On the evening of August 20, 1989, film company executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were murdered in their Beverly Hills home
Six months later, Erik’s psychologist girlfriend Judalon Smyth contacted police, saying she had overheard their sons’ confession and that Jerome Oziel, the therapist, had recorded it on audiotape.
Lyle and Erik Menendez shot their parents repeatedly at close range. After the shooting, they drove up to Mulholland Drive, dumped their guns, and went to a movie theater for a cover-up. Then went back home, and Lyle called 911 crying for help.
Police initially focused on Jose’s business relationships. Jose, whose personal estate was worth $14 million, had been sued by a former business associate with rumored links to organized crime. Erik confessed to his psychologist, Jerome Oziel, that he and his brother had killed Jose because he had planned to disinherit them, and murdered Kitty because she was unhappy in her marriage.
For the next three years, the court disagreed over whether the audio recordings violated doctor-patient privilege. Finally, the California Supreme Court ruled that the tapes could be played.
The trial began in the summer of 1993; the Menendez brothers mounted a spirited defense. The brothers insisted that they had shot their parents in self-defense after saying that Jose had been abusing them for years and that they had feared he was planning to kill them.
In March 1996, both Lyle and Erik were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This case became one of the most famous of the 20th century. The first trial in 1993 aired live on Court TV, launched in 1991 by lawyer and journalist Steven Brill, which provided viewers with live coverage of trials and commentary from experts.
On October 24, 2024, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced in a press conference that he would recommend a resentencing for the brothers, which would free them on parole after 34 years in prison.
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