08/31/02 With one murder solved, focus shifts to another notorious case

By Lindsay Faber - Greenwich Time

Two days after a decades-old murder case closed with the sentencing of Michael Skakel, another unsolved murder has reached its 18th anniversary, invigorated by a newly condensed list of suspects and a team of investigators more encouraged than ever.

Matthew Margolies disappeared on Aug. 31, 1984, 18 years ago today. His body was found five days later on a wooded hillside near his Pilgrim Drive home. An avid angler who spent many of his days by the Byram River, Matthew was stabbed more than a dozen times. Police said he had dirt forced down his throat before being strangled with his own T-shirt. His body was placed near the knife they believe was used to stab him.

The Margolies case has sometimes been referred to as Greenwich's "other" unsolved murder, falling short of the notoriety garnered by the world-famous Skakel case.

But Margolies' family has been pushing quietly, speaking monthly with the state's cold case squad and making sure the loss of their loved one never falls on deaf ears.

Even with almost two decades behind them -- Matthew died at 13 and would have been 31 now -- Matthew's mother, Maryann Margolies, and his sister, Stacey, are encouraged by Skakel's conviction and by the news that their own case has moved a step further.

Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano, who heads the cold case squad and served as a prosecutor on the Skakel case, said yesterday that his team has "substantially" narrowed the list of suspects in Matthew's case.

"We are focused on a much smaller number of individuals than we were even six months ago," Morano said. "And of the people we're interested in, we know exactly where they are."

Morano would not detail how many suspects are now being focused on.

"I cannot say more than that because somebody out there could easily be reading this," he said. "But I'm encouraged in that while we have not yet arrested anyone, we have not encountered any fatal roadblocks that would lead me to believe we will never solve this case."

He added that the team continues to test pieces of crime scene evidence for forensic information and meet with people suspected of knowing information about the brutal murder.

He also said the forensic science aspect of the renewed investigation holds promise because physical evidence from the homicide scene was well-preserved. Forensic scientists are employing the latest in DNA testing techniques, he added.

"We don't want to get tunnel vision and totally eliminate anyone yet until we feel we have enough for probable cause," Morano said. "That's based upon several factors, like forensic evidence, clear-cut alibis and actions that just don't fit the scenario of the crime."

The case lay dormant for years until Greenwich police announced in 1998 they would re-examine it. They also sought the help of the state, whose cold case team consists of Morano, the state's second-ranking prosecutor, a state homicide investigator, two Greenwich detectives and forensic scientists. The case has been prioritized on the state level as one of its top 40 cold cases, officials said.

For Matthew's mother and sister, today represents the celebration of a 13-year-old boy's life.

"To have known his love, I couldn't ask for more," Maryann Margolies said. "Of course you can't control the mind totally and there is the pain associated with what happened to him and the fact that no one had the right to take his life. And there's the void felt on a daily basis but particularly on holidays and his birthday and a time that would be a celebration day. He was just such a loving and caring person."

Margolies and her daughter believe they will one day sit in the same seats as Dorthy and John Moxley, the mother and brother of Martha Moxley, the 15-year-old found by a jury to have been murdered by Skakel in 1975.

"I remember vividly when Michael Skakel was convicted and I remember Dorthy Moxley saying it was Martha's day," Stacey Margolies said. "I really believe Matthew will have his day and that it will be soon."

Anyone with information about the case should call Greenwich detectives Timothy Duff or Gary Hoffkins at (203) 622-8054.

03/14/02 Officials narrow murder evidence: Investigators meet with Margolies family for update

By Lindsay Faber - Greenwich Time

Investigators working on the 18-year-old Matthew Margolies murder case have narrowed down their evidence to a collection of crucial pieces that are now undergoing a second round of forensic testing, a state lab director said yesterday.

"Right now we're at the more technical second layer, so to speak, on the testing," said Major Timothy Palmbach, director of scientific services at the Department of Public Safety forensic science lab in Meriden.

The update was well-received yesterday when Maryann Margolies and her daughter Stacey met for three hours with investigators, including Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano, Inspector Jim Rovella, Greenwich Police Sgt. Timothy Duff and Detective Gary Hoffkins, at the office of Greenwich attorney Tom Williams, who represents the family.

Matthew was 13 on Aug. 31, 1984, when he was stabbed, strangled and suffocated. His body was found five days later on a wooded hillside not far from his Pilgrim Drive home.

For more than a year, the investigative team that met yesterday has been turning up new leads as it re-investigates the unsolved homicide.

None of the meeting participants felt it was appropriate to discuss details of what took place at the meeting, but Williams said he was satisfied with how the case has progressed in recent months.

"I was pleased with the meeting and that's all I can say for now," Williams said.

Family members declined to comment at length about the meeting but Matthew's sister Stacey said she, too, was heartened by recent developments.

"We just don't want to disrupt what's going on right now," she said. "But it's encouraging."

Palmbach said the Margolies case is one of the top 40 cases being prioritized by the state.

"The process takes a lot of time," he said. "At any crime scene, a tremendous amount of evidence is gathered that ultimately proves to be extremely meaningless."

Palmbach added that there have not been definitive results on the testing at this point.

Morano, who is leading the investigation of the case, said the group has not had to deal with any major roadblocks and the case is proceeding as planned.

"We now know what we want to look at and we're in the process of doing so," Morano said. "We intend to conduct a thorough investigation. If and when we make an arrest, we want it to be a case we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt because that's the ultimate objective here."

Morano would not say how far the team was from making an arrest, nor would he comment about the pieces of evidence being looked at more thoroughly.

