Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story revisits Jose and Kitty Menendez’s murder and the emotions that the brothers had against their parents. The couple was found in their Beverly Hills den shot more than 14 times and the brothers appeared innocent at first.
Erik and Lyle Menendez initially weren’t suspects in their parents’ murder after they planned an elaborate alibi. The brothers shot their parents with shotguns bought a couple of days before and quickly left the scene which was gruesome enough that it looked like the mafia was involved. They called 911 and appeared distraught after telling the authorities they went to a movie theater together and that they weren’t swabbed for gunfire. After they accrued over $700,000 ($1.8 million today) in luxuries like buying a restaurant, Porsches, and an expensive Tennis tutor, authorities caught on that the brothers might have had motives to kill their parents.
Related: Lyle Menendez Was More Concerned About His Hair Than the Outcome of His Parents’ Murder Trial—But Was It Real?
The cops were tipped off with one piece of evidence that led them to one of the most notorious cases in the 90s.
How were Erik and Lyle Menendez caught?
Jerome Oziel, a psychologist who worked with the brothers, told his mistress, Judalon Smyth, that Erik and his brother killed their parents. Smyth approached authorities after they brokup and told them she had overheard the brothers saying that they had shot their mother’s eye out of its socket. Lyle was arrested on March 8, 1990, outside their parents’ home, and Erik was subsequently arrested three days later when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving from a tennis tournament in Israel.
Tapes from Oziel’s sessions were used in the trial since Lyle violated doctor-patient privilege since he threatened him.
Why did Erik and Lyle Menendez kill their parents?
Erik and Lyle claimed they were sexually and emotionally abused by their father. The brothers testified that their father had begun molesting them at a young age and that their mother had known about it. The Menendez’s cousin, Andy Cano, testified that Erik told him that his father would give him “genital massages” and that they were “beginning to hurt.”
While the defense argued that the men were using self-defense, the prosecution said the boys killed their parents so they could have their money and that the murder was premeditated because Lyle and Erik bought the guns days before the murder.
Where are Erik and Lyle Menendez today?
Lyle was eventually moved from Mule Creek State Prison to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California, which is where both brothers are now. They reportedly broke down in tears when they were reunited. “Finally,” he told DailyMailTV. “It was just a remarkable moment,” he added. “It was just something I wasn’t sure was ever going to happen.”
“Being arrested was such a relief. My life was over and I was glad,” Erik told People in 2005. “Once I was arrested and put into prison, that person who I was began to emerge again. I had to find it for myself.”
