STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) – A man who implicated two friends in a murder that sent Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel to prison backed off a bit on his account when questioned by a state investigator, 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 based on Gitano “Tony” Bryant’s claim that two other men told him they got Moxley “caveman style.”

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.

Garr spent much of the day grilled by Skakel’s attorneys about his role in a book about the case written by Leonard Levitt, a former Newsday reporter.

Levitt testified last week that he planned to write the book regardless of how the trial ended and that Garr always told him that he couldn’t help until Skakel’s trial was over. He said the two men split the profits from the book, with Garr receiving less than $10,000.

Michael Sherman, Skakel’s trial attorney, testified that the case was corrupted by the book.

“The primary investigator was looking at a pot of gold” if Skakel was convicted, Sherman said. “There was a motive here as opposed to just looking for justice for all parties.”

Sherman said his trial strategy would have changed had he known about the book, saying he would have developed the theme that witnesses were being coerced or ignored.

Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict has said Garr’s involvement in the book and the financial arrangements were made after Skakel’s conviction.

“Any agreements I made with Mr. Levitt was done after the proceedings, after the trial,” Garr said.

To win a new trial, his attorneys must prove that new evidence not available before his conviction could have changed the jury’s verdict. The non-jury hearing is expected to conclude Wednesday or Thursday, but the judge does not plan to rule for weeks or months.

Garr also testified that he did not give Sherman profile reports about Skakel and two other suspects in the case because Benedict had told him not to.

Prosecutors say the state Supreme Court rejected that issue during a separate appeal. They say the substance of the reports was disclosed in numerous police reports and other records turned over to Sherman.

The report on Michael Skakel, released Tuesday, says he once beat a chipmunk with a golf club, but does not indicate where that claim came from.

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

Gregory Coleman, who attended a reform school in Poland, Maine, 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 a tax lien was placed on Coleman’s property for nearly $50,000 months before he came forward.

Coleman said one of three classmates may have been with him when Skakel confessed, but all three have denied hearing such a confession.

Cliff Grubin, one of the three named by Coleman, said Skakel did not confess, but did express concerns about his brother’s possible involvement in Moxley’s death. Thomas Skakel was an earlier suspect but was never charged.

“It was more concern about his brother’s involvement,” Grubin said. “There was no confession.”

Prosecutors brought up what Michael Skakel’s private investigator said Grubin told him in 2005.

“Skakel confessed to Grubin several times that his brother, Tommy Skakel, killed Martha Moxley,” according to a transcript. “Grubin told me he will never say this again and will not testify to it. Grubin explained that he believes Skakel is protecting his brother and it is up to Michael Skakel to come forward and tell the truth.”

Pressed by Benedict about his statement Tuesday, Grubin denied that Michael Skakel told him Thomas had killed Moxley. He also said he didn’t remember telling the private eye he wouldn’t testify.

“If he was concerned with his brother, I guess it was between them,” Grubin said.

A telephone message was left late Tuesday with Thomas Skakel’s attorney.

AP-ES-04-24-07 1825EDT

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