Matthew's body was discovered beneath a pile of rocks, branches and leaves, stripped to his undershorts and stabbed more than a dozen times with a knife. He had been strangled with his own clothing and suffocated with dirt that was forced down his throat. Police later determined that the young victim had been tortured before he was killed.

Eight people who either lived or worked in the Glenville area at the time of the boy's death were identified as suspects during the initial investigation, police said. They remain under suspicion.

Morano has said that the forensic science aspect of the renewed investigation holds promise because physical evidence from the homicide scene was well-preserved. Forensic scientists are employing the latest in DNA testing techniques, he said.

04/01/01 BOSTON GLOBE: Greenwich's other murder 1984 case reopened amid spotlight on Moxley slaying

By Lisa Prevost, Boston Globe Correspondent

GREENWICH, Conn. - Maryann Margolies has long accepted that the unsolved murder of her son can't compete for public attention with the fatal bludgeoning of fellow Greenwich teen Martha Moxley.

The killings were startlingly similar: Moxley was just 15 when she was found dead in the backyard of her family's estate in affluent Greenwich. Matthew Margolies was 13 when he was slain near his home in the Glenville neighborhood.

But the media appeal of the Moxley case has - as far as the Margolies investigation was long concerned - made all the difference in the world.

While Margolies was raised in an unremarkable working-class neighborhood, Moxley lived and died in exclusive Belle Haven.

More importantly, her suspected killer is her former neighbor, Michael Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy.

''The Moxley case has gotten the amount of attention it has primarily because of the Kennedy connection,'' said Maryann Margolies, a nursing director who still lives here. ''And that's a fact of life. That's reality.''

But more than 16 years after his murder, Matthew Margolies is about to get equal time.

Though they appear to have no new evidence to go on, Greenwich police and the state's attorney's cold case unit have come back to the Margolies case - a case that has long been known here as Greenwich's other unsolved murder.

Greenwich Police Chief Peter Robbins, who was a lieutenant detective when Margolies was murdered, has vowed to bring the case to some conclusion. The police recently enlisted renowned forensics expert Dr. Henry Lee to reexamine the evidence.

Though it's hardly common for police to reopen an investigation after so many years, the media frenzy driven by Skakel's arrest and impending trial - 25 years after Moxley's death - made it increasingly difficult for police to leave the Margolies murder alone.

The local newspaper, Greenwich Time, turned up the heat on police last year when it published a severe editorial: ''Another Old Murder Waits To Be Solved.''

And a local man has helped raise the Margolies murder's profile by maintaining the Web site www.matthewmargolies.com.

Greenwich native Tom Alessi launched the site a few years ago because, he says, he was frustrated by a widespread lack of attention to Margolies's murder.

The Margolies site averages an impressive 1,000 hits a day, although they may be primarily click-through traffic from Alessi's more popular sibling site: www.marthamoxley.com.

''I thought it was sort of wrong that there was all this interest in Martha's case and there was still a second murder that was just as important and not getting as much media attention,'' he said.

By reopening the Margolies case, police are hoping to capitalize on media interest in the Moxley murder, a case that has been profiled on television's ''Unsolved Murders'' and the subject of or thinly veiled in salacious novels.

At a press conference last month, the Greenwich police more than doubled the reward they had been offering for new information in the Margolies case, from $20,000 to $50,000. They also established a hotline for tips (203-532-1949), and brought Maryann Margolies forward to make an emotive plea.

''The media attention is already there because of the Moxley case,'' said James Walters, the Greenwich Police Department's deputy chief for criminal investigations. ''It sure helped the turnout at the press conference.''

But the odds of solving such an old case are not favorable.

Obtaining enough evidence to secure an arrest and conviction is very difficult in any cold case, acknowledged Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano.

''We are very clear when we meet with victims' families that we don't have any more answers than anyone else,'' Morano said. ''But what we do have is time to look into the case.''

The state's cold case unit has obtained arrest warrants in seven of the 15 cases it is working on, he said. So far, only one of the arrest warrants has led to a conviction.

Dr. Harry Bonell, chief deputy medical examiner in San Diego and a consulting expert for the national advocacy group Parents of Murdered Children, found that as few as 10 to 15 percent of cold cases are ever solved. But those 10 to 15 percent, he said, provide crucial hope to grieving families.

On Aug. 31, 1984, Matthew Margolies was stabbed repeatedly with a boning knife and suffocated with dirt that was forced down his throat. Five days passed before police found the body in a wooded area not far from a nearby river where he often went fishing.

Though police had a roster of suspects, no arrest was made.

Officials now hope advances in forensic science will enable them to identify Margolies's killer. ''We've always felt the case was solvable,'' Walters said. ''We believe the DNA analysis is going to be instrumental.''

According to Walters, work on the Margolies case slowed to a stop between 1990 and 1996.

Then, in 1998 - about a year after Robbins became chief and about the same time a one-man grand jury was appointed to consider evidence in the Moxley case - Robbins assigned two detectives to go through the 1,000-page Margolies file. Last November, the Greenwich police asked the cold case unit to join the probe.

As with the Moxley case, Greenwich police have been long and loudly accused of mishandling the initial investigation. In a 1986 report, an outside consultant faulted the Greenwich force for, among other things, failing to assign a detective to the case until after Margolies's body was found - and then only assigning one detective to view the crime scene.

''I think that if the police had had more experience and had involved the detective division, and had listened more closely to the things we had to say, they would certainly have not gone for that length of time without finding him,'' Maryann Margolies said in a recent interview.

But from Morano's perspective, the Greenwich police may have salvaged the case - albeit years later - with their conscientious handling of the evidence.

All crucial pieces of evidence were sealed after they were last viewed in 1984. All police reports are in the file.

