Terrifying & True | The Murder of Martha Moxley

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The night before Halloween is known as
Mischief Knight, and for good reason.

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It's a night known for pranks,
tricks, and not so many treats.

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But Tonight's story is about a mischief
night that goes horribly wrong. It turns

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into something not at all childlife,
something deadly what you were about to be

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burnt to you. Based on witness
accounts, testimonies, and public record,

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this is terrifying and truth truth in
the quiet, affluent neighborhood of Belle Haven

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and Greenwich canet Etiquette. The night
of October thirtieth, nineteen seventy five was

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supposed to be just another mischief night, filled with harmless pranks and youthful laughter.

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But as the leaves rustled under the
pale moonlight, something sinister unfolded that

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would forever change the lives of those
involved. This is the chilling story of

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the cold blooded murder of fifteen year
old Martha Moxley, a truly haunting case

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that continues to intrigue and disturb many
across the globe, sparking debates and raising

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questions about the American justice system and
the complexities of solving a decades old murder

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mystery. We're telling that story tonight. After these quick words from our sponsors,

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Let's start by asking a simple question. Who was Martha Moxley. Martha

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Elizabeth Moxley was born on August sixteenth, nineteen sixty. She was a lively,

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fifteen year old American high school student
from Greenwich, Connecticut, who was

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murdered in nineteen seventy five. Moxley
was last seen alive spending time at the

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home of the Schackle family across the
street from her home in Bellhaven. As

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per the assessment of many experts,
she had a low risk profile as a

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victim. What this means is that
she did not fit the typical high risk

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criteria, such as being involved in
excessive drug use, partying, or coming

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from a neglectful household, which would
elevate her risk of getting involved in any

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type of crime. Statistically, a
quick look at her case and most people

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would be convinced that she was quite
the opposite. While she may have experimented

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with marijuana, which was relatively common
in nineteen seventy five, she was not

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engaged in risky behavior and had recently
moved to Greenwich, specifically to the affluent

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neighborhood of Bellhaven, which can be
classified as an area dominated mainly by people

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belonging to the upper middle class and
higher Consequently, most of the people living

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there were well to do professionals who
commuted into the city for their high powered

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jobs at top accounting firms, law
firms, and stock trading companies. It

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was a typical neighborhood where kids would
interact, ride bikes, and engage in

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various activities together, fostering a close
knit community. Martha was well liked,

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outgoing and friendly, and she had
lived in the area for about a year.

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She had become friends with the Skykel
family, who were distant relatives of

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the Kennedys through marriage. The Skokels
were a well off clan led by rushed

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In Skockl, who owned a company
specializing in carbon coal, a cleaner version

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of coal used in various industries.
Martha spent a lot of time with the

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Scokel children, particularly Michael, who
was her age and Tommy, who was

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a year older. Over time,
a romantic and flirtatious relationship developed between Martha

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and Michael, which later shifted toward
Tommy. This change likely fueled some rivalry

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between Michael and Tommy, as documented
in various sources and set the stage for

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the primary suspects, Michael Tommy and
ken Lyttleton, who played a unique role

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as a tutor and potential intruder into
Martha's life, as we will discuss in

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more depth a little later on.
Before diving into the crime scene details,

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let's establish a timeline so that it's
easier to understand what exactly happened, how

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and when. After all, when
we talk about true crime, it's all

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about connecting the dots to make sense
of the events. The murder occurred on

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the night before Halloween, often referred
to as Mischief Night. On the evening

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of October thirtieth, nineteen seventy five, Martha Moxley joined her friends in the

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neighborhood for the Mischief Night tradition,
where local youths engage in pranks like ringing

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doorbells and running away, and playing
other tricks like toilet papering houses and trees.

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As the night unfolded, Martha's attention
seemed to gravitate towards Thomas Scockle,

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the older brother of Michael Scockle.
Flirting turned into a memorable kiss, and

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the night took a curious turn.
They were last seen behind the fence near

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the skykl family pool around nine thirty
pm, and that's where things start to

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get mysterious. The following day,
Martha's lifeless body was discovered beneath a tree

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in her family's backyard. While her
clothes had been removed. A body examination

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revealed she had not been subjected to
sexual assault. Pieces of a broken six

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iron golf club were found near her
remains, and the autopsy showed that she

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had suffered both blunt force trauma and
stab wounds inflicted with the club, a

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golf club that traced back to the
Scackle family. Naturally, suspicion fell on

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them, especially on Thomas and Michael. The police got involved and investigations were

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carried out so that the real killer
could be identified and punished accordingly. However,

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after some time, the investigation stopped
and the murder sadly lost police attention.

