Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel walked out of a Connecticut court a free man after posting a $1.2 million bond Thursday — outraging relatives of Martha Moxley, the 15-year-old neighbor he was once convicted of murdering.
Moxley’s brother John and 81-year-old mother, Dorthy, said they continue to believe Skakel killed Martha despite a federal court ruling that overturned his conviction.
“We have nothing to say to Michael,” John Moxley said.
“I guess we knew that the day would come,” Dorthy Moxley said after Skakel was freed. “I wasn’t completely destroyed, but I wish it didn’t happen.”
Prosecutors are appealing the ruling that grants Skakel, the nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, a new trial for the 1975 murder.
Skakel held his hand to his heart and smiled as friends and family clapped when Stamford Superior Court Judge Gary White granted bond. He did not speak as he left court but his lawyer, Hubert Santos, read a brief statement.
“This is the first step in correcting a terrible wrong,” he said. “We look forward to Michael being vindicated and justice finally being served.”
Skakel then jumped into a waiting blue Hyundai Sonata with Massachusetts plates, which sped off with a police escort before the press could follow.
Skakel, 53, had served nearly 12 years in prison following his conviction for the brutal 1975 murder of 15-year-old Moxley, a Greenwich neighbor, who was bludgeoned with a golf club.
But an appeals judge last month overturned Skakel’s conviction.
Skakel’s brother John Skakel hailed his release.
White ordered Skakel to have no contact with the Moxleys, wear a GPS device and stay in Connecticut, though it wasn’t immediately clear where he would be staying.
“He’s one of the most recognized faces of America, so he’s not going anywhere,” Santos said.
Earlier this week, Dorthy Moxley said she was resigned to Skakel’s release.
“If he gets out on bail, he gets out on bail,” she said. “I just think he ought to serve his punishment. There’s no doubt in my mind that he did it. A little justice for Martha is not asking a lot.”
Robert Kennedy Jr., who tirelessly campaigned to overturn his cousin’s conviction, had said he felt “pure joy” that Skakel was going to be freed.
“Everybody in my family knows that Michael is innocent,” said Kennedy, whose troubled family has been plagued by scandals and tragedy for decades, most recently his wife’s suicide at their Westchester home.
Vernon Superior Court Judge Thomas Bishop ruled last month that Skakel’s lawyer, Mickey Sherman, failed to adequately represent Skakel in 2002 when he was convicted in Moxley’s murder when they were both 15.
With Post Wires