And, rather presciently, the Greenwich police took hair samples from their suspects. Considering that in 1984 few in law enforcement had ever heard of DNA analysis, it was either far-sighted or inadvertently fortunate, Morano said.

Maryann Margolies says the ups and downs in the investigation of her son's murder have become increasingly hard on her.

This time, she says, she needs the case to be either solved or resolved.

''It's more painful each time it resurfaces than it was at the time of the murder,'' she said. ''With the passage of time, you've started to get your life back in some semblance of order and normality.''

And while legal closure may not mean emotional closure, ''it has to be less painful.''

03/09/01 Reward doubles; officials look to DNA for clues in '84 murder

By J.A.Johnson Jr. - Greenwich Time

Matthew Margolies' mother stepped to the microphone-adorned podium, looked straight at the television cameras and pleaded for help in finding her son's killer.

"Please, I beg you to help me find some level of closure," Maryann Margolies said yesterday at a press conference convened by law enforcement officials to elicit the public's assistance in their renewed push to solve the 1984 homicide.

Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano, who since November has headed a combined state and local "cold case squad" that is probing the murder, announced that the state has more than doubled its share of the reward money for the Margolies case. He said Gov. John Rowland authorized an increase from $20,000 to $50,000. With $10,000 in private funds, the reward now totals $60,000.

Officials also announced that anyone with information about the murder can call a newly established 24-hour telephone tip line: (203) 532-1949.

In addition to unveiling measures to elicit greater public cooperation, Morano revealed that technicians at the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory in Meriden are preparing to use the latest in DNA testing on physical evidence from the case.

The evidence includes hair that Margolies' killer may have left at the crime scene.

The testing will be done at the direction of retired state public safety commissioner Dr. Henry Lee, one of the nation's preeminent forensic experts.

Of Lee's involvement in the Margolies case, Morano said, "That makes me the luckiest cold case prosecutor in the country."

While cautioning against unduly high expectations, Morano said he is optimistic about a positive outcome of the renewed probe because the original investigation was well-documented by police and physical evidence has been well preserved.

"All relevant and crucial pieces of evidence have been sealed since 1984 and have not been pawed by well-meaning individuals," Morano said, adding that the integrity of the evidence can ward off possible future claims of tampering or contamination.

Morano, the state's second highest-ranking prosecutor, said the Margolies case is unique for an old homicide case in that police had taken and retained DNA samples from suspects during the initial investigation.

"We have a veritable database, for lack of a better word, of suspects," he said.

In an interview last week, Lee said cold case investigators collected additional DNA samples from suspects who voluntarily supplied hair and saliva, and search warrants may be sought to obtain DNA from uncooperative suspects.

Margolies was killed Aug. 31, 1984, in a wooded area off Pemberwick Road, not far from his home on Pilgrim Drive, in a neighborhood of the Pemberwick section of Glenville known as "The Valley."

According to the autopsy report, Margolies had been stabbed more than a dozen times and was suffocated by dirt shoved down his throat. The boy's body was concealed under a pile of brush, rocks and leaves and, despite an extensive search, was not found for five days.

Eight people who either lived or worked in the Glenville area were identified as suspects during the initial investigation, police said, and all remain under suspicion.

The case was actively investigated through 1988, but as the killer's trail grew colder, leads trickled to a stop.

In early 1999, two Greenwich detectives were assigned to conduct a complete reinvestigation of the case. After a year of preliminary work, which included a careful review of the nearly 700-page case file, the detectives began conducting interviews in March 2000. Since then, state forensic scientists have been reviewing physical evidence in the case and DNA testing is expected to begin soon.

More leads surfaced after Greenwich Time published a five-part series about the Margolies case in early September. A month later, Greenwich police applied to have the case assigned to the state cold case unit.

Police Chief Peter Robbins said yesterday that the Margolies case file has grown to include more than 1,000 pages of police reports.

"The Greenwich Police Department has never diminished its resolve to solve this case and bring closure to the loving family members over their loss," he said.

Yesterday's press conference, Robbins said, "is yet another stage in the process to bring this case to what is hoped will be a successful solution."

But with her daughter, mother and husband looking on, Maryann Margolies held center stage yesterday as she remembered her slain son.

"He was respectful, considerate, loving and caring," the 61-year-old Pemberwick woman said. "He valued life and knew how to live it. Matthew brought us much happiness. He loved to joke and have fun.

"I wasn't able to hold him as he was dying, to take away his fear and ease his pain. What can I do? I can continue to offer him dignity and see that justice takes place. I have always felt that someone knows something and is not coming forward. Please, I beg you to help me find some level of closure. Look into your heart and soul. It takes courage to do what is right."

In addition to using the tip line, anyone with information about the Margolies case can call Greenwich police Detectives Timothy Duff, at 622-8080, and Gary Hoffkins, at 622-8037, or e-mail the state cold case squad at cold.case@po.state.ct.us .

03/06/11 Announcement Expected in Margolies Case

By J.A. Johnson Jr. - Greenwich Time

State and local law enforcement officials are planning to hold a press conference this week to announce new measures to advance the investigation into the 1984 slaying of Glenville teenager Matthew Margolies. Although not expected to publicly release details about the investigation itself, the chief state's attorneys office and Greenwich Police Department said they will announce plans which will help the public assist with the investigation.

"We feel there are people who know things and are hoping they will come forward and assist by providing what they know," Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano said on Friday. "The purpose of this press conference will be to reach out to the general public and see what assistance can be provided by them."

Morano, who has headed the Margolies investigation since November, said the appeal for help was not due to a lack of progress by the investigative team, which is composed of detectives from the Greenwich Police Department and the state's cold case unit, as well as forensic scientists.

In fact, the prosecutor said new information about the formerly dormant case has reinforced the belief that the case can be solved.

