Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder

Introducing Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder

4 min
Oct 27, 20256 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Dead Certain introduces a deep-dive podcast investigation into the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the decades-long case against Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. Host Andrew Goldman, a journalist who spent nearly a decade investigating, reveals that the widely-accepted narrative about the case may be far more complex and shocking than media coverage suggested.

Insights
  • Media narratives around high-profile cases involving powerful families can become entrenched and resistant to scrutiny, even when underlying facts remain contested
  • Investigative journalism requires sustained, deep engagement with primary sources and witnesses to uncover truths obscured by decades of media repetition
  • Cases involving Kennedy family connections receive disproportionate media attention that can overshadow investigative rigor and factual complexity
  • Law enforcement inexperience with homicide investigations can lead to investigative failures and cold cases that persist for decades
Trends
True crime podcast format enabling long-form investigative journalism with primary source interviewsRevisionist narratives challenging established media consensus on high-profile criminal casesKennedy family involvement driving sustained public interest in historical criminal casesPodcast platforms as distribution channels for NBC News investigative contentJournalistic skepticism of authority and media narratives as audience engagement driver
Topics
Martha Moxley murder investigationMichael Skakel trial and convictionKennedy family criminal casesCold case investigationsMedia narrative bias in true crime coverageGreenwich Connecticut homicideLaw enforcement investigative failuresTrue crime podcast journalismCriminal case reopening and appealsWitness testimony and evidence evaluation
Companies
NBC News
Produces and distributes Dead Certain podcast series through NBC News Studios
People
Andrew Goldman
30-year journalist who spent nearly a decade investigating the Martha Moxley case for this podcast series
Michael Skakel
Kennedy cousin arrested in 2000 for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley; primary subject of investigation
Martha Moxley
15-year-old murder victim in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1975; central subject of the podcast investigation
Jeffrey Toobin
Legal analyst and journalist featured as contributor in the podcast series
Amanda Knox
Featured as contributor providing perspective on the criminal case investigation
Mark Fuhrman
Law enforcement expert featured as contributor analyzing investigative procedures
Linda Kenny Baden
Legal expert featured as contributor in the podcast series
Henry Lee
Forensic scientist featured as contributor analyzing evidence in the case
Quotes
"For decades, despite intense media scrutiny, police failed to make an arrest."
Andrew GoldmanIntroduction
"The Kennedy connection is the reason that most people know about this case, or at least think they know about it."
Andrew GoldmanMid-episode
"But the deeper I dug, the more I came to question everything I thought I knew."
Andrew GoldmanMid-episode
"Once this story got its hooks in me, it wouldn't let me go."
Andrew GoldmanEarly episode
"I believe will finally provide a full, true, authoritative account of the Martha Moxley case."
Andrew GoldmanClosing
Full Transcript
Grennitz detectives have questioned hundreds of people and searched the murder site thoroughly. But they still have no real leads at all to the person who killed Martha Moxley last Thursday night. On the night before Halloween in 1975, 15-year-old Martha Moxley was murdered in the Tony Belhaven neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut. She was rich and beautiful and loved by all who knew her. For decades, despite intense media scrutiny, police failed to make an arrest. The people who were actively working there had never handled a homicide. Over the years, the police had their suspects. This individual is the last to see the victim. It used to go out without any clothes on to the pool. They said it was definitely two people. But none of the leads stuck, and eventually the case went ice cold. Until in 2000, 25 years after Martha's murder, her one-time neighbor, Michael Skakel, was arrested. He'd been 15, like her, at the time of the crime. He was also a cousin of the Kennedys. A teenage neighbor and friend of Martha Moxley, nephew of the late Robert Kennedy, Kennedy relative Michael Skakel on trial for murder. The Kennedy connection is the reason that most people know about this case, or at least think they know about it. I watched the news. I read the articles. Of course Michael Skakel killed his next-door neighbor, Martha Moxley. He beat her to death with a golf club. I knew it. And if you followed the case like I did, I bet you knew it too. My name is Andrew Goldman. I've been a journalist for 30 years. I got involved in this case in 2015. But here's the thing. Once this story got its hooks in me, it wouldn't let me go. For the better part of a decade, I've immersed myself in every detail of this story and interviewed dozens of those closest to it. I think it would be fair to say that it's become an addiction for me. And if I can do justice to this unbelievable tale, I suspect it will become an addiction for you too. Out of nowhere, he goes outside and kills this woman. It just doesn't make sense to me. This whole event made me a lifelong skeptic of media and authority. I thought I understood the case. It was a decades-long story about the powerful and the privileged seemingly getting away with murder. But the deeper I dug, the more I came to question everything I thought I knew. I discovered a much darker, more shocking tale than I ever could have guessed. Did you kill her? Did you kill her? Did you kill her? Your voice sounds so sweet. Unfortunately, Angren Fury motivates us calm. Why the hell would you say she wouldn't die? I just had to stab her to death. From NBC News Studio's Dead Certain, The Martha Moxley Murder is a podcast series that I believe will finally provide a full, true, authoritative account of the Martha Moxley case. In this series, you'll be hearing from dozens of voices, some of whom may be familiar to you. I'm Jeffrey Tubin. My name is Amanda Knox. My name is Mark Furman. Linda Kenny Baden. Dr. Henry Lee. Oh, and one more person who's never before spoken to the media. Can you tell me your name and why I might be interviewing you? My name is Michael Skakel. And why am I being interviewed? I mean, that's kind of a big question, isn't it? Dead Certain, The Martha Moxley Murder, premieres Tuesday, November 4th. Follow and subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Meet the Press, conflict in the Middle East as concerns grow over oil prices and risks to the global economy will dig into the impact here at home and how it could shape the upcoming midterms. This week on Meet the Press, listen to the full episode now, wherever you get your podcasts.