‘Murder in Greenwich’ weaves a thick plot, but one strand strays

Here’s a twist: Mark Fuhrman as hero.

Justice was delayed in the mysterious 1975 slaying of teenage Martha Moxley that stunned tony Greenwich, Conn. -- but not denied -- when Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel was convicted of the murder this summer, two years after his arrest.

Now Fuhrman, the disgraced former L.A. cop whose testimony inadvertently helped free O.J. Simpson in another famous trial, gets his due -- and maybe more -- for his role in the Moxley case in “Dominick Dunne Presents: Murder in Greenwich” (8 p.m., USA).

In the first of a planned series of true-crime films “presented” by journalist Dunne, Fuhrman (Christopher Meloni from “Law & Order: SVU”) is an abrasive but noble gumshoe whose doggedness broke the case open.

That angle figures, since the film stems from Fuhrman’s 1998 book, “Murder in Connecticut: Who Killed Martha Moxley?,” but some have questioned whether he merits so much credit.

Credibility questions aside, this tragic story is well told. Director Tom McLoughlin stylishly weaves two parallel plots: Those fateful days in 1975 when brash Tommy Skakel (Toby Moore) and his shy brother Michael (Jon Foster) vied for the heart of their neighbor Moxley (Maggie Grace), and Fuhrman’s legwork years later with the help of Steve Carroll (Robert Forster), the local detective who originally worked the case.

Unfortunately, it’s hard not to question this portrayal of Fuhrman. In one scene, he tries to spin his perjury in the Simpson case as well-intentioned, saying he lied about using a racial slur so as not to distract the jury.

Whether he was a scapegoat or villain in that case, he makes for an implausible hero in this one.