Morano said the measures to be announced at the Thursday afternoon press conference at Cole Auditorium in Greenwich Library, are part of the investigative team's strategy.

Members of the victim's family met with Morano and other team members for the first time Wednesday to be briefed on the investigation and work out details of the press conference. Maryann Margolies said she came away from the meeting feeling hopeful about her son's case.

"I was pleased," she said yesterday. "I am confident that through the efforts of this team we will reach some form of closure." Although they declined to disclose what will be announced, officials have compared the news conference to one held a decade ago concerning the 1975 Martha Moxley beating death.

In 1991, Chief State's Attorney John Bailey, flanked by local police officials, came to Greenwich to reveal that a re-investigation of the Moxley case had begun. Bailey also announced a doubling of the reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the 15-year-old Greenwich girl's killer, as well as the establishment of a 24-hour tip line.

Seven years later, in 1998, and based on information gathered during the re- investigation, a grand jury was convened to further probe the crime and use its power to subpoena reluctant witnesses. After 18 months of work, the grand jury issued a report that was used in January 2000 to obtain an arrest warrant for Moxley's alleged killer, Michael Skakel.

It is expected that the officials on Thursday will announce an increase in the $30,000 reward that has been in place for the Margolies case.

Margolies was four months shy of his 14th birthday when, on Aug. 31, 1984, he was brutally slain in a wooded area off Pemberwick Road, not far from his home on Pilgrim Drive in a section of Glenville known as "The Valley." According to the autopsy report, Margolies had been stabbed over a dozen times and was suffocated by dirt the killer shoved down his throat. The boy's body was concealed under a pile of brush, rocks and leaves, and despite an extensive search was not found until Sept. 5

Eight people who either lived or worked in the Glenville area were identified as suspects during the initial investigation, police said, and all remain under suspicion.

The case was actively investigated through 1988, but as the killer's trail grew colder, leads trickled to a stop.

Then, in early 1999, two Greenwich detectives were assigned to conduct a complete re-investigation of the case. After a year of preliminary work, which included a careful review of the nearly 700-page case file, the detectives began conducting interviews in March 2000. Since then, state forensic scientists have been reviewing physical evidence in the case and testing is expected to begin soon.

More leads surfaced after Greenwich Time in early September published a five- part series about the Margolies case, which included many previously unreported details obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. A month later, Greenwich police applied to have the case assigned to the state cold case unit.

Anyone with information about the Margolies case can call Greenwich detectives Timothy Duff , at 622-8080, or Gary Hoffkins, at 622-8037, or e-mail the state cold case squad at: cold.case@po.state.ct.us.

11/01/00 State unit takes up Margolies case

By J.A. Johnson Jr.

A state investigative unit that specializes in old, unsolved homicides has agreed to help the Greenwich Police Department in its reinvestigation of the 1984 Matthew Margolies murder case.

Police Chief Peter Robbins yesterday said his request for assistance from the state's "cold case squad" was accepted in early October, and a meeting was planned for later this week at which local and state detectives will discuss possible strategies.

"I think they think it can be solved, so we're happy about that," Robbins said of the unit's involvement with the Margolies case. "We'll know better where things are going after we meet this week."

News of this latest development in the long unsolved murder mystery was greeted enthusiastically by the mother of the 13-year-old Glenville boy who was fatally stabbed and suffocated in woods less than a mile from his Pilgrim Drive home on Aug. 31, 1984.

"I think it's a very positive move," Maryann Margolies said yesterday. "The Greenwich police are asking for a fresh pair of eyes to look over the material, to look over the evidence, and maybe they'll see something or find something by looking at it from a different perspective."

The cold case unit operates out of the chief state's attorney's office in Rocky Hill, under the direction of Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano. The unit is divided into several squads, each supervised by a prosecutor and staffed by state inspectors who are seasoned homicide investigators.

When a local police department refers a case to the state unit, it also provides at least one, but usually two, of its detectives.

"The goal is to combine all those resources to give cold cases a thorough examination from all different angles," Morano said. "It's a team effort."

Sgt. Timothy Duff and Detective Gary Hoffkins, the two Greenwich officers who began a reinvestigation of the Margolies murder earlier this year, will be working closely with the state unit, Robbins said.

Morano, a native of Greenwich who is now the second-highest ranking prosecutor in the state, cautioned against any undue expectations that the Margolies case will be solved as a result of his unit's involvement.

"I want to stress that this is going to be a long and tedious process, and a majority of cold cases are not solved," he said.

Morano said that only seven of the more than 20 cold cases his unit has examined since its formation in 1998 have resulted in arrests.

Nevertheless, he said the cold case unit agrees to take on an investigation only when there appears to be a chance to solve it.

"It has to be something where we believe there are areas where that can be examined, say, forensically or suspect-wise," Morano said. "There has to be a real reason to rehash the case. If something's already been rehashed to death, and there's no fodder for further investigation, then probably we won't get involved."

Neither state or local officials would cite specific reasons why the Margolies case was a good candidate for acceptance by the state unit.

However, it was previously reported by Greenwich Time that new leads and potential witnesses had surfaced after the newspaper published a series of stories about the Margolies case in September. The stories, based on interviews, the autopsy report and police records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, contained information about the murder, suspects and other facts never before made public.

It was also learned from police that some of the new leads detectives were pursuing involved information that one of eight "key" suspects - a teenager who lived near Margolies and possibly held a grudge against the victim - may have ingested multiple doses of a hallucinogenic drug the day of the murder. Originally thought to have been sexually motivated, police are now examining whether the murder may have been committed by someone under the influence of drugs.

Robbins and Morano also indicated that the combined state and local effort will involve testing of physical evidence by forensic scientists, but they would not provide details.

