Leads ran dry, until months later, in March 1990, when a woman named Judalon Smyth went to detectives. Today, clips and videos of the trial have been shared across social media millions of times, many calling for justice. He practiced up to 10 hours a day and flew to the Middle East to compete. Where Is Acquitted Murderer Candy Montgomery Now? Netflix announced the true crime series will be focusing on the violent case of the Menendez brothers, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents. Lyle and Erik Menendez are brothers charged in the murder case of the parents, Jose and Mary Menendez, in 1996. All Rights Reserved. The case returned to the spotlight in 2017, when Erik participated in a tell-all for a documentary while serving his sentence, appealing to a new generation navigated by social media and living against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, according to New York Times journalist Ezra Marcus. If you were born before 1980, you probably know all about Lyle and Erik Menendez the brothers arrested and charged in 1990 with the murder of their parents, Jose and Mary "Kitty" Menendez. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Erik married Tammi Saccoman, an attractive blonde with whom he'd been exchanging letters for six years. In emotional testimonies, both brothers spoke about how their father Jose Menendez raped and abused them. The brothers have admitted to killing their parents. You couldnt escape it.. were convicted of brutally killing their parents. There was no evidence that this was a residential robbery, said Edmonds. But ultimately, Bloom had an alibi, and detectives were back to ground zero. She said everyone she talks to all have the same goal. Jose set high goals for himself and his sons. Is The Nurse On Netflix Based On A True Story? Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez leave the courtroom in Santa Monica, Calif., after a judge ruled that conversations between the two brothers and their psychologist were admissible as evidence; The gravesite of Jose and Kitty Menendez, still serving their life sentences miles apart to this day, eight-hour NBC mini-series starring Emmy winner Edie Falco, Both have gotten married while behind bars. The second installment of the anthology series from Murphy and Ian Brennan will focus on Lyle and Erik Menendez . Kitty was 44. I was told during the trial by the bailiffs that the brothers would high five each other, particularly after a good day in court when they were testifying, Bozanich said. LYLE Menendez and younger brother Erik are serving life sentences for the 1989 murder of their parents. Roy Rossell, a key member of the Puerto Rican boy band sensation Menudo, asserts that, throughout the course of his 1983-86 tenure in the group, he was habitually abused by its creator and manager, Edgardo Diaz. Oziel confided in his mistress, Judalon Smyth, who would ultimately play a big part in the case. When Walters called them spoiled, Erik protested, Im just a normal kid.. READ MORE: Why the Menendez Brothers Killed Their Parentsa Look Inside Their Murder Case. Jos was born in Cuba, emigrated to the United States after the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, living in the attic of a cousins home until he earned a college scholarship for swimming. The Menendez brothers claimed to have killed Jose and Kitty after being subjected to years of abuse by their father. TikTok Users Dive Into The Menendez Brothers Case Lyle and Erik Menendez were both sentenced to life behind bars for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jos and Mary. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. ", Stream It Or Skip It: 'Moonage Daydream' on HBO Max, a David Bowie Biography That's More Sensual Experience than Documentary, Personality Crisis: One Night Only Finds Punk Pioneer David Johansen Recounting His Many Lives, Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Legacy of J Dilla' on FX/Hulu, Exploring The Life, Beats, And Career Of The Late Hip-Hop Hero, Stream It Or Skip It: Little Richard: I Am Everything on VOD, A Biodoc As Vibrant As Its Subject, The Peter Pan & Wendy Sea Shanty Is An Ear Worm That Will Haunt Your Dreams, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Peter Pan and Wendy' on Disney+, Director David Lowery's Lightly Visionary Disney Rehash, Where Was Peter Pan and Wendy Filmed? The investigation eventually turned to Lyle and Erik. He worked as an executive for RCA Records at one point, and later got a job with the film company LIVE Entertainment. "Those kids watched their mother become a doormat for their father," Lamm told Vanity Fair. During one of those visits, Roy says he saw Erik and Lyle, after which he was drugged and assaultedand he implies that this crime took place as an implicit means of sealing Menudos RCA deal. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! They were kept in separate prisons and did not reunite until 2018 after having served almost 22 years of their life prison sentences. It was hard not to notice the money trail that led from the crime scene a $5 million estate that Elton John and Michael Jackson had each once called home to the brothers, who spent as much as. Succession Features in Rupert Murdoch's Divorce, Rupert Murdoch Is Not Getting Married Again, Behold: Signature Poses of Your Favorite Royals. The abuse had many negative effects on the boys, most importantly it made them hyper-vigilant and fearful and anxious nearly all the time. Alongside Roys own sincere commentary, their testimony (including Rauls admission that he once saw Roy and Diaz in bed together, naked) is shocking and persuasive. Over three decades later, some TikTok users believe that they were actually the victims. Commentators also pointed out gender bias something the brothers had been publicly arguing since their trial and that there might have