November 25, 1963. Instead, post-autopsy, it went into a stainless-steel container with a screw-top lid and “for a time . . . was stored in a file cabinet in the office of the Secret Service,” says James Swanson, author of the soon-to-bereleased book End of Days: The Assassination of John F Kennedy.
Eventually, the container and other physical evidence was moved to a “secure room” in the National Archives under the jurisdiction of JFK’s devoted former secretary Evelyn Lincoln, who was responsible for sorting through his papers.
“In October 1966, it was discovered that the brain, the tissue slides and other autopsy materials were missing,” Swanson says, “and they have never been seen since.” An investigation started by the attorney general at the time went dark, feeding speculation — from the “grassy knoll” brigade — that the brain was stolen to cover up potential evidence that Kennedy was shot from the front rather than the back. Swanson’s theory is less sensational — and to many, more plausible.
“My conclusion is that Robert Kennedy did take his brother’s brain — not to conceal evidence of a conspiracy, but perhaps to conceal evidence of the true extent of President Kennedy’s illnesses, or perhaps to conceal evidence of the number of medications that President Kennedy was taking,” he says. Swanson, who believes RFK was aided by his PA Angie Novello in the pilfering, admits he had no luck finding out how the duo finally disposed of the evidence.
‘Homeland’ star on move?
HOMELAND star Damian Lewis obviously isn’t worried about typecasting. The 42year-old Brit who played a Civil War general in To Appomattox and a Second World War soldier in Band of Brothers before being cast as a former Marine in the TV mystery thriller is close to finalising a deal to star opposite Nicole Kidman in Werner ( Rescue Dawn) Herzog's Queen of the Desert. Lewis will play Lieutenant Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie, an unhappily married English war hero who embarks on a love affair with archaeologist, explorer and political attache Gertrude Bell (Kidman), who helped establish the formation of the Middle East.
The fact that Homeland, which is currently confounding audiences on both sides of the water, just got renewed for a fourth season doesn’t appear to be an issue, suggesting Brody may have bigger problems than a bum script.
Gwynnie faces epic takedown
IT HAS been suggested that rumours about her marriage will form part of the upcoming Vanity Fair story that Gwyneth Paltrow was so keen to kill. According to the scuttlebutt, that’s not all, as VF’s ace writer Vanessa Grigoriadis is reportedly delving into Paltrow’s rocky relationships with former VBFs including Madonna (frenemies who eventually fell out over a rivalry for the — platonic — affections of fitness trainer Tracey Anderson), Winona Ryder (besties until Paltrow reportedly saw a script for Shakespeare In Love at Ryder’s house and convinced producers to hire her instead for the Oscar-winning role) and Kate Moss (who reportedly won a 2012 brawl by pelting the Goop goddess with, natch, French fries). Grigoriadis’s “epic takedown” (no pressure!) will also reportedly feature dish about Gwyneth’s past relationship rumbles with Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck, the inner workings of her marriage to Chris Martin and her diva demands, which apparently include insisting someone wipe down her shower stall at the gym before she uses it. Guess the woman too precious to wear deodorant (aluminum is so toxic) yet sees nothing wrong with cocktails and cigarettes may be about to learn that trying to have it both ways tends to end badly.