09/16/00 Series renews talk of Margolies murder

By Cameron D. Martin - Greenwich Time

Sixteen years ago, residents regularly came together at Pemberwick X-Change to share information and commiserate in the wake of the murder of 13-year-old Matthew Margolies.

Last week, after publication of a four-part Greenwich Time series on the search for the boy, the discovery of his murder, and the investigation that followed, the unsolved murder was once again the focus of talk at the Pemberwick Road deli, as regulars discussed information previously unknown to them, according to owner Steve Pugliese.

"Everybody was trying to pull things from their memory banks, to see if they could make any new connections," said Pugliese, 47, who lives on Pemberwick Road, about one mile south of where Matthew's mutilated body was discovered on a wooded hillside Sept. 5, 1984.

Copies of last week's newspaper series sold out quickly at his store each morning, Pugliese said, as he and others read about previously unknown aspects of the story.

"I thought three suspects, not eight," said Pugliese, who thought he had gone to school with one of the suspects, who were described but not named by police. "I don't think anyone was aware there were that many suspects they could build a solid case against. It would seem they all had a means and a motive."

Greenwich police have said that is one of the reasons the case is so difficult to solve.

Matthew, well-known in his close-knit western Greenwich neighborhood known as "The Valley," disappeared Aug. 31, 1984. His body was discovered five days later beneath a pile of rocks, branches and leaves in a wooded area about a mile from his Pilgrim Drive home. He had been stripped to his undershorts, stabbed over a dozen times with a knife, and suffocated with dirt that was forced down his throat.

The brutal slaying of the teenager shocked the seemingly safe neighborhood and began a massive investigation. No arrests were made nor was a prime suspect publicly named. In recent years, the investigation slowed as all leads were exhausted and no new information developed.

Greenwich Time sought to take an in-depth look at the file in order to present a detailed, public summary of the case and the investigation. An agreement for release of the file was reached through the office of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, and Greenwich Police opened much of the file while keeping some names and details confidential to protect its investigation.

In last week's four-part series, the description of eight suspects was made available to the public for the first time. Along with details of the brutal murder, the list of suspects, although they were nameless, heightened awareness of the crime within the Pemberwick community, Pugliese said.

No new information in the Margolies case has been announced by Greenwich police since the conclusion of the series, and Police Chief Peter Robbins did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

Yet reference to the case by renowned criminal forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee during a speech at Greenwich High School Monday, and other information - mostly in the form of sentiments and condolences posted on the Margolies Web site - keeps the case fresh in the minds of residents.

"My daughter was over at Hay Day (Country Market) in Riverside last week, and there were some people there who were talking about it, and commenting about how they didn't know the whole case had gone to the extent that it had," Judy Moretti, 58, a longtime Pemberwick resident, said Wednesday. "I think most people outside our neighborhood remembered it as a kid missing, not what came afterwards."

On Monday, Dr. Lee told a Greenwich High School crowd that trace evidence found at the scene of Matthew Margolies' murder could yield a connection to a suspect. Lee, who until April served as Connecticut's public safety commissioner and has been involved in the renewed investigation through his work at the state crime lab, declined to say what that evidence might be.

"What was found at the murder site I call trace or transfer evidence," Lee said Monday. "Sometimes that can be very good and you can make a connection. But I can't really discuss any active case."

Town residents, from Pemberwick in particular, need time to absorb the information made available to them recently, Moretti said.

"It's been a good wake-up call for the public," Moretti said. "I think we have to sift through things and see if anyone remembers anything."

Matthew Margolies' mother, Maryann, said Wednesday that in the past week she has received numerous messages posted on the Web site devoted to the case of her son's murder, www.MatthewMargolies.com. The public, she said, is more aware of the case since the recent release of information.

"I think that there's a heightened awareness in the general public of what's happened, and that's good," Margolies said. "I certainly remain optimistic to come to some sort of closure on this and intend to see things through."

One message posted to the Web site, from a Greenwich woman named "Lisa," reads: "We all need to back off the Greenwich Police Department a little bit. I am sure though it is 16 years later, that they have a pretty good idea as to who murdered Matthew. I think they just lack the evidence.

"With forensic science as it is today, they may already be running tests they were not able to do in 1984. Trust in the fact that there are people out there who know things the tiniest things that may help and trust that they are speaking up.

"Trust that the Greenwich Police Department are the only ones who can help Maryann now the only ones who can avenge Matthew's death. Let's pray for the Greenwich Police Department as well and wish the nightmare to its end."

09/11/00 LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To The Editor Of The Greenwich Time.

Dear Mr. Pisani:

I would like to acknowledge the Greenwich Time in their efforts to report the material made available to them by the Greenwich Police Department through the Freedom of Information Commission.

Deserving of special recognition is Joe Johnson, staff reporter. He has demonstrated great sensitivity not only towards Matthew as a person, but also toward us, Matthew's family.

In reporting the information at hand, a sense of dignity has been maintained. It is this dignity which is of so much importance to me as Matthew's mother.

I hold great pride in being a member of such a caring community. And it is also
reassuring to know that our local newspaper exhibits such fine journalism.

I am forever and always,

Matthew's Mom
September 10, 2000

02/11/00 Matthew Margolies: Mother Recounts Son's Life

By Peter Moore -- Greenwich Post

Since a site dedicated to Matthew Margolies went up on the Internet, the response has been a blessing for his mother Maryann. But by adding her own personal touch, she says she was able to let web surfers know that Matthew was something far more than a 13-year-old victim of a senseless crime. He was a person.

Maryann recently arranged for a story she wrote, "A Legacy of Love," accompanied by photographs of Matthew, to be posted at www.matthewmargolies.com. Five web pages long, the story tells of a life short in length, but full of spirit.

