NORWALK, Conn. — A Kennedy cousin who initially was the suspect in the killing of Martha Moxley will not be called to testify as expected against his brother Michael, who now is on trial in the killing.
Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict confirmed the decision on Thomas Skakel's testimony during a break Tuesday morning.
"I don't know what the sense is in putting on a member of the family," he said.
The action follows last week's revelation in court that police had once sought an arrest warrant for Thomas Skakel in Moxley's slaying.
Thomas Keegan, a retired Greenwich police chief, testified that he presented an affidavit to the state's attorney's office in 1976 seeking to arrest Thomas Skakel on a murder charge. Prosecutors rejected the request, saying there was not enough evidence, he said.
That affidavit was turned over to Michael Skakel's lawyers on Monday.
Moxley was beaten to death with a golf club on Oct. 30, 1975. Both she and Michael Skakel were 15 at the time; Thomas Skakel was 17. The brothers, nephews of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel, were among the last people seen with Moxley the night she was killed.
Michael Skakel could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted of her murder.
Emanuel Margolis, Thomas Skakel's lawyer, said that if Thomas Skakel had been called, he would have supported Michael's contention that he was at his cousin's house at about the time of the murder.
"Tom has nothing to do with this murder, and the only purpose in calling Tom that I can think of would be to focus on the issue of the defendant's alibi," he said.
Defense attorney Michael Sherman said it is possible that Thomas Skakel could be called as a defense witness.
On Monday, the jury saw videotaped interviews with another one-time suspect in the case, former Skakel tutor Kenneth Littleton.
He has immunity in the case because he was compelled to testify to the one-judge grand jury that recommended that Michael Skakel be charged.
Defense lawyers said the videotapes implicated Littleton in Moxley's death, but Littleton said he had neither killed Moxley nor confessed to the crime.
Littleton's testimony described a life transformed from that of a bright young teacher into a heavily medicated manic depressive who at once admires and fears the Kennedys and once told police that he was "Kenny Kennedy."
The jury saw a 1992 interview of Littleton conducted by a state-retained psychiatrist as part of the Moxley investigation. The psychiatrist asked Littleton about statements he may have made to his ex-wife during an alcohol-induced blackout in 1984.
Sherman asked Littleton what he told the doctor.
"I did it," Littleton replied.
"And, when you say I did it, you are talking about that you committed the murder of Martha Moxley?" Sherman asked.
"Correct," Littleton replied.
Sherman also asked about taped conversations between Littleton and his ex-wife, Mary Baker.
"Did you ever tell Mary that you stabbed Martha Moxley through the neck?" Sherman asked.
"Yes," Littleton said.
But prosecutors called Baker, who testified that Littleton never confessed to the crime. She said she was working with investigators when she falsely told Littleton he had confessed during a blackout and had graphically described the murder. At the time, Littleton was a suspect in Moxley's murder and police were hoping he might make incriminating statements if prompted.
"Have you ever admitted to anybody that you murdered Martha Moxley?" prosecutor Jonathan Benedict asked Littleton.
"No," he replied.
"Did you kill Martha Moxley?" Benedict asked.
"No, I did not," Littleton said.