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No one was talking the case had
gone cold. Then in nineteen ninety

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one, the spotlight on the Moxley
murder case was reignited as William Kennedy Smith

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was tried and later on acquitted for
rape. It was rumored that he had

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been present at the Skakkel residence the
knight of the murder, and therefore people

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began asking questions again, could Kennedy
be another part possible suspect. As the

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investigation reopened, Thomas and Michael Scockel
were interviewed again and their stories started to

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change considerably. During this time,
Thomas admitted that he and Martha had been

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intimate that night, while Michael confessed
to a disturbing act of voyeurism from a

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tree. Yet there was no concrete
evidence pointing to the killer. Another element

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that added to the case was Michael's
conduct. Michael had begun experimenting with alcohol

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and drugs at a young age.
By the time he was fifteen, he

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was already drinking heavily, and it
was known that he had used cocaine on

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the night of the murder as well. He had consumed alcohol without any adult

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intervention. Going back to the police
interviews, Tommy initially told investigators that he

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said goodbye to Martha and returned to
the house to work on a school paper

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about a. Abraham Lincoln after the
three had spent the evening together. However,

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this alibi did not hold up when
investigators found no such assignment. This

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inconsistency immediately raised further suspicions. In
two thousand, Michael Skakel was arrested and

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eventually convicted. In two thousand and
two, he received a twenty year to

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life sentence for Martha's murder. However, the legal saga didn't end there.

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Michael's conviction was overturned in twenty thirteen
and he was released on bail. Then

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in twenty sixteen, his request for
a new trial was denied and he was

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briefly imprisoned again, but in twenty
eighteen, the Connecticut Supreme Court granted him

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his new trial. Finally, in
twenty twenty, the prosecutor decided not to

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retry the case. Years later,
Michael and Tommy's father rushed in Scackle hired

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a private investigative firm to clear his
son's name, but this effort backfired.

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The firm's report, known as the
Sutton Report, ended up casting even more

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suspicion on both Michael and Tommy.
I'm sure at this point many of you

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might be getting a little confused,
because this case does keep on getting twisted,

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with so many suspects to keep track
of. But as per the majority

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of theories that have been revealed to
the public, there are four main suspects

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in the case, so let's discuss
them in detail and also talk about the

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reasons behind them being treated as suspects
in the first place. Our first theory

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is Michael Scockel. Several factors have
led to suspicions surrounding Michael's involvement. During

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initial police interviews, he claimed to
have left his house around nine to fifteen

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pm to visit his cousin's house and
returned home by eleven PM. However,

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in a private detective interview leaked in
nineteen ninety five, Michael climbing a tree

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outside of Martha's window at midnight and
engaging in inappropriate behavior. At a pre

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trial hearing in two thousand, a
childhood friend testified that Michael admitted to the

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act and made self incriminating statements.
While no concrete physical evidence tied Michael to

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the murder, the jury was swayed
by his incriminating statements and erratic behavior following

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Martha's death. Despite his conviction,
Michael was eventually released from prison based on

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inadequate legal representation, and his conviction
was later vacated. Martha's mother, Dorothy

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Moxley, maintained that Michael was the
culprit, while Michael himself continued to stress

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his innocence. One of them was
mistaken. We just don't know who.

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The second theory is Tommy Scackle.
In the years following Martha's murder, Tommy

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Scackle was considered a suspect. He
initially passed a lie detector test, but

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later admitted to lying during his initial
nineteen seventy five interview. This isn't surprising.

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By the way, lie detectors are
not admissible in court. They can

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be easily manipulated from things as simple
as poking yourself with a needle or contracting

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the muscles in your back and sphincter. Tommy confessed that he and Martha had

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engaged in sexual behavior outside his home, making him the last person known to

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have seen Martha alive. However,
he has consistently denied any involvement in her

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murder. In a twenty sixteen Supreme
Court hearing, Michael's lawyer argued for a

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new trial, suggesting that Tommy was
the likely suspect. He claimed that police,

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while lacking sufficient evidence to charge Tommy, believed he was the probable killer.

