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Lyle and Erik Menendez

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Lyle Menéndez
Born
Joseph Lyle Menéndez

(1968-01-10) January 10, 1968 (age 56)
NationalityAmerican
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Spouse(s)
Anna Eriksson
​
​
(m. 1996; div. 2001)​

Rebecca Sneed
​
(m. 2003)​
Parent(s)Jose and Mary "Kitty" Menéndez
MotiveInheritance or sexual abuse by his father
Criminal chargeFirst-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder
PenaltyLife without parole
Partner(s)Erik Menéndez
Details
Victims2
DateAugust 20, 1989
CountryUnited States
State(s)California
Location(s)Beverly Hills
Target(s)Jose and Kitty Menéndez
Killed2
WeaponsMossberg 12-gauge shotgun
Date apprehended
March 8, 1990
Imprisoned atMule Creek State Prison
Erik Menéndez
Born
Erik Galen Menéndez

(1970-11-27) November 27, 1970 (age 53)
Blackwood, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Spouse
Tammi Ruth Saccoman
​
(m. 1999)​
Parent(s)Jose and Mary "Kitty" Menéndez
MotiveInheritance or sexual abuse by his father.
Criminal chargeFirst-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder
PenaltyLife without parole
Partner(s)Lyle Menéndez
Details
Victims2
DateAugust 20, 1989
CountryUnited States
State(s)California
Location(s)Beverly Hills
Target(s)Jose and Kitty Menéndez
Killed2
WeaponsMossberg 12-gauge shotgun
Date apprehended
March 11, 1990
Imprisoned atRichard J. Donovan Correctional Facility

Joseph Lyle Menéndez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menéndez (born November 27, 1970) are American brothers from Beverly Hills, California who were convicted in a high-profile trial in 1994 for the 1989 murder of their wealthy parents, entertainment executive Jose and his wife Mary "Kitty", by shotgun. During the trial, the brothers claimed that the murders stemmed from years of sexual and psychological abuse that they had suffered at the hands of their parents. The jurors rejected the defense's claim, and the brothers received the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Background

The Menéndez brothers' father, Jose Enrique Menéndez, was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to the United States when he was 16 years old, following the upheaval of the Cuban Revolution. While attending Southern Illinois University, he met Mary Louise "Kitty" Andersen. The two married in 1963 and moved to New York, where Jose Menéndez earned a degree in accounting at Queens College.[1] The couple had two sons: Joseph Lyle Menéndez (who went by his middle name, Lyle) was born in New York City, New York on January 10, 1968.[2] Erik was born on November 27, 1970, in Gloucester Township, New Jersey.[3] Kitty Menéndez quit her job school teaching after Lyle was born.[3] In New Jersey both brothers attended Princeton Day School.

Jose's career as a corporate executive took the family to Calabasas, California, where the boys spent their adolescence.[3] In 1987 Erik attended high school in Calabasas, earning average grades but showing a remarkable talent for tennis, as did Lyle. Lyle attended Princeton University but he was placed on academic probation for poor grades and discipline, and he was later suspended for a year after allegations of plagiarism surfaced during his freshman year. In interviews which they gave in 2017, the brothers stated that their father sexually molested them when they were young, saying that they had shared this information with a friend when they were ten years old.[4]

Crimes

On August 20, 1989, Joseph and Erik were 21 and 18 years old, respectively.[5] The murders occurred that evening in the den of the family's home in Beverly Hills at 722 North Elm Drive. Jose and Kitty were tired that summer evening because the family had been shark fishing on a chartered yacht, Motion Picture Marine, until midnight the previous day. With Lyle and Erik out for the evening, Jose and Kitty went into their den to watch the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me.

Neighbors later reported hearing loud bangs around 10 p.m. but they dismissed them as nothing to be concerned about, thinking that the noise was being caused by local kids playing with firecrackers. Jose was shot point-blank in the back of the head with a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. Kitty, awakened by the shots, sprang from the couch and ran for the hallway but she was shot in the leg. She slipped in her own blood and fell, then she was shot several times in the arm, chest, and face, leaving her unrecognizable. Both Jose and Kitty were then shot in the kneecap in an attempt to make the murders appear related to organized crime. The brothers then drove away and dumped their shotguns on Mulholland Drive. They later told police they had left home that evening to see the new James Bond movie, Licence to Kill, but since the lines were too long, they saw Batman instead. Afterwards, they said, they went to the annual “Taste of L.A.” festival at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.[6] At 11:47 p.m., when the brothers returned home, Lyle telephoned 911 and cried, "Somebody killed my parents!" The police considered the brothers suspects, but they did not have any evidence, nor did they order the brothers to undergo gunshot residue tests in order to see if they had recently used a firearm.[7] During their trial, Erik said he spotted a shotgun shell that they had left on the floor and removed it when the policeman talking to him looked away.

