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Witnesses: Skakel thought he might have killed Moxley, but wasn't sure

NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- A teary Michael Skakel told a former schoolmate that he did not know whether he had murdered Martha Moxley, but could have done it during an alcoholic blackout, the woman testified in court Friday.

Elizabeth Arnold, who attended the Elan school for troubled teen-agers with Skakel in the late 1970s, said that during a group therapy session, Skakel had opened up about Moxley's 1975 murder.

"He talked about running outside ... he said his brother 'effed' his girlfriend," Arnold said. "They didn't really have sex but they were fooling around. He was very upset because he didn't know whether he had killed this girl."

Arnold described Skakel as "very pained." He said to her "I don't know, I don't know. I could've, I don't know."

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Prosecutors in the Michael Skakel murder trial will not call Thomas Skakel, the last person known to have seen Martha Moxley alive, as a witness. CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports. (May 15) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Michael Skakel trial    RESOURCES • Gallery: People in the News  • Court TV.com: Kennedy cousin on trial  • Read Martha Moxley's diary      LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Moxley, 15, was bludgeoned to death with a golf club outside her Greenwich, Connecticut, home. Police traced the murder weapon to a set of golf clubs owned by the Skakels.

Michael Skakel, now 41, is the nephew of Ethel Kennedy.

Police say Michael Skakel's brother, Tommy, was the last person to have seen Moxley alive. Neighborhood friends have said Tommy and Martha were flirting playfully when they last saw them.

Another witness, former Elan staffer Alice Dunn, said that on at least two occasions, Michael Skakel had told her he "really just didn't know what happened" the night Moxley was murdered.

"He had been drinking ... the drinking had created a situation where he didn't remember," Dunn testified.

She said that when Skakel was working at Elan, but no longer a resident, they went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. When she asked him about the murder, she said, he became very pensive, put his head down, and avoided making eye contact. "He said that he might have done it," Dunn added.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Mickey Sherman, Dunn described how Skakel was confronted about the murder and subjected to brutal beatings in front of about 150 schoolmates after he had tried to escape from Elan.

At first, Skakel denied being involved in the killing. "He would continually say "I didn't do it," Dunn said. Then Skakel was put in a boxing ring and forced to defend himself with boxing gloves on, Dunn said, and after awhile he said "I don't know" whether he killed Moxley.

"When he finally said 'I don't know,' did the pounding stop?" Sherman asked.

"Yes," Dunn said.

Sherman is seeking to show that Skakel may have made his admissions about the murder in an effort to save himself from humiliating abuse and beatings at Elan.

Before court convened Friday, Dorthy Moxley, Martha's mother, asked anyone with information about the murder of the girl to bring it to the Connecticut state's attorney.

Moxley praised three witnesses who testified in court Thursday. All three -- Chuck Seigan, John Higgins, and Dorothy Rogers, classmates of Skakel in 1970s at Elan -- testified about conversations with Skakel in which he made comments about the crime.

"I know that there are many people out there in their 30s and 40s who know what happened, who have probably heard Michael Skakel admit that he murdered Martha," Moxley told reporters. "I have no doubt in my mind that he murdered Martha, I'm positive. He's the only one who thinks he did it. He's the only one the family keeps trying to prove didn't do it."