been a different outcome, had the defendants been female. Lyle was arrested soon after. Jos, they said, had molested them since childhood, a claim filled with graphic descriptions that shocked the nation and split friends and family members. And then of course theres the question: Was greed at the heart of this crimeare Lyle and Eric the most extreme spoiled brats in Beverly Hills? Abramson, whom the Washington Post called "a 4-foot-11, fire-eating, mud-slinging, nuclear-strength pain in the legal butt," helped the boys depict a lifetime of gruesome and relentless sexual assaults starting from childhood and continuing into their teens. Born into lives of wealth and privilege as the sons and only children of Hollywood executive Jos Menendez, 45, and his wife, Kitty, 47, the brothers claimed they had returned home from the. In a sense, they had no choice but to be successful; Jos was known as a hard-driving father who would work his children to the bone in athletics and everything else. Jose was shot six times in the back of the head, while Kitty was shot ten times. It was so brutal that police thought the killings were a mob hit, and early investigations focused on that possibility. But he was so completely overbearing, it had the opposite effect. Lyle and Erik Menendez claimed that they killed their parents in 1989 because they feared for their safety following a lifetime of sexual abuse perpetrated by their father, Jos, an RCA Records executive, and condoned by their mother, Kitty. According to their statements, the brothers left to get their guns, returning a short time later. Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, the new, Roy Rossell, 53, an ex-member of the 1980s boy band Menudo, claims in the Peacock special that Jose Menendez sexually assaulted him when he was 14. The brothers during one of the court hearings The Menendez brothers' dad had a lucrative job. Kitty was 44. All Rights Reserved. by their father, leading them to commit the murders on August 20, 1989 at the family home in Beverly Hills. Those in the know said Jos was also concerned because his sons helped commit several burglaries in the Los Angeles area, taking about $100,000 in jewelry and cash the previous year. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. The key, in my book, was Judalon Smyth told us that the shotguns were brought in San Diego, according to Det. Jose set high goals for himself and his sons. He smiled and looked up at her slowly. The boys' father, Jose Menendez immigrated from Cuba when he was 16, and worked his way up in corporate America to become an extremely wealthy business man, and eventually the CEO of LIVE Entertainment. When I saw a clip of Erik testifying about the molestation by his father, I was shocked to say the least, Whynn told The Times in an email. He decided to forgo attending UCLA and instead hired a tennis coach for $60,000 a year in the hopes of going pro. Roy Rossell, 51, says in the upcoming docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed that Jos Menendez molested him while he was a teenage member of the group in the mid-1980s. Lyles hysterical whine of Someone killed our parents! in his 911 call would later be lampooned in a Jim Carrey movie. Ryan Murphys record-breaking anthology series Monster is coming back to Netflix with yet another gruesome season. They are still in prison, and have become a sort of internet sensation on social media with the growing interest in true crime. In one horrific anecdote, Roy recalls getting caught trying to see a girl and being locked in a bathroom, nude, for the entire night, only to be viciously raped and beaten upon his release from captivity. Early on, investigators ran on the theory that Jos might have rubbed elbows with the mob in the course of his work. The brothers claimed the fatal shooting was a form of "imperfect self-defense," according to The New York Times. The network carried not only the trial but endless hours of coverage before and after each days proceedings, helping fuel a national obsession with a case that had all the elements of a great primetime soap opera: a rich family torn apart by scandal, two handsome and mysterious young men, a grisly crime and psychodrama galore. Peacocks docuseries basically assumes that same viewpoint, sometimes to a fault, skimming past discussions of the prosecutions case against Lyle and Erik (other than to say that they were portrayed by the district attorney as greedy rich kids) in order to avoid addressing any complicating (i.e., less flattering) details, and to guarantee that they come across as railroaded innocents. Some said Jos planned to take Lyle and Erik out of the will for fears theyd blow their inheritance on their new girlfriends. After a merger with a Minnesota-based record company, IVE became known as Live Entertainment and is now known as Artisan Entertainment. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. It was shortly before midnight on Aug. 20, 1989, when patrol officers were called to a double shooting in the affluent and otherwise quiet neighborhood of Beverly Hills. In them, he discusses the abuse that prefaced his joining Menudowhose roster was constantly turned over, since members couldnt be older than 16and which continued afterward in brutal fashion. Born in Cuba to well-to-do business people and star athletes, Jose was 16 when his parents sent him to the U.S. in the late 1950s, the Los Angeles Times reported. Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez at their Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle also purchased his own chicken wing restaurant back in New Jersey. They believed, "honestly though mistakenly," according to the newspaper, that their parents were going to kill them if they did not act. Blog Menendez Brothers Say They 'Don't Deserve' To Be In Prison The couple wed in 1963 and moved to New York.