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Nuke and Panther,

I have no idea whether or not the antics traditionally went on later than 9:15 p.m. but on this night, it wasn't just the Skakels that shut down shop around then. That whole bunch of kids disappeared. I can't really expect that the Skakel clan would be out running around blowing shit up all by themselves.

As for the likliehood the Michael suddenly dropping the tradition in mid stream, I offer my own experience at just about that same age. Come to think about it, it would have been that very same Halloween. We didn't have mischeif night where I grew up. Al of that was done on Halloween. I had experienced what was supposed to be my last year of trick or treating the year before but my brother and one other friend was one year behind me and some others so we were going to ride tale and terrorize the neighborhood. We made all the plans we used to. Routes, attack plans, supplies etc (fire works were not allowed or available). But when it came down to it, we felt down right silly when the time came. There was a dance down at the High School. The girls were there. The people with alcohol would be there. And long story short we sat around watching Bewitched until about 8:00 p.m and then drove down to the dance. Tradition has to die sometime. The day the music died, I guess. There was no slow tappering off and we began that day expecting to go at it full blazes. Girls, alcohol and just good old growing up got in the way.

If you read Michael tell the tale you can see that 90% of what he writes about fireworks and mischief night is not specific to that night. He is retelling the tales of his youth. What he is talking about could have been applied to any one of several prior Halloweens. When he finally gets down to what seems like that day and night, it still isn't clear if he really is talking about that specific day or night. He seems to jump around in time a bit. At first he says he walked home from school and was preparing for the following night . The following night is Holloween, not mischief night. Then suddely he is walking home again after saying earlier that he got home early. But then he takes yet another crack at it and says he got home when every one else got home. The dude really doesn't seem to know what day or when he did this stuff. He admits as much in saying had had no idea what time they all got home.

My point is that it is very possible that this grand building up of the arsenal never took place that year at all. It could just as easily be that he was relating what he had done on several Mischieve afternoons before and that he has no specific memory of what he did or didn't do with regards to preparing for mischeif night that particular evening.

Then again, it is just as possible that Michael was out blowing up the neighborhood from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. went to dinner and had nothing left to blow up at that point.

Panther,

I guess I get your point and suppose it does raise questions. However, we need only look to the 1975 police interview of Michael to find a hint. In the police interview recorded shortly after the murder of Martha Moxley, Michael expresses the intention of going out that night saying he was going to see if Pugh "wanted to go out". This was with his Dad sitting in the room, no less.

The idea that they were forbidden to go out just doesn't mesh. They were out drinking at the club. I am pretty confident they weren't give permission to do that. They were in their father's Lincoln smoking. I can't imagine Dad would have been happy with that. One younger than Michael went to the Terriens. And most convincing of all, not a single person has ever even suggested that there was any restriction on the Skakel kids that night. It is kinda like Pony's belief that Nanny Sweeny was never interviewed.

In my opinion the most logical explaination is that Michael, in trying to tell his tale made up the stuff about making the big bombs and getting the arsenal ready that Halloween. The big story about how wonderful Halloween was, especially michief night made for a wonderful intro to his story. It is in fact what he probably did on several Halloweens previously.

Probably not that mischief night. Nobody as far as I have ever heard claims there were firecrackers and smoke bombs going off that night. And we can't ignore that Michael also said this...

Quote:

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Actually the night before, ah I mean everynight we'd be out egging cars or being mischievious, and it was like letting off steam...

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So it isn't as if they built up this arsenal all in anticipation for this one night. Michael is telling a tale.

Panther,

I screwed up on the ages. I was thinking John and confusing the "who was old enough to drive" and the discussion about his sometimes being as old as Michaela and sometimes older. Got the two mixed up.