Security at the home had been good. The Mediterranean mansion was rented previously to musicians Prince as well as Elton John. Jose frequently left the alarm system off and the gates open, even after his Mercedes-Benz 560SEL was stolen from the front semi-circular driveway of the house, just weeks before the murders. Kitty, on the other hand, was agitated in the time just prior to the murders, constantly locking her bedroom door at night and keeping a rifle in her wardrobe.

During the months after the murders, the brothers spent money lavishly, adding to investigators' suspicions that they had been involved with their parents' deaths.[8] Lyle bought an expensive Rolex watch, a Porsche Carrera, and Chuck's Spring Street Cafe,[9] a Buffalo wings restaurant in Princeton, New Jersey. Erik also hired a full-time tennis coach and competed in a series of pro tournaments in Israel. They left the North Elm Drive mansion unoccupied and lived in two separate penthouse apartments in nearby Marina del Rey. They drove around Los Angeles in their late mother's Mercedes-Benz SL convertible, dined expensively, and went on overseas trips to the Caribbean and London. Prosecutors later alleged that the brothers spent about $1 million during their first six months as orphans. Erik confessed the murders to his psychologist, Dr. Oziel, who told his girlfriend about the killings after being threatened by Lyle. After Oziel and his girlfriend broke up, she told the police. Lyle was arrested near the mansion on March 8, 1990, after police received information that he was preparing to flee California. Erik, who was in Israel at the time, surrendered himself three days later upon returning to Los Angeles. Both were remanded without bail, and they were separated from each other.

In August 1990, Judge James Albrecht ruled that the tapes of conversations between Erik and his psychologist would be admissible because Lyle had voided doctor–patient privilege due to threatening physical harm against Oziel. The ruling was appealed, delaying the proceedings for two years. After the ruling was initially overturned on appeal, the Supreme Court of California declared in August 1992 that several tapes were admissible, though not the tape on which Erik discussed the murders. This finally allowed a Los Angeles County grand jury to issue indictments in December 1992 on charges that the brothers had murdered their parents.[citation needed]

Trials

The Menéndez brothers and the murder of their parents became a national sensation when Court TV broadcast the trial in 1993. The younger brother's defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, became famous with her flamboyant defense, alleging that the brothers were driven to murder by a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their parents, including sexual abuse at the hands of their father, Jose, who was described as a cruel, callous perfectionist and a pedophile, while Kitty was portrayed as a selfish, mentally unstable, alcoholic and drug addict who enabled her husband's abuse and was also sometimes violent towards them.[10] Despite the defense's theory, the brothers' lack of a past criminal history stood in contrast to the "escape from parental abuse" theory. The trial ended with two deadlocked juries.[11]

Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti announced immediately that the brothers would be retried. The second trial was somewhat less publicized, partly because Judge Stanley Weisberg refused to allow cameras in the courtroom.[12]

Both brothers were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. In the penalty phase of the trial, the jury did not endorse death sentences for the brothers but instead returned recommendations of life in prison. The jury later said that the abuse defense was never a factor in its deliberations and it rejected the death penalty because neither brother had a felony record or a history of violence. Unlike the juries in the previous trials, the jury in the penalty phase unanimously rejected the defense's theory that the brothers killed their parents out of fear, instead it believed that the brothers had committed the murders with the intent to gain control over their parents' considerable wealth.[13]

On July 2, 1996, Judge Weisberg sentenced Lyle and Erik Menéndez to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Weisberg sentenced the brothers to consecutive sentences for the murders and the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. As had been done during their pretrial detention, the California Department of Corrections separated the Menéndez brothers, sending them to different prisons. Both brothers were classified as maximum-security inmates and they were segregated from other prisoners.

Of note, during the penalty phase of the murder trial for Erik and Lyle Menéndez, defense lawyer Leslie Abramson allegedly directed a defense witness, Dr. William Vicary, to alter his notes, but the district attorney's office decided that it would not investigate the infraction.[14] Both brothers filed motions for a mistrial, claiming that they suffered irreparable damage in the penalty phase as a result of suggestions of possible misconduct and ineffective representation by Abramson.

