“48 Hours” Investigates in “The Diary of Martha Moxley”

Saturday, Nov. 6

(L-R) Richard Burns, Tori Holland, Martha Moxley and Moxley’s diary

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Since 1975, the tony neighborhood of Belle Haven, in Greenwich, Conn., has been haunted by the death of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old girl who was bludgeoned with a golf club. 48 HOURS and correspondent Erin Moriarty take a new look at the case through the first television interviews with two of Moxley’s friends, and through her own writings, in “The Diary of Martha Moxley” to be broadcast Saturday Nov. 6 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

What happened to Moxley has been a mystery that has gripped Belle Haven and the nation, aided by the fact that Moxley spent her last night alive with young members of the Skakel family, cousins of the Kennedys. In 2000, Michael Skakel was charged with her murder. He was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. After spending more than a decade in prison for the murder, in 2013 a judge granted Skakel a new trial, saying his first attorney failed to adequately represent him. In 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated his murder conviction and ordered a new trial. But in 2020, prosecutors said they would not retry him.

Now, for the first time since Martha Moxley was murdered, her childhood friends Richard Burns and Tori Holland are speaking together to 48 HOURS.

“This little girl … this cute, little amazing girl was murdered brutally by somebody. And I think it was somebody in that neighborhood,” says Burns.

Holland and Burns talk with Moriarty about living in the Belle Haven area at the time and share their thoughts on the Skakel family, who have been at the heart of the investigation since the start. Martha Moxley wrote about socializing with the Skakel brothers, Michael and Tommy, in her diary.

“Their father traveled quite a bit,” says Holland. “They were allowed to do whatever they'd like.”

Says Burns: “They definitely got into a lot of trouble. … There was a lot of partying going on in that house.”

But Skakel cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., says: “The evidence is much stronger in suggesting that other people may have committed the crime.”

Should authorities have looked elsewhere?

48 HOURS: “The Diary of Martha Moxley” is produced by Asena Basak and Josh Gelman. Hannah Vair is the associate producer. Morgan Canty is the broadcast associate. Gregory McLaughlin, Phil Tangel and Jud Johnston are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

48 HOURS is broadcast Saturdays at 10:00 PM, ET/PT, on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Follow 48 HOURS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Listen to podcasts at CBSAudio. Stream 48 HOURS on Paramount+.

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