Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is battling for custody of his 5-year-old son even as he prepares for his upcoming murder trial, The Post learned yesterday.
Margot Skakel is divorcing the 40-year-old defendant, expected to go on trial this year for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley in Greenwich, Conn.
Bruce Wagner, Margot’s lawyer, said, “The murder case definitely comes into play. How can he focus on his child?
“We are fighting for custody. Margot has been and always was George’s primary caregiver.”
Skakel recently underwent a psychological evaluation – standard procedure in a custody fight. And the divorce lawyer said the results could end up as evidence in the murder trial.
“Anything can be subpoenaed. That depends on Connecticut prosecutors,” Wagner said.
Skakel’s criminal lawyer, Mickey Sherman, said, “I can’t imagine there will be any interest in such a report,” insisting that the evaluation “would not in the slightest bit be harmful to Michael Skakel.”
Margot Skakel never appeared with her husband during the 18 months of criminal proceedings in Stamford Superior Court. She filed for divorce about the time a judge ruled there was enough evidence to prosecute Skakel in juvenile court.
The case was later moved to adult court, where a judge last week agreed there was enough evidence to proceed.
Skakel had gotten a temporary gag order imposed on his estranged wife – arguing it was necessary to ensure his rights to a fair trial.
But an upstate New York judge lifted the order – giving Margot Skakel the green light to write a tell-all book. She is expected to sign a book contract in several weeks.
“It will be about her life with Mr. Skakel,” Wagner said. “She will only give firsthand knowledge about what she knows.”
Margot and Michael Skakel have known each other since they were teenagers in the exclusive section of Belle Haven. Her father, Tom Sheridan, was a longtime Skakel family legal adviser and confidant at the time of the murder.
Teenager Moxley was beaten to death with a golf club in October 1975. Her body was found on her family estate, adjacent to the Skakel home. The golf club was traced to a set of clubs that belonged to Skakel’s now-deceased mother.