Parole rejected for Michael Skakel

SUFFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) -- There was little reaction as Michael Skakel heard he will spend five more years in prison, perhaps because his plea for freedom did not come with an admission to murdering Martha Moxley.

"I know my best chance of getting parole is to admit guilt for this crime but 10 and a half years later I can't do that, I did not commit this crime out," Michael Skakel said.

The panel said no to parole in part because of the plea from Martha Moxley's mother and brother, both asking that the 52-year-old Skakel serve the second half of his 20 year sentence.

"Ten years after his conviction, he is not taking responsibility for his actions nor shown any remorse," the victim's brother, John Moxley, said.

"Martha, my baby, will never have a life," Martha's mother, Dorothy Moxley, said.

This parole hearing was almost 37 years to the day. 15-year-old Martha Moxley was beaten to death with a Skakel family golf club. Her body was found in a grassy area between the families estates in Greenwich.

25 years later Skakel was arrested, then convicted in a high profile trial. Now stoic and articulate, Skakel described himself as a victim of the press and was wrongly convicted bec ause he is related to the Kennedy's.

"What I can do, is what I do every day, is pray to God and to Martha, that whoever did do this is brought to justice," Skakel said.

The Moxley family told reporters each hearing brings it all back and the denial of parole for Skakel is a hollow victory.

"There is no upside to this so what he got another five years. What does that do for Martha? It does nothing for us," John Moxley said.

Michael Skakel can once again ask for parole in 2017.