I was a sophomore/ junior in high school when Jose and Kitty Menendez were shotgunned to death in their home in California. It was several months yet before Lyle and Erik were arrested. What was in question was their motive, not whether or not they killed them at all. Lyle and Erik were claiming self defense and that their lives were being threatened by their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. The prosecutors were claiming that Erik and Lyle stood to inherit alot of money from their parent's death and this was their reason for killing them and the question of physical abuse shouldn't matter.
The Menendez Murders-Erik Tells All is a five-part docuseries put out by A&E and NBC in November of 2017.
I agreed at the time with the ruling of the court for the Menendez brothers, they were guilty and deserved life sentences in prison. They seemed to be spoiled little rich boys, smiling in court for the cameras knowing that they were on trial for their lives. The first trial didn't start until 1993. I was in college locally getting ready to go away to college away from home. I just wondered how on earth could they be so unhappy and kill their parents while living in luxury and surrounded by such lovely things. O.J. Simpson, the former football player and movie star Sylvester Stallone lived nearby and their parents were on a first name basis with them. How could they have such problems? My naiviete was pretty great at this time about families and how they seem on the outside. Coming from a similarily wealthy family, I can now relate. Wealth tends to create more problems than it solves.
I also understand about sexual abuse in families. I have a close family member that has been abused by a family member(not me). The mother and father didn't believe this when they were told about the abuse and this tends to add to the mistrust the abused feels towards everyone. If you cannot trust your parents to take care of you, it really keeps you from having a nurturing, loving relationship with anyone in the future.
In this documentary, Erik Menenedez is speaking from prison on a telephone, telling us that we may think that they know the story of what happened, but we couldn't possibly because it happened to them and not everything has been told. But they also show many different opinions and reactions from reporters, psychologists, former prosecutors, judges, jurors, witnesses and family members. Fifty-one witnesses for the defense, that supported Lyle and Erik's testimony, were heard in court. I don't remember hearing how many witnesses there was for the prosecution but it wasn't anything close to what the defense had and were mostly police officers and professional opinions.
The first trial was a hung jury and it was a battle of the sexes inside the jury room. The women jurors were for a manslaughter charge which would come with a 20-year sentence. The male jurors were for a murder charge with a life imprisonment sentence based on the fact that it was unbelievable that a father could treat their children in such a way.
The second trial convicted the brothers of first-degree murder. Most people largely believe today that it was because the stories of abuse of any kind were not allowed into the court proceedings.
After watching the five episodes of The Menendez Murders-Erik Tells All, I can honestly and proudly say that I believe Lyle and Erik. There's a new law on the books for prisoners in California that can get them a new trial. I hope they get it.
