Like many teenage girls living in suburbia, Martha Moxley kept a diary. She documented the mundane, the meaningful, and unbeknownst to her, the weeks leading up to her murder in the fall of 1975 in Greenwich, Connecticut. She wrote about Michael Skakel—who was the nephew of Ethel Kennedy, and 27 years later would be convicted of her murder (and have his conviction undone on appeal 11 years after that)—describing a boy who insisted he understood her intentions better than she did herself. But for years, her diary would be read clinically, as evidence, picked apart in court filings, and countless documentaries and podcasts. Today, over 50 years later, Kate Casey interprets her diary from a contemporary point of view.
Elsewhere, staff writer Clara Molot checks in with CNN reporter Clarissa Ward, who is on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the latest harrowing Ebola outbreak devastating the country. And while you’re here, dip into the VF archive to revisit Clint Eastwood biographer Shawn Levy’s deep dive into the making of the Hollywood icon’s masterpiece, Unforgiven.
