Kennedy nephew's murder trial opens

Skakel faces life in prison if convicted

Testimony has begun in the murder trial of Michael Skakel, nephew of the late Senator Robert Kennedy.

Mr Skakel, 41, is accused of the 1975 murder of a teenage neighbour in the affluent suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Martha Moxley, 15, was beaten to death with a golf club on her parents' lawn the night before Halloween.

Martha Moxley's murder shocked the wealthy Connecticut community

The subsequent lack of progress in the case has led to allegations that wealth, privilege and the Kennedy connection have protected Mr Skakel.

Prosecutors say he has admitted committing the crime in the 26 years since her death.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Jonathan Benedict told the jury at Connecticut Superior Court in Norwalk that it would hear from witnesses who had spoken to Mr Skakel about the killing.

"Some people can't keep a secret, as it turns out he's been talking about his night of mischief since at least the spring of 1978," Mr Benedict said.

He also told jurors that they would hear evidence that the Skakel family made a "concerted effort" to hide Mr Skakel's guilt from the police.

'Jigsaw pieces'

Sheila McGuire: Discovered the body

For its part, the defence told the jury that there was no physical evidence against Mr Skakel.

Defence lawyer Michael Sherman said his client was at the home of a cousin several miles away at the time of the murder.

"Michael Skakel was innocent then, and he is innocent now," he said.

"You'll see they have a lot of pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but the problem is, the jigsaw pieces don't fit."

He rejected any suggestion of a cover-up, and went on to dispute the evidence to be given by the prosecution witnesses.

"You're going to find people who have no other logical explanation to be here other than they want to be part of the show - and it's a heck of a show."

'Like a zombie'

The victim's mother, Dorothy Moxley, who has campaigned since her daughter's death to find the killer, was the first witness called to the stand.

She recalled waiting all night in vain for her daughter to come home and how a local girl came to her door shortly after noon on 31 October, 1975.

"She was hysterical. She said, 'I think I found Martha'. I said, 'Is she all right?' And she said, 'No I don't think so'."

Mrs Moxley added: "After Martha died, I was like a zombie. I could barely function."

Sheila McGuire, who discovered Moxley's body, also took the stand. "Martha was laying face down. Her pants had been pulled down around her ankles," she said. "I panicked and I ran."

Martha's brother, John Moxley, who described driving around the neighbourhood looking for his missing sister, and Daniel Hickman, a former Greenwich police officer who was one of the first on the scene, also testified.

There are no eyewitnesses to the killing, and limited forensic evidence.

On trial as an adult

Mr Skakel did not comment as he entered the court on Tuesday.

None of his Kennedy relatives showed up for the first day of testimony.

Mr Skakel, who lives in the small town of Windham, New York, was arrested in January 2000 after a one-judge grand jury investigated the murder.

Lawyers and prosecutors then argued over whether he should be tried as a juvenile or as an adult.

A state Supreme Court panel of judges ruled last November that he should be tried as an adult.