Classmates Testify

There is more testimony in the Moxley murder case. A former classmate of a Kennedy nephew suspected in the 1975 murder of a Greenwich teen-ager testified that a school administrator once discussed the boy's involvement in a murder at a meeting attended by 90 students. Prosecutors are hoping to use the information to force the administrator to testify before a grand jury investigating the unsolved murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley. Chuck Seigan testified Wednesday that Joseph Ricci, owner of the Elan school in Poland Spring, Maine, confronted Michael Skakel during a meeting originally called to berate Skakel for running away from the school. Seigan said that during this group dressing-down of Skakel, Ricci reminded Skakel of one of the reasons why he was sent to the school in the first place. "There were many reasons, but he did bring out the fact that there was a murder," said Seigan, over the repeated objections of Skakel's lawyers. Seigan's testimony sharply contradicts earlier testimony from Ricci, who insisted he never heard anything about Skakel's alleged involvement in a murder. From 1978 to 1980, Skakel was a student at Elan, a residential drug treatment center and school for troubled teens. Prosecutors hope to use Seigan's testimony to convince a judge to force Ricci to testify before a grand jury investigating Moxley's murder. Ricci, in addition to denying any knowledge of Skakel's involvement in a murder, has refused to testify before the grand jury based on confidentiality laws protecting mental health facilities. Skakel was 15 when Moxley was beaten to death with a golf club on Oct. 30, 1975. He and his brother Thomas, then 17, have been identified by authorities as suspects in the murder. Soon after the murder, the 6-iron used to kill Moxley was matched to a set of clubs owned by the Skakel family. Thomas and Michael's father, Rushton Skakel, is the brother of Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's widow. Both Michael and Thomas have repeatedly denied any involvement in Moxley's murder. No one has ever been charged, but a one-judge grand jury was appointed in June to reinvestigate the long-stalled case. Prosecutors say they've been told by several former residents of Elan that Ricci was present and overheard Skakel make admissions to Moxley's murder. The trial continues Thursday in Connecticut.