The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, Explained

Before the OJ Simpson case gripped America and changed the media forever, there was the case of the Menendez Brothers. It is this much-hyped trial that is the focus of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s latest series for Netflix, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

An anthology sequel to “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” “Monsters” promises to delve into this hugely impactful case while asking the question: Who were the real monsters: the brothers, their murdered parents, or the media and general public? Based on Robert Rand’s book, “The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation,” here’s your quick guide to this tangled case.

The Murder of José and Kitty Menendez

On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez entered the Beverly Hills home they shared with their parents, shotguns in hand. They then repeatedly shot their mother and father as the couple sat in the living room. By the end of the attack, José had been shot six times and Mary Louise Andersen, also known as Kitty, had been shot ten times.

Thus began the case that would partly define the ’90s and forever change the modern consumption of true crime.

Initially, the brothers denied any involvement in the deaths, claiming that they had returned home to find their parents murdered. Both brothers were so distraught that police chose not to test their hands for gunshot residue.

Lyle and Erik tried to convince authorities that the Mafia was responsible for the murders, but the more the police investigated—and the more money the brothers spent—the more they suspected Lyle and Erik. Both spent excessively, with Lyle buying a restaurant, a Rolex, and a Porsche. As for Erik, he hired a full-time tennis coach. After a failed attempt with a wiretap, police were finally able to extract a confession, thanks in part to Jerome Oziel, a psychologist who worked with the brothers. Oziel told his mistress, Judalon Smyth, that they had confessed to the murders during a session and asked her to wait in his waiting room as a witness while he spoke to the brothers. When Smyth presented the confession to police, they were able to arrest the brothers.

Lyle was arrested on March 8, 1990, and Erik turned himself in three days later. Instead of pleading not guilty, the defense argued that the brothers had killed their parents out of fear and self-preservation. Those claims shattered the Menendez family’s perfect illusion.

Allegations of sexual and physical abuse

According to the brothers, the abuse began early. At first, it was tied to their performance on the tennis court. José Menendez, a demanding father with high standards, pushed his sons to be the best at the sport. A coach who worked with the family would later confirm this, describing José as “the toughest person I’ve ever met.” Then came the sexual abuse.

For both brothers, it began around the age of six. They claimed that their father would massage them after games. Soon, the massages became more invasive and disturbing, eventually leading to rape. While Lyle said he was only a victim in childhood, Erik suffered at the hands of his father well into adulthood. Lyle Menendez also claimed that their mother, Kitty, sexually abused the brothers for a time and that she knew about their father’s abuse.

In 1989, Lyle assumed that Erik’s abuse by his father had stopped. When he learned that this was not the case—and that Erik was expected to remain at home rather than move away for college—Lyle confronted his father. The family had a series of confrontations about the issue, the last of which occurred before José and Kitty were murdered. The brothers have claimed that they shot their parents because they were afraid José and Kitty would kill them first.

The First Menendez Trial

While the Menendez case wasn’t the first trial to air on Court TV, it was the one that put the network on the map and changed the way true crime is consumed. The brothers were tried separately, with Lyle represented by Jill Lansing and Erik by Leslie Abramson.

While the defense argued that the brothers acted out of fear for their lives, the prosecution painted a very different picture, stating that the brothers murdered their parents to get their inheritance faster. The defense countered that the brothers were already wealthy and therefore there was little need for this extreme reaction. As if it wasn’t frightening enough to make the jury consider the emotional responses of the ultra-wealthy and incest in the 1990s, the prosecution and defense also had to deal with Oziel and Smyth.

Smyth didn’t tell police about the brothers’ confession to Oziel until after the couple had broken up. But in a shocking twist, Smyth actually testified for the defense, later retracting her earlier statement and claiming that Oziel had “brainwashed” her. She also accused Oziel of abuse and moved in with his wife and children for a time. The he-said, she-said chaos of Oziel and Smyth consumed much of the first trial and took some of the attention away from the Menendez brothers.

In all, the first trial lasted more than six months, including jury deliberations. It officially ended in January 1994 with two deadlocked juries. Shortly thereafter, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti ordered a new trial.

The Second Trial of Menendez

For the second trial, Judge Stanley Weisberg did not allow cameras in the courtroom. That was one reason why the case was less publicized. Another? Five months after the verdict, OJ Simpson was arrested for the arrest of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, a case that completely captured the attention of the media.

This second trial limited testimony about sexual abuse claims and tried the brothers together. It also did not allow the jury to vote on manslaughter instead of murder and dramatically limited Oziel and Smyth’s involvement. This time, the jury was able to reach a deal and convicted Lyle and Erik Menendez of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Where are the Menendez brothers today?

For most of their time in prison, the brothers were separated, with Lyle in Mule Creek State Prison and Erik in Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. That changed in 2018 when Lyle was transferred to Richard J. Donovan.

Both got married while in prison. Lyle was married to Anna Eriksson for a while before divorcing her and later marrying Rebecca Sneed in 2003. As for Erik, he married Tammi Saccoman in 1999.

Lyle and Erik both filed habeas corpus petitions with the California Supreme Court, which were denied in 1999. They later appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which also denied them in 2005. In May 2023, the brothers requested a new hearing based on newly discovered evidence after former boy band member Roy Rosselló alleged that José Menendez had drugged and raped him.