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Tommy still asserted his innocence and has
never faced charges in connection with Martha's

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murder. The third theory is Kenneth
Lyttleton. Apart from the sky Cocke brothers,

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their live in tutor, Kenneth Lyttleton
raised suspicions. Lyttleton was identified as

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a suspect early in the investigation and
subjected to a lie detector test. Police

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noted that he provided untruthful answers to
key questions. Additionally, he had prior

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arrests and exhibited strange behaviour in the
months following the murder. After the private

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school where Lyttleton taught learned of his
past criminal record, he was fired and

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left Greenwich. Lyttleton's mother mentioned the
toll this took on their family, leading

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to alcoholism and severe strain. Lyttleton
has never been charged in connection with Martha's

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murder or any other homicides and denies
any involvement. The fourth theory is Burton

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Tinsley and Adolph Hasbroke. In twenty
sixteen, Robert F. Kennedy Junior published

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a book attempting to clear Michael's name
and claimed that two Bronx teenagers, Burton

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Tinsley and Adolph Hasbruk, were the
actual perpetrators. Of Martha's murder. Kennedy

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based his allegations on information provided by
Gaetano Tony Bryant, who initially proposed this

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theory In two thousand and three.
Kennedy even penned an article for The Atlantic

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titled A Miscarriage of Justice where he
asserted Scackle's innocence In the peace. He

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made a case that the state's argument
against Kenneth Lyttleton, the aforementioned live in

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tutor, had been a previous suspect
and one with substantially more likelihood of committing

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the crime. Bryant, who had
attended school with Michael and later met Tinsley

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and Hasbrook in the Bronx, alleged
that the two had accompanied him to Greenwich

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on the night of Martha's murder and
later admitted to killing her. However,

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Bryant's claims remain unverified, and he
refused to provide official statements. When Michael's

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defense sought a new trial in two
thousand and seven, the judge dismissed Bryant's

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claims as life lacking credibility and corroboration. Tinsley and Hosbruk have also denied having

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any involvement whatsoever in Martha's death.
Kennedy's book still stands by Bryant's allegations,

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but no official charges have been filed
against the Bronx teenagers in connection with the

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case. These theories add layers of
complexity to the Martha Moxley murder case,

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leaving dozens of unanswered questions about what
truly happened on that fateful night, the

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night before Halloween nineteen seventy five.
Martha Moxley's tragic murder remains an unsolved puzzle,

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haunting the memories of those who followed
the case closely. Her story is

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one of missed opportunities, shifting narratives, and the imperfection of our justice system

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exposed for the world to see.
But one thing that remains certain is that

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Martha's life was wrongfully cut short on
that fateful mischief night, a knight meant

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for harmless pranks, but forever marred
by a heinous crime. Martha's story reminds

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us that justice can be hard to
find even when there's strong evidence. It

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challenges us to seek accountability even when
it's difficult, and it reminds us that

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behind every unsolved case, there are
loved ones still waiting for explanations, haunted

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by the memory of young life tragically
cut short. The golf club used as

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a murder weapon still stands as a
macabre reminder of the questions that remain unanswered.

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I gotta admit my decision to feature
Halloween related stories on terrifying and true.

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I'm not gonna say I regret it, but it has kicked me in

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the lungs a little bit. As
far as the fun time of year,

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Yeah, it's a little hard to
read these stories, but of course,

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every time time of year has heinous
crimes committed during it. Christmas is no

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exception, so I guess I can't
be that surprised. But this story definitely

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hits hard. It's a painfully simple
case of murder, the murder of an

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innocent young woman, and the fact
that the main suspects were relatively rich and

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powerful young men. It muddies the
waters in a way that I certainly don't

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enjoy. So that all being said, what do you guys think? Do

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you think there was a miscarriage of
justice due to the money and power involved,

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or do you think that maybe it
was the other way around. Maybe

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the state of Connecticut decided to throw
these kids under the bus to make an

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example, to show that rich and
powerful people can't just do whatever they want

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to others. I really don't know, but all I do know is Martha

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Moxley did not deserve what happened to
her, and I do hope that one

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day justice is served. One day, beyond a shadow of a doubt,

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we can know what happened that fateful
night and know that justice is fully served.

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But for now, all I have
to say is try to enjoy your

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Halloween safely, and I'll try to. Terrifying and True is narrated by Enrique

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Kuto, Executive produced by Rob Fields
and Joshua Butler, produced by Daniel Wilder,

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with the original theme music by Ray
Maddis. If you have a story

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you'd like us to cover on the
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bit more to hear their names at
the end of the show, and they

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are Johnny Nix, Bobotopia Dot,
Megan Hua, Julia Kirsh, Brent mccaullugh,

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Steve King, Karen We met Jack
Kerr and Craig Cohen. Thank you

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00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.720
all so much, and we'll see
you next time right here on Weekly Spooky

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and Terrifying and True