Maine police are investigating a claim that a 15-year-old boy who died three decades ago had been forced to participate in a boxing match at a now-closed school for troubled youth.
According to the Maine Sun Journal, Pam Newell was told in 1982 that her brother, Phil, died from a brain aneurism. But Newell said she recently learned her brother had been forced into the Elan School's infamous boxing ring before he died.
Forced fighting was among several controversial therapies employed by the school, which closed in 2011.
The practice came to light during Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's 2002 murder trial in Connecticut. Skakel was sent to the clinic by his father at the age of 17, according to a 2002 New York Times report.
Phil Newell's death certificate cites a probable brain aneurysm. A Maine State Police spokesman said detectives have begun looking into the death.
Several former school officials said they'd never heard of the incident.