Maryann's story is one of the latest additions to a website created and maintained by Tom Alessi, a Stamford 911 facilities manager, who maintains two sites dedicated to unsolved murders that have taken place in Greenwich. Alessi's other site profiles the case of his childhood friend Martha Moxley, a Greenwich teen who was bludgeoned to death with a golf club in 1975.

"I asked Tom Alessi to post [the story] on the Internet because I wanted my son to have an identity," Maryann said Monday. "I think that except for the people who have known him, [Matthew] probably had been looked upon as a victim without an identity. And there's been such a response on the Internet that I wanted people to get a feeling of who he really was as a human being, as a person."

The person Maryann described lived from Jan. 24, 1971 until Aug. 31, 1984. And though Matthew's murder by an unknown assailant in the Pemberwick section of Greenwich has generated far more media attention than the happenings of his life, "A Legacy of Love," does not discuss the time surrounding his death at length.

Instead, Maryann Margolies talks of her son's love of nature and uses his example to touch the net surfer's heart and remind him or her of ways to achieve inner happiness.

"Given a choice, he would always prefer to be outdoors," she writes of Matthew. "The warmth of the sun, the wetness of the rain and the coldness of the snow would all nourish his spirit. He found joy in all of it. How long has it been since you last listened to the soft music made by fresh falling snow or perhaps the deeper sounds of rain?"

She describes Matthew as a decent student, specifically mentioning books he wrote at school with titles such as "Tombstone Ghost," "Fishing" and "Merry Christmas." These books still lie on the shelves of Maryann Margolies' house where she resides with her husband Jim.

At the time of his death, Matthew was due to begin eighth grade at Western Middle School. He disappeared on Aug. 31, 1984 and his body was found five days later in a wooded hilly area near Hawthorne and Greenway Street. He had been stabbed with a boning knife and asphyxiated and his body had been left in a shallow grave. There has never been an arrest in the killing.

"I've always had hope in that at some point, whoever was responsible for my son's death would be identified and that justice would be served," Maryann Margolies said Monday.

When Martha Moxley's neighbor Michael Skakel was arrested on Jan. 19 for Martha's murder, Maryann said the arrest did not influence her hope of an eventual arrest in her son's case. But she did say that the arrest proved that there is no way of time completely standing in the way of justice.

"I think that what has happened within Martha's case supports the fact that it's never too late," she says.

In her story, Maryann also writes of the joy Matthew received at the times of holidays, particularly Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and Halloween. A picture of Matthew in a Halloween costume accompanies the story.

She also mentions Matthew's fondness for hats on a page which includes a photo of Matthew atop a fire engine, wearing the traditional red firefighter's hat. Matthew's love of sports, especially fishing is also brought to light.

"He was quite the sportsman and many a man learned from him," she says.

She also mentions remembering Matthew with a positive outlook.

"Not a day passes, that I do not think of Matthew," she writes. "It seems clear that his life ended as it began, with a struggle. However, it is his life that I have had to focus upon. I can see his smile and hear his laughter. I know his love, warmth and caring ways. God has shown his love and bestowed his blessing in choosing me to be Matthew's mother."

Matthew's mother concludes "A Legacy of Love," by urging busy grownups to take time for their little ones. She explained the passage Monday.

"I think that it would be part of a living memorial to Matthew in order for people to take the time to tell their child that they love them," she said. "With both parents working and all the changes, people are always rushing around. It's important for parents to take the time, tell their children how they feel and above all, take the time to listen to them."

The story's final paragraph reads, in part: "If you have read this, please take the time to tell a child how much you love him/her. Chase rainbows, and if you can't find one, then make it! (Ingredients: a little sun, a garden hose and some running water) The reward: FUN, LAUGHTER AND LOADS OF LOVE IN BEING TOGETHER!"

02/10/00 EDITORIAL: ANOTHER OLD MURDER WAITS TO BE SOLVED

Greenwich Time

THE ISSUE: Developments in the Moxley case serve to underline the lack of an arrest in the killing of another teen.

The well-publicized arrest of a suspect in the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley is a painful reminder to some townspeople that another slaying involving a Greenwich teen remains unsolved. For townspeople who rememberthe 1984 case involving 13-year-old Matthew Margolies, the lack of resolution is especially troubling in a community that has a reputation as a safe place to raise children.

A police investigation into the Margolies killing was reopened in 1998, but the mystery continues. For more than 15 years, questions have gone unanswered about what happened to the boy after he left his Glenville home to go fishing on August 31, 1984. His partially clad, stabbed and strangled body was discovered in a shallow grave near the Byram River five days later. Nearby was a boning knife that police believe was the murder weapon.

The single biggest similarity for the two cases is obvious: Both murders involved teens who were brutally murdered in places that residents considered to be safe.

But the differences are substatial, and some observers may find them telling. Martha Moxley's body was found on the grounds of her well-to-do family's Belle Haven mansion; Matthew Margolies remains were unearthed in a wooded area some distance from the working-class home where his mother still livesin Glenville. Dorthy Moxley, Martha's mother, spent years as an activist seeking justice, talking with receptive media representatives to press law enforcement officials to identify and charge her daughter's killer; Maryann Margolies, while cooperative and interested in the same kind of resolution, has not been able to elicit the same kind of interest.

The biggest fifference may involve the slaying suspects, which in turn may explain the amount of attention these bereaved mothers and the murder cases have received. Suspects in the Moxley case were members of the Skakel family, neighbors of the slain girl, who are related to the Kennedy family by marrage. The man who has been charged in her murder is Michael Skakel, 39, the nephew of the widow of Robert Kennedy. Police have not identified a suspect in the Margolies case.