Appeals

On February 27, 1998, the California Court of Appeals upheld the murder convictions, and on May 28, 1998, the Supreme Court of California voted to uphold the murder convictions and the life-without-parole sentences, with none of the Supreme Court justices voting to review the case.[15]

Both brothers filed habeas corpus petitions with the Supreme Court of California, which were denied in 1999. Having exhausted their appeal remedies in state court, the brothers filed separate habeas corpus petitions in the United States District Court. On March 4, 2003, a magistrate judge recommended that the petitions be denied.[citation needed] The district court adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. The brothers then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On September 7, 2005, a three-judge panel issued their ruling affirming the denial of both brothers' petitions for habeas corpus.[16]

Life in prison

File:Menendez brothers - mug shot.jpg
Mug shots of Lyle (left) and Erik Menéndez (right)

Since entering prison, both brothers have married, even though California does not allow conjugal visits for those convicted of murder or for those serving life sentences.

On July 2, 1996, Lyle married long-time pen pal Anna Eriksson, a former model, in a ceremony attended by Abramson and Lyle's aunt Marta Menéndez and presided over by Judge Nancy Brown. The two were divorced on April 1, 2001,[15] after Eriksson reportedly discovered that Lyle was "cheating" on her by writing to another woman. In November 2003, Lyle, then 35, married Rebecca Sneed, a 33-year-old magazine editor from Sacramento, at a ceremony in a maximum security visiting area of Mule Creek State Prison. Lyle and Rebecca had reportedly known each other for about ten years prior to their engagement.[17][18]

In 1997, Erik was reportedly married in a telephone ceremony at Folsom State Prison. In June 1999, Erik, age 28, married Tammi Ruth Saccoman, age 37, at Folsom State Prison in a prison waiting room. Tammi later stated, "Our wedding cake was a Twinkie. We improvised. It was a wonderful ceremony until I had to leave. That was a very lonely night."[19][20] In an interview with ABC News in October 2005, she described her relationship with Erik as "something that I've dreamed about for a long time. And it's just something very special that I never thought that I would ever have."[21] In 2005, Tammi Menéndez also self-published a book titled They Said We'd Never Make It – My Life With Erik Menéndez, though Tammi said on Larry King Live that Erik "did a lot of editing on the book".[22]

In a 2005 interview with People magazine, Tammi Menéndez stated that "Not having sex in my life is difficult, but it's not a problem for me. I have to be physically detached, and I'm emotionally attached to Erik ... My family does not understand. When it started to get serious, some of them just threw up their hands." Tammi also noted that she and her 10-year-old daughter drive the 150 miles (240 km) every weekend to see Erik, whom her daughter refers to as her "Earth Dad".[19]

Regarding his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Erik has stated: "Tammi is what gets me through. I can't think about the sentence. When I do, I do it with a great sadness and a primal fear. I break into a cold sweat. It's so frightening I just haven't come to terms with it."[19]

As of 2008, both men are incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation system. Lyle is being held at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. Erik was incarcerated at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.[23] He was later transferred to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.[24] Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, the brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their lives behind bars. According to Erik, on the same Larry King Live episode, he and his older brother have not spoken to each other for more than ten years.[22] [failed verification]

In 2010, A&E released a documentary on Tammi Menéndez, titled Mrs. Menéndez.[23]

The Menéndez brothers were recently featured in a 2017 documentary titled Truth and Lies: The Menéndez Brothers — American Sons, American Murderers on ABC, as well as on an episode of Snapped in 2016. The murder is the subject of multiple docudramas, including the forthcoming Lifetime movie Menendez: Blood Brothers, and the 1994 television film Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills. The media hype surrounding the first trial was parodied in the 1996 dark comedy film The Cable Guy. The Menéndez brothers were also the subject of the weekly satire podcast The Last Podcast on the Left in 2016. They were also depicted in the film Natural Born Killers.

Their story has been retold in a Lifetime movie.

In an episode of ABC's Fresh off the Boat, the topic of the Menéndez brothers and how they "didn't get away with it" came up while Jessica was talking to Evan about going to St. Orlando private school.

