VERNON, Conn. - A murder victim’s friend testified Friday that she told Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel’s attorney before his trial that she had heard that two other men were responsible for the killing but he told her that account didn’t appear credible.
Marjorie Walker Hauer said she told lawyer Michael Sherman about Gitano “Tony” Bryant’s claim implicating two friends in the killing of 15-yearold Martha Moxley in 1975. Skakel’s current attorneys have accused Sherman of ignoring the claim as they appeal Skakel’s 2002 conviction, sayinghe was deprived of his right to effective legal representation.
Skakel earlier sought a new trial on the basis of Bryant’s claim, but a judge also rejected it as not credible. Skakel is serving 20 years to life in prison for Moxley’s golf-club bludgeoning when they were neighbors in Greenwich, Conn. He is the 52-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel.
Hauer said Sherman told her the claim probably didn’t deserve further investigation. Asked his response, she said, “He was aware of the story, and it didn’t seem credible.”
Hauer, who said she heardthe account from her brother, who was friends with Bryant, said she also told an investigator and the victim’s mother about the claim before the trial. Her brother, Neal Walker, testified that he did not reveal Bryant’s name to Sherman or prosecutors before the trial.
Skakel’s current attorney also argues Sherman was distracted by the limelight surrounding the high-profile case and failed to prepare.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 04/20/2013