Podcast explores new twists in murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — Nearly five decades after the shocking murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley in her quiet Greenwich, Connecticut, neighborhood, a new podcast is reexamining the infamous case.
The 12-part series, “Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder”, is hosted by journalist Andrew Goldman, who spent nearly a decade researching the crime that rocked one of America’s wealthiest communities and ultimately led to the conviction — and later release — of Michael Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy.
Goldman worked with NBC News Studios on the podcast and told EastIdahoNews.com that he was initially reluctant to take on the story.
“I’d consumed so much media about the case that I thought I already knew what happened,” he said. “Everything I’d read suggested Michael Skakel was the man who murdered Martha Moxley with a golf club in 1975.”
That changed when Goldman was contacted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who asked him to help research a book arguing for Skakel’s exoneration. What began as a professional dilemma soon turned into a deep investigation that would question much of what Goldman thought he knew.
“As soon as I got into the evidence, I discovered there was quite a bit there that hadn’t been reported,” he said.
One of the first surprises: early police reports that mentioned blood found elsewhere in the gated community of Belle Haven — something Goldman says was absent from any books or news coverage he had seen.
“It got my spidey sense tingling,” he recalled. “Why hadn’t anyone reported this before?”
Moxley was bludgeoned to death on Oct. 30, 1975, after spending the evening with friends in her upscale neighborhood. For decades, rumors swirled about members of the Kennedy-connected Skakel family, who lived nearby. Skakel was eventually convicted in 2002 and served more than 11 years in prison before his conviction was overturned. He was released from prison in 2013.
Goldman, who gained access to thousands of pages of case files, police reports, and archival audio, says the new podcast presents the most comprehensive and nuanced look yet at the case. It even features exclusive interviews with Skakel himself.
“Michael had been distrustful of the media for years,” Goldman explained. “I think it took a long time to build trust, and for him to feel like someone would actually listen.”
Executive producer Alexa Danner said the combination of Goldman’s years of reporting with NBC’s archives makes for a compelling true crime story.
“It really transports people back to that time,” Danner said. “Every time you turn one rock over, there’s another rock underneath it. It’s one of the most layered and fascinating true crime stories I’ve ever worked on.”
You can listen to “Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder” wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch our full interview with Goldman and Danner in the video player above.