By John Christoffersen, Associated Press, 08/29/02

Michael Skakel in a current photo and, at right, as a youth. Martha Moxley in 1974, the year before she was murdered. Timeline of events in the case  REALVIDEO | NECN.com | Help with video | Skakel gets 20 years to life Moxleys praise sentence Lawyer says Skakel is innocent Moxley's brother: 'No celebrations' Video clips require RealPlayer and Windows 98 or higher.  FROM THE ARCHIVES More coverage of the Skakel case from the Globe Run a custom search: Search for: Time period: Today Yesterday Past 30 days Past 12 months Since 1979 More search options

NORWALK, Conn. — A judge sentenced Michael Skakel to 20 years to life for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, after hearing the Kennedy cousin insist on his innocence in a rambling, tearful speech filled with religious references.

Skakel, who did not testify at his trial, told Norwalk Superior Court Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. on Thursday that he could not apologize for a crime he had not committed.

"I would love to be able to say I did this crime so the Moxley family could have rest and peace, but I can't," he said, sobbing. "To do that would be a lie."

Skakel, 41, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, was convicted in June of beating Martha to death with a golf club when they were 15-year-old neighbors in wealthy Greenwich. He plans an appeal.

Since being imprisoned, Skakel said, he asks God "why my life has come to this."

"I scream to him sometimes and I say, `Lord, I have done everything you wanted me to do. Why am I here?"'

Prosecutors had earlier remarked on Skakel's spotty employment record. Skakel responded: "And as far as a job is concerned, I mean, what did Jesus Christ do? He walked around the world telling people that he loved them. Should he go to jail for that?"

Skakel also said God "tells me to tell you that in 2,000 years this place hasn't changed a bit, that you still want to let Barabbas go" -- a reference to the thief that the Jerusalem mob demanded be released instead of Jesus.

"It sounded to me like he was trying to compare himself with someone being crucified," prosecutor Jonathan Benedict said later.

Benedict had urged the court to impose a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, calling the murder "cold-bloodedly evil."

Skakel dodged the truth for more than a quarter-century, Benedict said. "We submit it is time to face reality," he said.

Kavanewsky agreed, saying he was imposing a substantial sentence.

"For the last 25 years or more ... the defendant has been living a lie about his guilt," the judge said. "This defendant has accepted no responsibility, he has expressed no personal remorse."

Under the guidelines in effect in 1975, Skakel could have received a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a maximum of 25 years to life.

The 1975 sentencing laws allowed time off for good behavior, and Skakel will become eligible for parole on April 27, 2013, the Department of Correction said Thursday.

But Skakel's lawyers noted that the parole board would be under heavy pressure not to free Skakel.

Kavanewsky rejected a defense motion to free Skakel on bond while the conviction is appealed.

Defense lawyer Michael Sherman read letters from numerous supporters, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said Skakel helped him fight addiction.

In another letter, Ethel Kennedy also asked the judge for leniency.

"Financially privileged, Michael was growing emotionally destitute," she wrote of Skakel's difficult childhood. "It pains me that others miss his sweetness, kindness, good cheer and love of life; his perceptiveness, exuberance and extraordinary generosity."

Sherman also noted a pre-sentencing report compiled by a probation officer, which Sherman said did not recommend a life sentence.

In a steady rain outside the courthouse, the victim's mother, Dorthy Moxley, called the sentence reasonable. John Moxley, Martha's brother, said he was simply numb.

"There's no celebration," John Moxley said. "There's no party to go to."

Martha's battered body was discovered on Oct. 31, 1975, under a tree on her family's estate in the gated Greenwich community of Belle Haven. She had been repeatedly bludgeoned with a golf club -- later traced to a set owned by Skakel's mother -- and stabbed in the neck with the shaft of the club.

At trial, prosecution witnesses said Skakel was romantically interested in Martha, but suggested he was upset because his older brother, Thomas, an early suspect in the slaying, was making advances on his attractive blonde neighbor.

The case went unsolved, creating speculation that wealth, privilege and the Kennedy connection had protected the Skakel family. Rather than obtain a search warrant, police initially relied on the cooperation of Skakel's family.

Attention turned to Michael in the early 1990s, when he gave new details of his activities the night of the murder to a private investigator hired by the Skakel family in the hope of clearing the brothers. Books about the case were written by former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman, Dominick Dunne and journalist Tim Dumas.

Skakel said Fuhrman cost him a job with Alcoholics Anonymous by writing "book about me filled with lies."

After an investigation by a one-judge grand jury, Skakel was arrested. He declared his innocence and fought to have the case heard in juvenile court, only to have a judge rule the state had no juvenile facility in which to lock up a middle-aged man.

The case was transferred to adult court in January 2001.

Prosecutors had no eyewitnesses and little forensic evidence. Instead they presented about a dozen people who said they had heard Skakel confess or make incriminating statements. Among them were former classmates of Skakel at a substance abuse treatment center in Maine.

One such witness, Gregory Coleman, was dead of heroin use by the time Skakel's trial began. But prosecutors were permitted to read Coleman's pretrial testimony into the record, including an allegation that Skakel once told him: "I'm going to get away with murder, because I'm a Kennedy."