Menendez Brothers’ Murder Case From Arrest to Resentencing: A Timeline

Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez‘s homicide case has performed out within the public for over three a long time from two high-profile trials to a life sentence — and now a renewed probability at freedom.

After their dad and mom, José and Kitty Menéndez, had been discovered lifeless in 1989, Erik and Lyle turned the prime suspects. The brothers had been each arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree homicide. Two subsequent trials resulted in Erik and Lyle’s conviction and a life sentence with out the potential for parole. Erik and Lyle, in the meantime, have maintained that their mom and father had been bodily, emotionally and sexually abusive and that their actions had been that of self-defense.

The Menéndez brothers remained behind bars as their case continued to be referenced in episodes of Legislation & Order, The Recent Prince of Bel-Air and The Sopranos. Erik and Lyle had been additionally cited a number of instances on the FX drama The Folks v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016, which Ryan Murphy govt produced.

Murphy formally explored the Menéndez story in September 2024 along with his Monsters collection. Nicholas Alexander Chavez introduced Lyle to life whereas Erik was performed by Cooper Koch. José and Kitty, in the meantime, had been portrayed by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny, respectively.

Associated: How Netflix‘s ‘Monsters’ Forged Compares to Actual-Life Menendez Household

Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story labored arduous to ensure the forged resembled their real-life counterparts. The ten-episode restricted collection, which shall be launched on September 19, follows Lyle and Erik Menéndez, who had been convicted for the 1989 homicide of their dad and mom. The siblings confessed to the crime and claimed they killed […]

The chief producer has since identified how his present created renewed curiosity in Erik and Lyle — regardless of their disapproval over how they had been portrayed.

“They’re now being talked about by hundreds of thousands of individuals everywhere in the world. There’s a documentary popping out in two weeks about them, additionally on Netflix. And I feel the fascinating factor about it’s it’s asking individuals to reply the questions, ‘Ought to they get a brand new trial? Ought to they be set free of jail? What occurs in our society? Ought to individuals be locked away for all times? Is there no probability ever at rehabilitation?’” he advised Selection in September 2024. “I’m concerned with that, and lots of people are speaking about it. We’re asking actually troublesome questions, and it’s giving these brothers one other trial within the courtroom of public opinion. From what I can inform, it’s actually opened up the chance that this proof that they declare that they’ve, perhaps that there’s going to be a manner ahead for them.”

Erik and Lyle had been granted a brand new listening to for his or her case one month later after the Los Angeles District Lawyer’s workplace cited new proof indicating that their father allegedly molested them. The Los Angeles District Lawyer’s workplace beneficial in October 2024 that Erik and Lyle’s sentence be diminished.

Preserve scrolling for an entire timeline of occasions in Erik and Lyle’s case, from the preliminary arrest to their new probability of being launched from jail:

1989

José and Kitty had been discovered lifeless at their Beverly Hills dwelling in 1989. After Lyle known as the police, authorities found José was shot six instances and Kitty was shot 10 instances. Lyle and Erik weren’t initially named individuals of curiosity, because the police pursued different avenues together with a possible Mafia hit.

Associated: Erik and Lyle Menendez‘s Homicide Trial: The place Are The Key Gamers Now?

Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez‘s authorized points resulted in two high-profile trials — however the place are the important thing gamers from their homicide case now? The Menéndez brothers’ dad and mom, José and Kitty Menéndez, had been discovered lifeless at their Beverly Hills dwelling in 1989. After Lyle known as the police, they found José was shot six instances and […]

1990

Within the months after their dad and mom’ deaths, Erik and Lyle confessed to the murders to their therapist, Jerome Oziel. Oziel recorded their conversations, the place they mentioned the crimes, and the siblings had been later arrested after the authorities had been tipped off concerning the tapes.

On the time of the homicide and brothers’ confessions, Oziel was having an affair with Judalon Smyth. Oziel advised his mistress concerning the classes with the Menéndez brothers. Smyth was the one to report what she knew to the police after Oziel ended their relationship. (Oziel subsequently misplaced his license to observe in 1997 for violating affected person confidentiality and after being accused of getting intercourse with feminine sufferers, in response to the Los Angeles Occasions.)

Oziel advised Bustle in 2017 that claims of his skilled impropriety had been “flatly and fully false.”

Lyle and Erik had been arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree homicide every.

1992

It took years earlier than a trial was set because of the tapes probably violating doctor-patient confidentiality. After a lot litigation, Choose James Albrecht subsequently dominated that tapes of the conversations between Erik and Oziel had been admissible proof since Oziel claimed Lyle threatened him, which violated his privilege as a affected person.

The ruling was appealed, resulting in a two-year delay in authorized proceedings. The Supreme Court docket of California dominated in 1992 that a lot of the tapes had been admissible besides one, through which Erik mentioned the murders. A Los Angeles County grand jury in the end issued indictments later that yr that charged the brothers with the murders of their dad and mom.

1993

Erik and Lyle had been initially tried individually as they alleged that years of bodily, emotional and sexual abuse precipitated them to shoot their mom and father. The case led to a mistrial after the jury was unable to achieve a unanimous determination.