After Mr. Skakel's arrest last month, Mrs. Margolies told staff writer Ryan Jockers, "I don't think it's done intentionally ...but the stark riality is that fame and fortune are factors to be considered." For her part, Mrs. Moxley told Mr. Jockers that Matthew Margolies should "get her story out".

The arrest in the Moxley slaying indicates that resolution of old murder cases needn't be considered forever stymied. Importantly, there are other factors involved in the Margolies case. Greenwich Police Chief Peter Robbins was the lieutenant who supervised the department's initial investigation, and he has said he wants to do all that is possible to identify the boy's killer and bring that individual to trial. Many townspeople who lived in Greenwich in 1984 recall the slaying and continue to be quietly outraged that it could occur within their community.

Beyond that, Mrs. Margolies has remained optimistic that an arrest ultimately will be made in the death of her son. That quiet confidence in the face of an unimaginable tragety is complling. We can only hope that in time authorities will solve the mystery of the awful killing of Matthew Margolies and bring his murderer to justice.

01/25/00 A mother seeks justice in town's ‘other murder’

By Ryan Jockers - Greenwich Time

With the recent arrest in a long-unsolved murder of a Greenwich teenager, a similar case remains unsolved. This case, however, is far removed from an exclusive waterfront community, Kennedy relatives and a popular young girl from California.

And while the case of Matthew Margolies, who was 13 in 1984 when he was found in a shallow grave on a secluded hillside outside his Glenville neighborhood, does not have the made-for-television elements of the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, his case is equally as compelling. Thus far, no one has been arrested for killing the boy.

Michael Skakel, now 39, a former neighbor of Moxley, was arrested last week after the state, in a last-ditch attempt to solve the crime, invoked a seldom-used grand jury statute that found probable cause to arrest him after an 18-month investigation. Skakel surrendered to the murder charge but maintains his innocence through his attorney, Michael Sherman of Stamford.

Maryann Margolies, Matthew's mother, who lives in the same home in which she last saw her son, said yesterday that the idea of a grand jury investigating her son's murder was appealing, though she has not taken steps to initiate such action.

Until State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict applied for and received approval from a three-judge panel in New Haven to appoint a one-man grand jury in 1998 to investigate Moxley's death, Margolies said she was unaware the option existed.

"It's appealing because obviously it led to an arrest in the Moxley case, and very well could lead to an arrest in my son's case," Margolies said in the living room of her home, decorated with photographs of Matthew. "But I'm not rushing into anything. I guess I'm rather cautious. I like to have details. I like to think things through."

The Greenwich Police Department began to reinvestigate the murder of Matthew Margolies in June 1998, the same month the Moxley grand jury convened.

In an interview with Greenwich Time in September, Greenwich Police Chief Peter Robbins said the reinvestigation of the 1984 murder was moving slowly but he expected it to build momentum after the department settled down after a major reorganization of personnel. Calling the work environment at the time stable, Robbins said of the Margolies case, "We're really going to have to pick things up and get going."

Robbins could not be reached yesterday for comment for this article.

Robbins, who supervised the Margolies investigation as a lieutenant, has shown optimism toward solving the case in various interviews with Greenwich Time. Yesterday, Maryann Margolies said she, too, is optimistic that an arrest will ultimately be made in her son's murder.

"I think there is light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

According to police, Matthew Margolies set out on the afternoon of Aug. 31, 1984, from his Pilgrim Drive home to go fishing in the Byram River, which had become a pastime for the boy. Police said they believe the boy was killed the same afternoon by someone who repeatedly stabbed and strangled him. The boy's partially nude body was discovered five days later in a wooded area near the river. A boning knife believed to be the murder weapon was found a short distance from the body.

Shortly after the murder, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Science Unit profiled Margolies' killer as a white male familiar with Glenville, who knew Margolies as well as the victim's passion for fishing.

In 1986 the town paid an independent consultant to review the Police Department's investigation. That analysis further characterized the murderer as a sadist who lured the victim to a secluded area where he would be able to act out his gory fantasies.

Before reinvestigating the Margolies case, police tracked down occasional leads but the murder of a working-class family's only son did not attract as much attention as the Moxley case. Moxley was bludgeoned to death outside her family's mansion in the affluent Belle Haven section of town with a golf club belonging to a set owned by the prominent Skakel family.

The Moxley case maintained a high profile as Michael Skakel and his older brother Thomas, the prime suspect in the case for many years, are nephews of Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy. Michael and Thomas Skakel, then 15 and 17, respectively, were with Moxley the night she was killed. Thomas Skakel has also denied any wrongdoing.

The Moxley case was the subject of two nonfiction books, the inspiration for a novel and subsequent television miniseries, and provided fodder for numerous talk shows and other television programs. In books and at a Web site devoted to the Moxley murder, the Margolies case has been referred to as "Greenwich's other unsolved murder."

"I don't think it's done intentionally," Margolies said. "I'd like to live in a naive bubble but the stark reality is that fame and fortune are factors to be considered."

Margolies, who works in a nursing capacity for the city of Stamford, said more media attention in her son's murder case "would only be helpful." Dorthy Moxley, mother of Martha Moxley, said her advice to the Margolies would be to "get her story out" to people.

Investigators and journalists who have covered the Moxley case have said that if not for Dorthy Moxley's persistence in keeping the story of her murdered daughter's death in the news, it would have faded into obscurity.

"I don't see how someone could commit a horrible crime and not tell somebody, and that somebody might be willing to tell," Moxley said yesterday from her home in Chatham Township, N.J. "Talk to the media; do television if you can. I know it's hard, but do it, and maybe someday you'll reap some success."

