It was so brutal that police thought the killings were a mob hit, and early investigations focused on that possibility. They were shot multiple times at close range with a shotgun and rendered unrecognizable. 972, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? Streaming Schedule, Season 5, Part 2 Debut Info, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, 'American Horror Story' Season 12 Casts Michaela Ja Rodriguez and Cara Delevingne, Patti LuPone Blasts Kim Kardashian for Newly Booked 'American Horror Story' Role: "What Are You Doing With Your Life? Prosecutors argued that the brothers murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty, with a shotgun in their Beverly Hills home to gain control of the couple's $14 million estate . Thats why they bought the guns. 'They deserve to be set free': Aunt of Menendez brothers says of their The Abuse of Erik and Lyle Menendez was carried out by their parents, Jose and Kitty. What happened to the Menendez brothers' money? Latest updates Those in the know said Jos was also concerned because his sons helped commit several burglaries in the Los Angeles area, taking about $100,000 in jewelry and cash the previous year. Menendez Brothers: Everything You Need to Know - Rolling Stone Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Alongside Roys own sincere commentary, their testimony (including Rauls admission that he once saw Roy and Diaz in bed together, naked) is shocking and persuasive. Instead, they acted like two guys who had just won the lottery. Thats when they discovered their parents decimated bodies and dialed 911, they said in their interviews. The men would likely be out of prison by now if that were the case. Lyle and Erik Menndez - Wikipedia Sign up now. Although the Menendez brothers were not immediately suspected, Erik couldnt take the guilt and confessed his involvement to his psychotherapist, Dr. L. Jerome Oziel. They were sentenced to life without parole. Police began their investigation by looking into Jos, a Cuban immigrant whod become a self-made millionaire in the video business. The Menendez Brothers Said Their Father Sexually Assaulted Them. Now Their adjoining apartments had ample room for parties and movie nights with friends. The second installment of the anthology series from Murphy and Ian Brennan will focus on Lyle and Erik Menendez . Leads ran dry, until months later, in March 1990, when a woman named Judalon Smyth went to detectives. They were charged with the first-degree murders of their parents. Filming Locations for the Disney+ Movie, Alexander Molony Is the Perfect Blend of Charming and Naive in Disney+s Peter Pan & Wendy. It's their theatricality that has made the Menendez men so infamous, their flare for courtroom drama and off-putting outfits, and the. Bozanich appeared in a 2015 episode of Murder Made Me Famous on the Reelz Channel and maintained that 20 years later, she was still completely convinced that the brothers had made up the sexual abuse. The story of .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Eric and Lyle Menendez is one of the most notorious true-crime sagas in American history, and the thirst for more and more depictions of the saga cannot be sated. The firearms matched the weapons used to kill Jos and Kitty, prompting the district attorney to file charges. The prosecution contended the brothers' motive was greed, pointing to their spending spree in the months following their parents' murders. The men said the boys were lying; the women believed totally different we were hopelessly deadlocked.. Oddly enough, Judalon Smyth testified for the defense this time, insisting Dr. Oziel had manipulated the brothers into confessing. LYLE Menendez and younger brother Erik are serving life sentences for the 1989 murder of their parents. Rossell alleges that Jos Menendez, who was an executive at RCA Records at the time, sexually assaulted him when he was a teen member of the band. The brothers were found guilty in spite of their defense . Their slain father Jose had been born in Cuba and fled during the revolution. He lived with a cousin in Pennsylvania before winning an athletic scholarship to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. They are still in prison, and have become a sort of internet sensation on social media with the growing interest in true crime. They feared for their lives. Even now, 30 years since the murders first took place, the brothers crime continues to fascinate and perplex. During one of those visits, Roy says he saw Erik and Lyle, after which he was drugged and assaultedand he implies that this crime took place as an implicit means of sealing Menudos RCA deal. Parents Jos and Kitty Menendez were shot multiple times with a shotgun in the den of their mansion. Lyle is the oldest brother, he was born in 1968, and his brother Erik was born in 1970. Thirty years ago this week, a shocking crime unfolded in a Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle and Erik anticipated the noise would prompt law enforcement to show up at their home, but when they hadnt, they hatched their plan to ditch their weapons and call 911. On August 20, 1989, Jos and Mary Kitty Menendez were shot to death in their Beverly Hills home. Why It Took Three Juries