Investigator says man backed off story for Skakel

STAMFORD, Conn. – A man who implicated two friends in a murder that sent Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel to prison backed off a bit from his account when a state investigator questioned him, according to testimony Tuesday.

Skakel, who was convicted in 2002 of killing Martha Moxley in 1975 and is serving 20 years to life in prison, is seeking a new trial because of Gitano “Tony” Bryant’s claim that two other men told him they got Moxley “caveman style.”

To win a new trial, Skakel’s attorneys must prove that new evidence not available before his conviction could have changed the jury’s verdict.

Bryant gave a videotaped statement to a Skakel investigator in 2003 but has since invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Frank Garr, who investigated the crime for the state, said he spoke to Bryant once on the telephone.

“He just briefly said, ‘Mr. Garr, those are not exactly my words,”‘ Garr testified.

Bryant made the remark even though his statement was videotaped, said Garr, who was not questioned further on the exchange.

Skakel’s attorneys spent much of the day challenging the testimony of a star witness for the state.

Gregory Coleman, who attended a reform school with Skakel in the late 1970s, said at a hearing before Skakel’s trial that Skakel confessed to killing Moxley and said he would get away with murder because “I’m a Kennedy.”

Coleman admitted to being high on heroin during his grand jury appearance, and he died in 2001 after using drugs, but his testimony was read into the record during Skakel’s trial.

Trying to show Coleman was motivated by a reward, Skakel’s attorneys introduced land records showing that a tax lien was placed on Coleman’s property for $50,000 months before he came forward.

The nonjury hearing is expected to conclude Wednesday or Thursday, but the judge does not plan to rule for some time.