Associated: May Menendez Brothers Be Launched From Jail? Attraction Course of Defined

Erik and Lyle Menéndez‘s homicide case was thrust again into the highlight with Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters — however is there an opportunity their life with out parole sentence could possibly be overturned? The Menéndez brothers’ dad and mom, José and Kitty Menéndez, had been discovered lifeless at their Beverly Hills dwelling in 1989. After Lyle known as the police, they found […]

1995

When the retrial started, a lot of the proof surrounding the abuse couldn’t be used as a protection. Erik and Lyle — who had been tried collectively — had been in the end discovered responsible of first-degree homicide.

1996

Jurors deliberated between life with out parole or the loss of life sentence earlier than selecting the previous in 1996.

“Lyle was positively nearer to getting the loss of life penalty than Erik and plenty of jurors made speeches comparable to Bruce Seitz, each in favor of Lyle and towards him. After the case, after I spoke with the juror who had the center assault, we mentioned the loss of life penalty,” former juror Lesley Hillings recalled in an interview with reporter Mary Jane Stevenson. “I defined to her a number of the decide’s directions and what we might and couldn’t contemplate, and he or she then questioned whether or not or not she too would have been capable of vote for the loss of life penalty underneath these circumstances.”

Erik and Lyle appealed the choice a number of instances. The California Court docket of Attraction upheld Lyle and Erik’s homicide convictions in 1998 and the Supreme Court docket of California declined to evaluate the case later that very same yr. Each Menendez brothers filed habeas corpus petitions with the Supreme Court docket of California in 1999, which had been additionally denied.

2000s

Each Menéndez brothers filed habeas corpus petitions with the USA District Court docket that had been in the end denied in 2003. Erik and Lyle’s protection workforce determined to attraction to the USA Court docket of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which resulted in one other denial in 2005.

Amid their makes an attempt to get a brand new trial, Erik and Lyle had been transferred to totally different prisons following their sentencing. Lyle was taken to Mule Creek State Jail whereas Erik moved round from Folsom State Jail to Nice Valley State Jail. The brothers reunited in 2018, once they had been moved into the identical housing unit at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility — their first reunion since they started serving their sentences practically twenty years prior.

2023

Peacock launched a docuseries in 2023 titled Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, the place singer Roy Rosselló alleged he was drugged and raped when he was a teen by Erik and Lyle’s father, José. The accusations from the previous Menudo band member was included in a petition filed with Los Angeles County Superior Court docket.

The courtroom paperwork requested a retrial whereas citing new proof within the case, comparable to Rosselló’s allegations towards José and a newly found letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse months earlier than the murders.

“No one had checked out [the cousin’s personal] results till 2015, and that’s when it was discovered, 10 years after our final attraction,” Erik and Lyle’s post-conviction legal professional Mark Geragos mentioned in an announcement to Folks in September. “We’re saying the second trial didn’t comport with constitutional protections for quite a lot of causes. And a Habeas [Corpus petition] has new proof. It requires new proof as a result of this case had principally been moribund for near 17 years.”

Associated: Who Are the Menendez Brothers Married to Whereas They‘re in Jail for Life?

Ted Soqui/Sygma by way of Getty Photos Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez each discovered companions whereas serving out their particular person life sentences following a high-profile homicide case. The Menéndez brothers had been arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree homicide after their dad and mom — José and Kitty — had been discovered shot to loss of life of their dwelling. Two […]

2024

Season 2 of the hit Netflix collection Monsters debuted in September and chronicled Lyle (Chavez) and Erik’s (Koch) lives earlier than, throughout and after the homicide of their dad and mom. Episodes 4 and 5 acquired essential acclaim and fan reward for introducing Erik and Lyle’s abuse claims towards their dad and mom, however the remainder of the season got here underneath fireplace for a number of inaccuracies.

Erik launched an announcement slamming Monsters and its depiction of him and Lyle at some point after it was launched.

“I believed we had moved past the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, making a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant likes rampant within the present,” learn an announcement from Erik that was shared by way of Lyle’s Fb web page. “I can solely imagine they had been completed so on function. It’s with a heavy coronary heart that I say, I imagine Ryan Murphy can’t be this naive and inaccurate concerning the details of our lives in order to do that with out dangerous intent.”

Murphy, nonetheless, stood by his determination to not decide a facet on display screen. Lower than one week after Monsters was launched, Netflix introduced that Lyle and Erik had been interviewed for The Menéndez Brothers documentary. The October 2024 launch consists of footage from conversations with juror Betty Oldfield, Kitty’s sister Joan Vander Molen and prosecutor Pamela Bozanich.

The brothers additionally acquired public assist from Koch and jail reform activist Kim Kardashian, who visited the pair in jail and wrote a private essay for NBC Information advocating for his or her launch. The Los Angeles District Lawyer George Gascón introduced in October {that a} new listening to has been set amid new proof into Lyle and Erik’s homicide case. That very same month, he formally beneficial that Erik and Lyle’s sentence be diminished.