THE SUTTON REPORT
TOMMY
SKAKEL
No one contests that Tommy Skakel is the last person
known to have seen Martha Moxley alive. Partly as a
result of this ominous distinction, the second son of
Rushton Skakel remains, to this day, a leading
suspect, if not the leading suspect, in the
investigation of her murder. Those who have labored
to establish his innocence have faced as much
difficulty as those who have struggled to prove his
guilt. As such, Tommy has remained, for better or
worse, in a culpable limbo for nearly twenty
years.
Such speculation has left quite a paper trail. Tommy
has been interviewed and examined by doctors,
detectives, police officers, and mental health
experts, on repeated occasions, regarding the night
of October 30, 1975. Sutton Associates has amassed a
collection, as comprehensive as possible, of the
materials generated by Tommy's suspected involvement
in the incident. A few omissions were insurmountable:
certain files, physical evidence, and recorded
interviews, for example, remain in the possession of
the Greenwich Police Department, and will likely
never be made available.
In addition to collecting and analyzing the findings
of other professionals, Sutton Associates has
conducted its own extensive investigation into the
murder. Tommy Skakel has been among the numerous
witnesses and suspects interviewed for this
investigation. Sticking largely to the same story he
has, to the best of our knowledge, been telling from
the outset, Tommy maintains his innocence and
professes to have no first-hand knowledge of how
Martha Moxley was murdered. The few changes he has
made to his story, however, are extremely revelatory.
These changes were solicited solely during interviews
with Sutton Associates. In conjunction with other
circumstantial evidence, they have contributed
substantial credence to the possibility of
Tommy's guilt and, at the very least, suggest he has
willfully deceived authorities, with considerable
success, for many years. We will illustrate and
explore the significance of these
discrepancies.
While this revelatory information brings us a little
farther from establishing Tommy's innocence, it does
not bring us much closer to proving his
guilt. As circumstances now stand, the only means of
answering this issue, once and for all, lie with
Tommy, himself. To obtain a better understanding of
the issue, then, we must come to a better
understanding of Tommy Skakel--and, specifically, how
he has endured under the scrutiny of a high-profile,
multi-faceted murder investigation.
The Academy Group's profile of the probable offender
shares many obvious characteristics with Tommy Skakel
(as well as with other leading suspects). Most
notably, the Academy Group believe the offender was
between 14 and 18 years of age, resided within easy
walking distance of the victim's residence, was in
the same socio-economic status as the victim, had
regular interaction with the victim, would have
exhibited strong sibling rivalry tendencies, would
have experienced behavioral problems both at school
and at home, and was under the influence of drugs
and/or alcohol at the time of this crime. Some
pertinent excerpts:
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