Lyle and Erik Menendez

"The Menendez Brothers" redirects here. For the documentary, see The Menendez Brothers (film).

Lyle and Erik Menendez
Mug shots of Lyle (left) and Erik (right) Menendez taken in 2023
Born	Joseph Lyle Menendez (1968-01-10) January 10, 1968 New York City, U.S. Erik Galen Menendez (1970-11-27) November 27, 1970 Blackwood, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Lyle: University of California, Irvine (BA)
Criminal status	Incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (both)
Spouses	Lyle: Anna Eriksson ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2001)​ Rebecca Sneed ​ (m. 2003)​ Erik: Tammi Saccoman ​ (m. 1999)​
Parent(s)	José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez
Conviction(s)	First-degree murder, conspiracy to murder
Criminal penalty	Life in prison without the possibility of parole (both)
Details
Victims	José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez
Date	August 20, 1989
Location(s)	Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Target(s)	José and Mary Menendez
Killed	2
Weapons	Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun
Date apprehended	Lyle: March 8, 1990 Erik: March 11, 1990

Joseph Lyle Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menendez (born November 27, 1970), collectively referred to as the Menendez brothers, are American brothers and convicted murderers who killed their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

Following the murders, Lyle reported to authorities that he and Erik found their parents dead, claiming unknown intruders were responsible. Police initially investigated the case as a mob-related killing but soon grew suspicious due to the brothers' lavish spending of their multimillion-dollar inheritance. Erik later confessed to his psychologist that the murder was premeditated with a fabricated alibi, with the desire to be free of their father's domination and messages of inadequacy. The confession later lead to their arrest.

Lyle and Erik were charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for lying in wait, making them eligible for the death penalty. They also faced charges of conspiracy to murder. During their first trial, the defense argued that the brothers killed their parents out of fear their father would kill them after years of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. The prosecution argued that they were motivated by hatred and a desire to inherit their father's multimillion-dollar estate. The prosecution countered that Lyle and Erik never mentioned sexual abuse during a taped discussion about the murders with their psychologist, nor in other therapy sessions, but instead complained of their strict and unfaithful father and a suicidal mother who they killed to "put out of her misery". The brothers' assertion that they killed in fearful self-defense was also contradicted by the recording. The juries were unable to reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial. In a second trial, they were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Their case was the subject of significant media attention, and inspired numerous documentaries and dramatizations. As of October 2024, both brothers continue to serve life sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. A habeas corpus petition, based upon another allegation against their father, is currently under review by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

Background

José Enrique Menendez was born on May 6, 1944, in Havana, Cuba. At age 16, at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution, he moved to the United States. José attended Southern Illinois University, where he met Mary Louise "Kitty" Andersen (1941–1989). They were married in 1963 and moved to New York City where José earned an accounting degree from Queens College.

The Menendez family portrait, taken one year prior to the murders.

The couple's first son, Joseph Lyle, who goes by his middle name, was born on January 10, 1968, in New York. Kitty quit her teaching job after Lyle was born, and the family moved to New Jersey, where Erik Galen was born on November 27, 1970, in Gloucester Township. The family lived in Hopewell Township and both brothers attended Princeton Day School.

José became an executive at Hertz Corporation and later RCA Records. After he was appointed as the CEO of Live Entertainment, the family moved to Calabasas, California, where Erik attended Calabasas High School.

In 1988, Lyle and Erik were involved in multiple burglaries in their neighbourhood, prompting José to move to Beverly Hills. The following year, Erik attended Beverly Hills High School where he earned average grades but displayed a remarkable talent for tennis, ranking 44th in the US as a junior (two weeks before the murders, Erik and his friend Michael Joyce entered the 1989 Boys' Junior National Tennis Championship). Erik reached the second round of qualifying in the Boys' 18 singles, while Joyce reached the quarterfinals.

Lyle attended Princeton University, where he was placed on academic probation for poor grades and eventually suspended for plagiarism.

Erik was an aspiring actor. In high school he wrote an amateur screenplay with his classmate called "Friends"; a story about a rich young man who killed his parents in the "perfect murder" for the inheritance money.

Murders, investigation and arrest

On the evening of August 20, 1989, José and Kitty were watching television in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion when Lyle and Erik entered the den, carrying Mossberg 12-gauge shotguns. José was shot six times, including a fatal shot to the back of his head. Kitty was shot ten times in total. Before the fatal shot to her cheek, she was on the ground, crawling away. Lyle ran to the car where Erik handed him ammunition to reload before firing the fatal shot to her face.

Immediately after the killings, both brothers remained in the house for a few minutes, expecting the police to respond due to the noise of the gunshots. They later left to dispose of their clothes that were stained with blood, then buried the shotguns somewhere along Mulholland Drive. In between these, they also went to a movie theater and attempted to purchase tickets for the film Batman to use as their alibi but abandoned the plan due to the timestamp on the ticket stub. They then headed to the "Taste of L.A." festival at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

After returning home and finding no police presence, Lyle called 911 and emotionally told the operator, "someone killed my parents", saying that he had just come home and discovered their bodies. Erik was heard screaming and crying in the background. When the officers arrived, Lyle and Erik ran from the home toward the officers while screaming. When the police arrived, they did not seek gunshot residue tests from the brothers, which would have indicated whether they had recently discharged a firearm. Lyle and Erik both falsely told officers that they were elsewhere at the time of the killings. Lyle told officers he thought the killings might be "business-related," implying a Mafia hit.

