SUFFIELD, Conn. (AP) -- Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel has been denied his first bid for parole since he was convicted a decade ago of killing his neighbor in 1975.
AP photo
Michael Skakel
A Connecticut parole board rejected Skakel's request following a two-hour hearing Wednesday in which he proclaimed he is innocent.
Skakel is serving 20 years to life for fatally beating Martha Moxley with a golf club in 1975 in Greenwich when they were 15. Skakel is a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy.
The victim's mother, Dorthy Moxley, said during the hearing at a prison in Suffield, Conn., that Skakel should serve at least 20 years.
The chair of the parole board, Erika Tindill, says it was odd for Skakel to ask for early release while proclaiming his innocence.