The Case
On the night of August 8th, a 911 operator received a call from the home of Jose and Kitty Menendez. In the phone call you can hear their son Erik Menendez screaming in the background while their eldest son Lyle exclaims “Somebody killed my parents!” Further on in the call, the operator learns that Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot and killed in their mansion’s tv room. When police arrive at the scene, they find the brothers outside the home hysterical. Lyle and Erik’s story was that they came home and walked in to find their parents dead.
Jose and Kitty
Jose Menendez was a powerful business man who worked for the film company Carcolo Pictures, as the head of home video production. Before then Jose, a Cuban immigrant met his wife Kitty on the Southern Illinois University campus in 1962. They married 2 years later after graduation. After graduating, he passed the CPA exam and he became a successful businessman. In all of his workplaces he earned the reputation of being extremely rude and hostile to his coworkers. On January 10th, 1968 Jose and Kitty had their first child Joseph Lyle Menendez. Two years later they had their second and youngest son Erik Gallen Menendez in 1970. After having their kids, they uprooted and moved to Southern California where Jose became an executive for RCA. But their lives weren’t perfect as Jose and Kitty began having marital problems leading Jose to have a mistress. It was clear that Jose’s relationship with his family was rapidly deteriorating
Life as a Menendez
Being the sons of a very successful businessman, Lyle and Erik Menendez grew up around wealth and privilege. Although according to the sons, Jose demanded academic and athletic success. Lyle and Erik, having a silver spoon in their mouths, grew to get everything they wanted. Lyle was accepted into Princeton, but was suspended for a year because of plagiarism. During Lyle and Erik’s teen years they found joy in robbing rich houses in Beverly Hills. Though everytime they got caught their dad was there to bail them out. Jose always wanted his kids to be successful in tennis, Erik showed exceptional talent in the sport. His father took it upon himself to personally create the success he craved. Except when he realized that he was not going to get the successful sons he wanted, he cut them out of his will. (*THIS IS ALL ALLEGED*) Jose’s expectations for his sons did not stop at being successful, according to multiple sources Jose sexually abused his children from the time that they were children up until his death. From the time Lyle was only six to adulthood the abuse his father inflicted on him was unbearable, but for Erik it was hell on earth. From childhood up until his fathers death, the abuse for Erik was a reoccuring event. Kitty Menendez was not any better, allegedly openly regretting ever having the brothers and turning away from the emotional and sexual abuse that Jose inflicted on the boys.
Investigation
After the death of their parents, Lyle and Erik displayed suspicious behavior. They went crazy. Instead of acting like the grieving sons they portrayed to the police, they acted like party animals. Throwing parties in the mansion, spending all of their parents money, doing whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. At the beginning of the case, Erik and Lyle insisted that because their father was a very powerful businessman that could have caused him to create some enemies. The police followed up on that claim because Jose and Kitty’s murder did look like that of a hit or premeditated murder. Then something happened that completely turned the authorities attention away from the first theory…
The Confession
In March of 1990, six months after the crime was first committed, the police got a surprising tip from Judalon Smyth. Judalon was the girlfriend of Erik and Lyle’s psychotherapist. Judalon claimed that the brothers had confessed to the murders of their parents to their therapist, who had recorded the whole thing. On March 8th, Lyle Menendez was arrested outside his mansion, 2 days later Erik was picked up at the Los Angeles International Airport where he just arrived home from a tennis tournament in Israel.
The Trial
Lyle and Erik’s trial started on July 20th 1990. The trial was a very televised event, the same as the OJ Simpson trial which was happening around the same time. The defense argued that Erik and Lyle killed their parents as self defense, as they had suffered from emotional, physical, and even sexual abuse at the hands of their father. The defense used a strategy of making the brothers look more innocent by having them wear brightly colored sweaters to give the look of children. The prosecutors argued that the murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez was a premeditated and cold blooded event. Trying to prove that the brothers killed their family for financial gain, some evidence included that Jose cut the brothers out of his will two weeks before the murder was committed. The prosecutors, to make the brothers look more evil, showed the jury graphic images from the crime scene. According to CBS News “The brothers testified that Lyle soon confronted their parents — and in the days leading up to the crime, things grew so contentious that they believed their parents were going to kill them to keep the family secret from coming out. They said they believed their parents were going to kill them the night of the crime and that’s why they went into the family room and started shooting their parents.
The Verdict
After a mistrial and a second trial in July of 1996, the jury convicted the brothers of first degree murder sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Personal Opinion (Emily Clark) – The Menendez Brothers Deserve Life in Prison
I believe that Erik and Lyle fabricated their abuse story as a way to earn the jury’s sympathy for a lesser sentence. Just like when criminals plead insanity. Evidence for this claim is that after the murders Erik and Lyle suspiciously spent all of their father’s money and partied the whole time. Two weeks before Jose and Kitty were found dead in their home the brothers were taken out of Jose’s will. If you killed your parents in self defense would you cover up the murder and not tell the truth to the police? Even if there was abuse, it is still suspicious that they didn’t speak out about the abuse until after they were in trial. I believe that the brothers were spoiled brats and when they didn’t get the money they wanted from their parents they decided to take matters into their own hands and kill them. Even to this day the lead prosecutor in the case Pamela Bozanich believes that the brothers killed their parents for financial gain.
Opposing Opinion (Jack Page) – The Menendez Brothers Deserve to be Released
I believe the Menendez Brothers should be released and sent home to live the rest of their life’s in peace. Abuse of any kind is a traumatic experience for any child. The kind of abuse that Erik and Lyle Menendez faced starting around the age of SIX was sick and horrible. While many argue that the s*xual abuse the defense used in court was made up by the brothers for the purpose of receiving a less severe punishment for murdering their parents, that is blatantly not true. Family members testified that they knew there were weird things going on in the Menendez household. A cousin of theirs even went on the witness stand during their first trial and testified that years ago, Lyle had told her about being molested by his father. The cousin had gone to Kitty in efforts of getting the boys away from this evil but she did absolutely nothing. There were also letters written by Erik describing the abuse and suspicious photos from before the murder used in the first trial. The brothers’ first trial was considered a mistrial since the jury was split on whether the boys should get a lesser sentence or life. The judicial system fully screwed over the brothers on their second trail. The defense was not allowed to use evidence or have witnesses testify to the “abuse excuse,” basically meaning the s*xual abuse was not allowed to be mentioned in court. AND the judge didn’t allow the jury to choose manslaughter which was the ideal punishment for the brothers’ as they would’ve received prison time but not life. The judge allowed the jury to choose complete freedom or charge them of first degree murder and that made their choice obvious. Since the sentencing there has been more evidence of the abuse come to surface and the brothers have acted very well in prison, working to improve the outside world and even getting married to women they met through letters. Since 1996 when the brothers were sentenced, there have been movements in society bringing abuse for women AND men to surface. The “Me Too” movement showed that men in America are also s*xually abused, not just women, despite previous beliefs. Also since 1996 there have been other criminals like Gypsy Rose who spent time in prison for murder but got out after a shorter time due to the major abuse they faced growing up. The Menendez brothers have spent their time in prison, in my opinion longer than they deserved, and it’s their time to come home and get to spend the rest of their life free from imprisonment and abuse. That’s why I believe in the Free the Menendez Brothers movement.
The Menendez Brothers...
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