Detectives initially investigated Lye's suggestion the murders were a result of mob-related activity due to its heinousness and José's business connections. Police officers and forensic staff who worked on the crime scene described it as "the most brutal" one they had ever encountered, noting the blood and brain matter splattered throughout the room. Retired police detective Dan Stewart stated, "I’ve seen a lot of homicides, but nothing quite that brutal. Blood, flesh, skulls. It would be hard to describe, especially Jose, as resembling a human that you would recognize. That’s how bad it was.” According to the autopsy report, one blast caused “explosive decapitation with evisceration of the brain” and “deformity of the face” to José, while the first round of shots struck Kitty in her chest, right arm, left hip, and left leg, with the contact shot causing “multiple lacerations of the brain.”

In the months after the killings, the brothers spent lavishly on luxury items, businesses, and travel. Lyle bought Chuck's Spring Street Café, a Buffalo wing restaurant in Princeton, New Jersey, as well as a Rolex watch and a Porsche Carrera sports car. Erik hired a full-time tennis coach and competed in a series of tournaments overseas. The brothers eventually left the Beverly Hills mansion unoccupied, choosing to live in adjoining condominiums in nearby Marina del Rey. They also dined extravagantly and took overseas trips to the Caribbean and London. Collectively, they spent approximately $700,000 before their arrests; family members later disputed a connection between their spending and the murder of their parents, claiming that there were no changes in their spending habits after the killings. At one point, they attended a New York Knicks basketball game which became immortalized when they appeared courtside in the background of a Mark Jackson trading card.

During the early stages of the investigation, police tried to narrow their search to suspects who had motives to kill José and Kitty and also investigated potential mob leads. As the investigation continued, they began to suspect the brothers were the most likely perpetrators due to the obvious financial motive and their exorbitant spending after the killings. In an attempt to get a confession from Erik, police arranged for his friend, Craig Cignarelli, to wear a wire during a lunch with Erik at a local beachfront restaurant. When Cignarelli asked Erik whether he had killed his parents, Erik denied it. Erik eventually confessed to his psychologist, Jerome Oziel, who then told his mistress, Judalon Smyth. Oziel later broke up with Smyth who, in a fit of rage, told the police about the brothers' involvement. Lyle was arrested on March 8, 1990, and Erik turned himself in three days later after returning to Los Angeles from Israel. Both were held without bail and jailed separately.

In August 1990, Judge James Albrecht ruled that tapes of the conversations between Erik and Oziel were admissible evidence since Oziel stated that Lyle threatened him and violated doctor–patient privilege. Albrecht's ruling was appealed, after which the proceedings were delayed for two years. The Supreme Court of California ruled in August 1992 that most of the tapes were admissible, with the exception of the tape on which Erik discussed the murders. After that decision, a Los Angeles County grand jury issued indictments in December 1992, charging the brothers with the murders of their parents; the special circumstances that the killings were committed for financial gain was deemed unsupported by evidence and was subsequently excluded from the charges. They were charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for lying in wait, which made them eligible for the death penalty.

Trials

The Menendez case became an international sensation when Court TV broadcast the trial in 1993. Represented by their defense lawyer, Leslie Abramson, the brothers stated that they killed their parents out of fear for their lives after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their parents, especially sexual abuse at the hands of their father, who was described as a cruel perfectionist and pedophile. Meanwhile, their mother was described as an enabling, selfish, mentally unstable alcoholic and drug addict who encouraged her husband's behavior and was also violent toward the brothers.

Lyle and Erik's cousin, Diane Vander Molen, testified that during a stay with the family in the mid-1970s, Lyle confided in her that his father was sexually abusing him. Vander Molen claimed she told Kitty about the incident, but Kitty sided with her husband, accusing Lyle of lying. Vander Molen recalled that after this, Kitty sent Lyle upstairs, and she never heard of the issue again. Another cousin, Andy Cano, testified that as a child, Erik told him about the abuse, which they both described as "penis massages." As physical evidence, the defense presented photographs of Lyle and Erik's genitalia allegedly taken by their father when they were children. The defense argued there was no evidence the photographs were taken by Jose, and the rest of the film roll showed the photos were taken at a children's birthday party.

Erik testified that a couple of weeks before the killings, he told Lyle about the sexual abuse he was experiencing, leading to multiple confrontations within the family. Both brothers testified that their father had threatened to kill them if they did not keep the abuse secret. As a result, they purchased shotguns from a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in San Diego, claiming they needed them for protection and self-defense. They alleged that the final confrontation occurred in their home's den on August 20, 1989, shortly before Kitty and José were killed. According to their testimony, José closed the den's door, which they described as "unusual." Paranoid and afraid that they would be killed by their parents, Lyle and Erik went outside to load their shotguns. Erik recalled, "As I went into the room, I just started firing."