to Convict the Menendez Brothers 'Monster' Season 2 Sets Menendez Brothers as Killer Subjects When Lyle and Erik were caught burglarizing neighbors' homes for the thrill of it, Jose used his money and influence to shield them from any real consequences, according to Vanity Fair. Succession Features in Rupert Murdoch's Divorce, Rupert Murdoch Is Not Getting Married Again, Behold: Signature Poses of Your Favorite Royals. In fact, its primary focus turns out to be not Lyle and Erik, but Roy, whose first-person interviews dominate the proceedings. Ex-Menudo Singer Makes Shock Claim About Menendez Brothers Dad. He lived with a cousin in Pennsylvania before winning an athletic scholarship to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. The Menendez murders were a gruesome, barbaric crime; Jos and Kitty were not so much killed as rendered nearly unidentifiable by 15 rounds from two 12-gauge shotguns. The brothers didnt spend all of their six months of freedom shopping and dreaming out loud, though. Lyle Menendez on parents' 1989 murder: 'I still cry over my mother' - Today Family friend Karen Lamm described Jose as being mean to Kitty. A post on the account in April 2021 read: "If Kitty and Jose acted differently, if they loved, cared for, and protected their sons the way they should have, their sons would've never felt the need to protect themselves.". . Thats where he met his future wife, Mary Louise, who was known as Kitty. , and early investigations focused on that possibility. .css-1fgik18{color:#323232;display:block;font-family:NewParis,NewParis-fallback,Georgia,Times,serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;-webkit-font-smoothing:auto;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-1fgik18:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1fgik18{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1fgik18{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1fgik18{font-size:1.3125rem;line-height:1.2;}}The Science Behind Lying, Schmooze or Lose: Getting Ahead Means Going Out. The battle for the tapes dragged out for 30 months, until the Supreme Court of California intervened. The defense also attacked Kitty as a husk of a woman, an alcoholic, drug addict, broken wife and useless mother who was devastated by Joss many affairs. The Menendez brothers were the only children of entertainment businessman Jose Menendez and his wife Mary Louise, otherwise known as Kitty. Lyle and Erik Menendez had grown up as children . Before the new docuseries streams, get up to speed on this key figure in the Peacock special. All Rights Reserved. The infamous 1989 double murder case is back in the spotlight thanks to a shocking new rape allegation revealed in Peacock's "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.". Smyth and Oziel had a rocky relationship she claimed he was controlling and abusive and after he allegedly attacked her, Smyth contacted the Beverly Police to reveal that the Menendez brothers confessed to their parents murder. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. Jose was 35 when he became executive vice president at Hertz, a subsidiary of Radio Corporation of America, more commonly known as RCA. 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After their arrest in 1990 and a second trial in 1996, the Menendez brothers became notorious media sensations. Those stupid sweaters. Erik and Lyle Menendez - Crime Museum He purchased a popular student restaurant, Chucks Spring Street Cafe, for $550,000 and renamed it Mr. Buffalos after its spicy wings. The publics understanding of childhood trauma and the scars it leaves is significantly greater than it was in the 90s. During the trials, they claimed their father routinely administered physical and. He was in charge of building up the labels Latin music line. Ignoring his own ethical responsibilities, Dr. Oziel taped the sessions with his new patient in an apparent attempt to impress his mistress. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. I just remember firing, Erik told the court. Figuring out whether the tapes with the confessions fell under doctor-patient privilege or were admissible as evidence in court took two full years, with lawsuits and appeals flying back and forth between the prosecution and the Menendezs lawyers. After a merger with a Minnesota-based record company, IVE became known as Live Entertainment and is now known as Artisan Entertainment. Als u niet wilt dat wij en onze partners cookies en persoonsgegevens voor deze aanvullende doeleinden gebruiken, klik dan op 'Alles weigeren'. 'Citadel' Episode Guide: When Do New Episodes Premiere on Prime Video? But during his trial, Lyle testified that they killed their parents out of fear after experiencing years of sexual and mental abuse in their household. What Time Does 'Yellowjackets' Season 2, Episode 6 Air On Showtime? Jose turned the struggling International Video Entertainment Inc. (IVE), a video distributor into profitability. Born in Cuba to well-to-do business people and star athletes, Jose was 16 when his parents sent him to the U.S. in the late 1950s, the Los Angeles Times reported. Jose and Kitty Menendez are seen here in this undated family photo. They then drove. The night of the murders, the brothers told police theyd gone out that night to see a movie but had to make a pitstop to retrieve Eriks ID. I had been told that right after his murder, people were pretty pleased that he was no longer on the earth.. 