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Still no verdict in Skakel trial

Accounts focus on night of Moxley's killing in 1975

Michael Skakel leaves court Tuesday.

NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- Jurors in the trial of Michael Skakel deliberated for a second day Wednesday without reaching a verdict.

The jurors asked to hear trial testimony from several witnesses, including Michael Skakel's sister, Julie, and a friend of hers who was with her the night of the 1975 slaying.

Michael Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, is charged with murder in the slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley. The defendant and victim were both 15 at the time.

Moxley was beaten to death with a golf club October 30, 1975, outside her home in Greenwich. The golf club used to kill her matched a set owned by the Skakels, although its monogrammed handle was never found by police.

If convicted, the 41-year-old Skakel could be sentenced to 10 years to life in prison.

His older brother, Tommy, once a key suspect in the case, was at the courthouse for the first time Wednesday with other family members awaiting the verdict.

"He's satisfied at this point to come down and show his solidarity with his father and his siblings," said Tommy Skakel's attorney, Emmanuel Margolis.

On Wednesday, jurors listened to Julie Skakel's testimony in which she said she thought she saw her brother at home at the time he said he was miles away with his cousin -- the time defense attorneys contend Moxley was killed.

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Jurors also asked to hear the testimony again of Andrea Shakespeare Renna, a childhood friend of Julie's who was with her in the Skakel home the night of the slaying, and Helen Ix, a close friend of Moxley's who was with her that night.

In a separate note, jurors asked to have read to them the testimony of John Higgins, who attended a school for troubled youth where Michael Skakel allegedly confessed to the crime.

They also wanted to hear the testimony of Andrew Pugh, a childhood friend of Michael Skakel's, and Dr. Henry Lee, a forensic scientist.

On Tuesday, jurors requested a blackboard during their first day of deliberations after getting the case Monday following closing arguments.

In his closing argument, prosecutor Jonathan Benedict said that a Skakel family conspiracy kept Michael Skakel away from suspicion in the case, even during the years when his brother Tommy was a key suspect.

Defense attorneys countered that no physical evidence exists linking Michael Skakel to Moxley's death.

Benedict said jealousy motivated Skakel to kill Moxley, who was last seen flirting with Tommy Skakel in the Skakel driveway. He pointed to Michael Skakel's frequent admissions over the years that he had been near the place where the crime occurred on the night of Moxley's death.

Benedict called into question the alibi the defense presented -- that Skakel was at his cousin's house at the time they believe Moxley was killed.

Skakel's siblings claimed they could not remember much else about the night, except for their brother's alibi, Benedict said.

"They feigned a lack of recall because in their actual recall lies the truth," he said, contending that Skakel remained at home long after his cousin and brothers left in the family car.

"No independent witness can say what happened after the Lincoln left the driveway," Benedict said.

Defense attorney Mickey Sherman zeroed in on the apparent weaknesses of the state's case against Skakel.

"They have no physical evidence. They have no forensic evidence. They have [a] sketchy motive. They have several 'I Love Lucy' wannabes," said Sherman, saying prosecution witnesses were motivated by a desire to be in the spotlight.

Sherman also highlighted previous testimony that showed the extent to which investigators had earlier pursued Tommy Skakel and former Skakel tutor Ken Littleton as suspects.