In his 2008 stand-up comedy show It's Bad For Ya, George Carlin makes a brief allusion to the Menéndez brothers, in a segment intended to debunk the idea that dead parents can somehow help their children in their various endeavours, which he presents as unrealistic and illogical, saying: "Suppose you kill your parents ... would they help you? I'll guarantee you Mr. and Mrs. Menéndez are not helping those two boys!"

See also

References

  1. ^ Johnson, John; Soble, Ronald L. "The Menéndez Brothers: Jose Menéndez Gave His Sons Everything. Maybe Even a Motive for Murder". latimes.com. p. 3.
  2. ^ Pergament, Rachel. "The Menéndez Brothers". crimelibrary.com. Crimelibrary.com. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Erik Menéndez Biography". biography.com.
  4. ^ News, A. B. C. (January 6, 2017). "Menendez Brothers' Cousin Who Testified About Sexual Abuse Speaks Out". ABC News. Retrieved June 8, 2017. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Lyle Menéndez Finally Speaks From Prison, 27 Years After Killing Parents". Us Weekly. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  6. ^ Joseph Poindexter (March 26, 1990). "A Beverly Hills Paradise Lost". People Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  7. ^ Dunne, Dominick (October 1990). "Nightmare on Elm Drive". Vanity Fair. Beverly Hills police claimed to have been suspicious of the Menéndez brothers from the beginning ... But there was no proof – nothing to go on – merely gut reactions.
  8. ^ Dunne, Dominick (October 1990). "Nightmare on Elm Drive". Vanity Fair.
  9. ^ "Chuck's Spring Street Cafe in Princeton, NJ - location, details and more". Princetonsrestaurants.com. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  10. ^ "The Menéndez Brothers". Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Brandon, Karen (April 18, 1996). "L.a. Jury Spares Menéndez Brothers". chicagotribune.com.
  12. ^ Chiasson, Lloyd (1997). The Press on Trial: Crimes and Trials as Media Events. p. 200. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  13. ^ Abrahamson, Alan (April 3, 1994). "Little Remains of Menéndez Estate, Records Show : Courts: Inheritance of $14.5 million was lost to taxes, lawyers' fees and inflated real estate appraisals, probate files reveal". latimes.
  14. ^ "Menéndez Lawyer Won't Face Investigation", New York Times, October 12, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  15. ^ a b Pergament, Rachel. "The Menéndez Brothers". crimelibrary.com. Crimelibrary.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT" (PDF). uscourts.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  17. ^ Should single guys trade their pinstripes for prison stripes? (Dan Abrams), MSNBC.com January 18, 2006 (retrieved on September 2, 2008)
  18. ^ Parent killer Menéndez marries in Calif. prison, MSNBC.com, November 23, 2003 (retrieved on September 2, 2008)
  19. ^ a b c "Life & Love Behind Bars" by Bill Hewitt, People Magazine, November 07, 2005 Vol. 64 No. 19.
  20. ^ "Convicted murderer Erik Menéndez marries in prison". CNN. June 16, 1999. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
  21. ^ "Erik Menéndez's Life Behind Bars". ABC News. October 25, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
  22. ^ a b "Interview With Tammi Menéndez". CNN. December 20, 2005. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  23. ^ a b "Menéndez brothers convicted in parents' murder 16 years ago". latimes.com. March 20, 2012.
  24. ^ "State of California Inmate Locator". ca.gov.

Further reading

Books

  • Davis, Don (1994) Bad Blood: The Shocking True Story Behind the Menéndez Killings St. Martin, New York, ISBN 0-312-95334-8
  • Menéndez, Lyle; Novelli, Norma; Walker, Mike; and Spreckels, Judith (1995) The Private Diary of Lyle Menéndez: In His Own Words! Dove Books, Beverly Hills, California, ISBN 0-7871-0474-4
  • Menéndez, Tammi (2005) They Said We’d Never Make It: My Life With Erik Menéndez NewGalen Publishing, Santa Clarita, California, ISBN 0-9768744-0-7
  • Soble, Ronald L. and Johnson, John (1994) Blood Brothers: The Inside Story of the Menéndez Murders Onyx, New York, ISBN 0-451-40547-1
  • Thornton, Hazel; Wrightsman, Lawrence S.; Posey, Amy J. and Scheflin, Alan W. (1995) Hung Jury: The Diary of a Menéndez Juror Temple University Press, Philadelphia, ISBN 1-56639-393-0; new 20 Years Later Edition updated with new material (2017) ISBN 978-1-4399-1513-4
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