1,126, This story has been shared 1,110 times. Immediately, it was announced that they would be retried. On March 20, 1996, Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 1996 Lyle and Erik Menendez were each sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but even today Hart views the homicides as a reaction to gross parental misconduct, rather than the work of cold, calculating killers. Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez leave the courtroom in Santa Monica, Calif., after a judge ruled that conversations between the two brothers and their psychologist were admissible as evidence; The gravesite of Jose and Kitty Menendez, still serving their life sentences miles apart to this day, eight-hour NBC mini-series starring Emmy winner Edie Falco, Both have gotten married while behind bars. He worked his way up the ladder at a number of businesses. Lyle Menendez Today on His Sexual Abuse Claims - People It wasnt until April 17, 1996, that a third and final jury found the brothers guilty together. Jordan Whynn, who is 24, watched the trial on YouTube while in coronavirus lockdown and launched an Instagram account called @MenendezSupporter. He was a sexual predator, Roy says about Jos at the outset of Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, thereby supporting Lyle and Eriks story about the cruelty they suffered at their dads hands. She even had an audiotape of the confessions. Erik had so much less self-confidence because everything he did was never good enough.. Lyle Menendez . 1,358, This story has been shared 1,126 times. We took a first vote: Six women, manslaughter, six men, first-degree, said Delahunt. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Their late mother's brother, Brian Andersen, dismissed the idea that their mother did anything wrong, telling ABC News, "The idea that Erik and Lyle were abused by my sister Kitty is absolute. The Menendezes had moved to Los Angeles just a few years before the murders so that Jos could take a job in the movie business. The case returned to the spotlight in 2017, when Erik participated in a tell-all for a documentary while serving his sentence, appealing to a new generation navigated by social media and living against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, according to New York Times journalist Ezra Marcus. Despite Rand bringing this to the attention of Lyle, Erik, and their attorney Cliff Gardnerand he and Ynclan making excited and optimistic pronouncements about what itll mean for the Menendez boys fateits not clear that this is enough to move the legal needle. 1,768, This story has been shared 1,717 times. Here's When It Returns With New Episodes, Drew Barrymore Halts Segment After "Severely Old" Mac and Cheese Noodle Flies off Her Desk: "It's Rock Hard". Lyle and Erik Menendez aka the murderous Menendez brothers continue to sit in prison with life sentences for killing their wealthy parents inside their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. By the time the brothers opened up about this abuse, the public had been hating them and eating up the spoiled-rich-boys narrative for years. Its not unfathomable, then, to think that in the present climate, Lyle and Eriks charges would have sounded more plausible than they did at the timeand that no judge would have dared limit testimony about their alleged sexual abuse, as was the case in their second trial, when they were found guilty. At the heart of the trial wasnt whether the brothers killed their parents but whether they should be charged with murder or manslaughter. Why Does the Tragedy of the Titanic Still Grip Us? Los Angeles District Attorney The bloodied crime scene following Jose and Kitty Menendez's murder. During the pandemic, the trial was streamed on Court TV, and with the new sets of eyes belonging to a generation more compassionate toward sex abuse victims, many voiced their opinion that Lyle and Erik should have been charged with manslaughter. In 1996, when twentysomething brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez were on trial for the murder of their Beverly Hills parents, Jse and Kitty, their legal team argued that they had committed the . The brothers were taken in for questioning but were outwardly distraught. Hed met Kitty at Southern Illinois University before they had Lyle and Erik, raising the pair in New Jersey. Kitty was 44. The brothers have admitted to killing their parents. Smyth claimed Oziel recorded the brothers admissions on tape. Per the LA Times, Jose was earning $500,000 a year. The Menendez brothers: Their childhood, the murder, the trial I know what he did to me in his house, he says. In the special . ", Kim Kardashian Teases 'American Horror Story' Role as Ryan Murphy Calls Her "True Force in the Culture", Does Buck Die on '9-1-1'? So who is Jose Menendez? "I think it was the emotional pull of the defense that caused a mistrial," Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich, who prosecuted Lyle, told The Times. 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