Fire destroys a vacant building at a former school for troubled teens in Maine

Fire officials are investigating a blaze that razed one of the vacant buildings at a former private school for troubled teens. The facility had become known for allegations of abuse before it closed. It was previously mentioned in the murder trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. The Elan School’s buildings have been vacant since 2011, when it shut amid declining enrollment and allegations of past abuse. Fire Chief Thomas Printup says the structure was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived Sunday morning. Testimony during Skakel’s trial in 2002 indicated he confessed to classmates while at Elan that he killed his neighbor in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1975. Skakel was convicted, but the conviction was later overturned.