Plot Synopsis

Hosted by former federal prosecutor and on-air legal analyst Laura Coates, MURDER AND JUSTICE: THE CASE OF MARTHA MOXLEY is a three-night event series that re-explores the infamous murder of Martha Moxley by taking a 360-degree look at the case's original evidence, testing new theories that examine potentially overlooked clues with help from some of the world's preeminent crime experts. Through new and exclusive interviews with those connected to the case, including former LAPD Homicide Detective Mark Fuhrman, trial defense attorney Mickey Sherman and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as conversations with Martha's loved ones, Coates revisits the investigation and its aftermath in an attempt to understand the question that remains: Why has justice been so elusive for the Moxley family after so many years?

On October 30, 1975, 15-year old Martha Moxley was found brutally murdered beneath a tree on her own front lawn in the exclusive community of Greenwich, Connecticut. Following her death, the investigation was stalled for 23 years before an individual was arrested and pulled into the limelight: Michael Skakel, who was Martha's neighbor at the time of her death and a cousin to the famous Kennedy family. In 2002, Skakel was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years-to-life, amid a media firestorm that shocked the nation. In 2013 however, after 11 years of appeals, a judge ruled that Skakel's original trial lawyer did not provide a competent defense and reversed his conviction. A deep look at the trial re-examines how prosecutors secured a conviction that was ultimately overturned. With a prominent family at the center of a roller coaster case, the series explores the effects that money, privilege and media frenzy can have on a quest for justice. As of 2018, the heartbroken Moxley family is still holding its breath for answers.