12/10/99 Mrs. Margolies hasn't given up; Mother of slain Glenville boy says 'when' NOT 'if'

By Peter Moore
Greenwich Post

When Maryann Margolies speaks of an eventual arrest for the 1984 murder of her son Matthew, she speaks in terms of "when" and not "if"

Strangely enough, she also says that she's never experienced any anger towards Matthew's unknown killer. "Not yet," she adds.

In reference to the crime, she continues, "No one had the right to do it. What I would like to know is when the person is found and arrested can I forgive? I honestly don't know. I can't tell what my feelings will be at this time."

For more than 15 years, Maryann Margolies has led her family in a quest to keep living and to not languish in grief or bitterness.

"I have to think about moving forward," she says, while keeping her composure in the living room of her Pilgrim Drive house where she resides with her husband Jim. "I have to think about living life. However I respond would have an effect [on the family]." She adds that if she wallowed in misery, "it would be more difficult for anybody to have any semblance of happiness."

The whole process dates back to the day of Aug. 31, 1984 when 13-year-old Matthew Margolies left his grandmother's house in Glenville to go fishing. Accounts vary as to where Margolies was last seen alive, but he never came home. Five days later, his body was found in a wooded area near Hawthorne and Greenway Street. He had been stabbed several times and asphyxiated, before his unknown assailant had disposed of his body in a shallow grave.

Maryann recalls Matthew as an active boy who didn't like to confine himself to the house. Shd describes her son as a big baseball fan whose favorite player was Reggie Jackson. Matthew was also fascinated with the outdoors, she adds. "He had a fishing pole in his hand as a rattle," she recalls with a smile.

A silver-franied photograph in Maryann and Jim's living room shows a young Matthew canoeing while another photo shows him peering intently at a single blade of grass. "I would say that [photo] epitomizes his interest in nature and living things," Maryann adds. "He always had that curiosity."

Police have never named a suspect in the killing. In an outside investigation by consultant Vernon Geberth, a former New York City Police Department lieutenant commander, the murder was detemiined to be a crime of lust - Matthew's athletic shorts were stripped off, yet there were no signs that he had been molested.

Geberth also faulted the Greenwich Police Department's investigation, particularly in the early stages before Matthew's body was discovered. The department had not handled a homicide since 15-year-old Martha Moxley was found bludgeoned near her Belle Haven home in 1975. Geberth revealed that no detective had been assigned to Matthew's original missing person report. By the time the body was found, Geberth said, "the investigative arm of the Greenwich Police Department had, in effect, lost six days of crucial informational interviews and neighborhood canvasses, which would later prove to be significant to the homicide investigation." But Maryann Margolies said that she does not completely fault the police department. "I think they "the investigative arm of the Greenwich Police Department had, in effect, lost six days of crucial informational interviews and neighborhood canvasses, which would later prove to be significant to the homicide investigation."

But Maryann Margolies said that she does not completely fault the police department. "I think they tried," she said. "I think they made a concerted effort. They were very compassionate. They were supportive, I was supportive."

However she acknowledges, "They did make some mistakes. They're were some things they should have done differently." But she then adds, "They haven't had to have much involvement in having to find murderers."

The names of the three central suspects in the Margolies case tried," she said. "I think they made a concerted effort. They were very compassionate. They were supportive, I was supportive."

However she acknowledges, "They did make some mistakes. They're were some things they should have done differently." But she then adds, "They haven't had to have much involvement in having to find murderers." The names of the three central suspects in the Margolies case have not been released. Margolies said she has stronger suspicions of two, whom she also declined to identify. It has been revealed that one of the suspects was an acknowledged neighborhood bully who.has since even been accused by a former area father of earlier threatening his own son with a knife similar to the one used to kill Matthew Margolies.

Another suspect was a teenage troublemaker from over the state have not been released. Margolies said she has, stronger suspicions of two, whom she also declined to identify. It has been revealed that one of the suspects was an acknowledged neighborhood bully who has since even been accused by a former area father of earlier threatening his own son with a knife similar to the one used to kill Matthew Margolies.

Another suspect was a teenage troublemaker from over the state line in Port Chester, N.Y. who, like Matthew, frequently fished from the Byram River. This suspect and his father, a Port Chester police officer, agreed to meet a Greenwich detective for a polygraph examination after Matthew's body was found. But on the appointed day, neither showed up. The suspect was recently reported by a retired Port Chester police detective to be serving time in prison for another crime.

In May 1998, Police Chief Peter Robbins announced that the Greenwich Police Department was launching an all-out investigation to solve the Matthew Margolies case. An August 1998 published report quoted Robbins as saying, "I believe the killer is still living here in " town and I think we have the potential to locate this individual and build a good case against him."

Earlier this year, the department asked the state to evaluate forensic evidence connected to the case for DNA samples. In April, Elaine Pagliaro, acting director of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory, said the state would answer the department's request by the end of the month. Information on the laboratory's answer is not available. Pagliaro was saiid Tuesday to be out of her office due to illness.

Chief Robbins refused to comment Tuesday on any aspect of the investigation, including the status of DNA testing. "It's an open case," he said. But Maryann Margolies says that she is convinced that her son's murder will be solved.

"I feel very strongly that whoever did this will be arrested at some point. I'm not giving up on that.

I find it very difficult to believe that given the time of day that this happened, that there [isn't] someone out there who has a piece of information we don't know," she continued. "They may not know how important the information is. They may have their own reasons for not saying anything."

Matthew's mother also remains determined to honor her son's memory.

"There are two things I can do for Matthew. One is to see that justice is carried out. Two, to see that anything connected with his death will be handled with dignity.

"And of course love goes without saying. He's my son and I'll always love him."