On the night of October 30, 1975, sixteen-year-old Martha Moxley was hanging out with her friends in their upscale neighborhood. The group was playing harmless Halloween pranks like doorbell ditch and generally having a good time in each others' company. She was last seen by Thomas Skakel, whom she had kissed that night, in the Skakel backyard.

The next morning, Martha's body was found in the backyard of her family home underneath a tree. She had not been sexually assaulted, but her bottoms were pulled down around her knees. A broken golf, the probable murder weapon, club was found nearby. Because Thomas Skakel was the last person to have seen her alive, he immediately became a suspect but investigators could find no direct evidence tying him to the murder and were unable to arrest anyone for 25 years.

Finally, in January 2000, an arrest warrant was issued for Thomas' Skakel's brother, Michael Skakel. Michael Skakel had been to a boarding school and while he was there he allegedly confessed to the killing of Martha Moxley. The Skakels were related to the prominent Kennedy family, and one of Michael Skakel's classmates testified that Michael once said, "I'm going to get away with murder. I'm a Kennedy." He had also been recorded saying that he had been peeping into windows and masturbating at Martha's house that night.

In June of 2002, Michael Skakel was convicted in the murder of Martha Moxley and sentenced to 20-years to live in prison. Skakel continued to appeal his conviction until 2013 when was finally granted a new trial. In 2016, Skakel's guilty verdict was reinstated but he was not ordered to return to prison. In May 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court again granted Skakel a new trial. In October 2020, the Connecticut state prosecutor decided not to pursue a new trial against Skakel and the charges were dropped.