The prosecution argued that the killings were motivated by hatred and financial gain. This theory was disputed by the defense team, which claimed that the brothers did not think they were getting an inheritance.

Evidence from a taped therapy session between the brothers and their psychologist, Jerome Oziel, was also presented in court, after legal attempts by the defense to exclude it. The hour long recording contradicted much of what they had said during the four week trial. The brothers made no mention of sexual abuse, instead complaining at length about their dictatorial father. Oziel also testified that they never mentioned sexual abuse in any other therapy sessions. According to Oziel's account, “They didn’t kill their parents for money but rather out of hatred and out of a desire to be free from their father’s domination, messages of inadequacy, and impossible standards."

In the recording, the brother's discussed their main transgression with their father was that he was a terrible husband. The brothers said their mother was suicidal as a result of Jose's infidelity. Lyle said that by killing her they may be "doing her and us a favor... putting her out of her misery, really." Lyle said it would be ridiculous to kill only their mother, and leave their father alive. "He was putting my mother through torture", Erik said. Lyle said "we thought that we would just kill Dad, and eliminate the problem". While the brothers argued they killed in self defense and fearing for their lives, on the tape they stated they had planned the murder for some time.

The trial ended with two deadlocked juries. As a result, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti immediately announced that the brothers would be retried. The second trial was less publicized, in part because Judge Stanley Weisberg did not allow cameras in the courtroom. During the second trial, Weisberg, relying upon a legal decision by the Supreme Court in an unrelated case, limited testimony about the sexual abuse claims and only allowed the jury to vote manslaughter charges for the father but not for the mother.

Lyle's former fiance, Jamie Pisarcik, testified that Lyle had tried to bribe her to testify falsely in the first trial. Pisarcik that Lyle told her fictitious stories about the mob killing of his parents, which she originally believed. She testified that during a regular visit to see Lyle in prison, he offered her a large sum of money to claim that Jose Menendez made sexual advances towards her.

Both brothers were eventually convicted on two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for lying in wait, as well as conspiracy to murder; in the penalty phase of the trial, they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury noted the abuse defense was not a factor in its deliberations but it decided not to impose the death penalty because both brothers had no prior criminal record or history of violence. However, unlike the juries in the previous trials, the jury in the penalty phase rejected the defense's theory that the brothers killed their parents out of fear and believed that they committed the killings in order to inherit their father's wealth.

During the penalty phase, Abramson apparently told defense witness William Vicary to edit his own notes of meetings with Erik to remove potentially damning information, but the district attorney's office decided not to launch a criminal investigation of Abramson. Both brothers also filed motions for a mistrial, claiming that they suffered irreversible damage in the penalty phase as a result of possible misconduct and ineffective representation by Abramson. On July 2, 1996, Weisberg sentenced the brothers to life in prison without the possibility of parole to be served as consecutive sentences for the killings and the charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

Incarceration

As in their pretrial detention, the California Department of Corrections separated the brothers and sent them to different prisons. Since they were considered to be maximum-security inmates, they were segregated from other prisoners. They remained in separate prisons until February 2018, when Lyle was moved from Mule Creek State Prison to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where they were housed in separate units. Erik had also been incarcerated at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California, and Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.

On April 4, 2018, Lyle was moved into the same housing unit as Erik, reuniting them for the first time since they began serving their sentences nearly 22 years earlier. The brothers said that they burst into tears and hugged each other during their first meeting in the housing unit. The unit where they are housed is reserved for inmates who agree to participate in education and rehabilitation programs without creating disruptions.

In 2018, Lyle and Erik founded the prison reform and beautification initiative "The Green Space Project," which aims to make prisons more "livable" and rehabilitative by painting murals on walls and planting trees. In June 2024, Lyle earned a bachelor's degree in Sociology through the University of California, Irvine's special college program for inmates of Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.

Appeals

On February 27, 1998, the California Court of Appeal upheld the brothers' murder convictions and, on May 28, 1998, the Supreme Court of California declined to review the case, thus allowing the decision of the appellate court to stand. 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, they filed separate habeas corpus petitions in the United States District Court. On March 4, 2003, a magistrate judge recommended the denial of the petitions, and the district court adopted the recommendation. The brothers then decided to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On September 7, 2005, a three-judge panel denied both their habeas corpus petitions, although Judge Alex Kozinski noted that the trial judge changed many of his rulings during the two trials.

In May 2023, the brothers requested a new hearing based upon allegations that their father had molested boy-band member Roy Rosselló. Specifically, on April 18, 2023, on a segment of the Today Show about a television documentary, Rosselló stated that when he was 14 years old, he was drugged and raped by José Menendez while he was visiting the Menendez family's home in New Jersey. On October 3, 2024, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced in a press conference that his office is actively reviewing the appeal.

Marriages

On July 2, 1996, Lyle married Anna Eriksson at a ceremony attended by Abramson and his aunt Marta Menendez, officiated by Judge Nancy Brown; they divorced on April 1, 2001, after Eriksson discovered that Lyle was cheating on her with another woman. In November 2003, Lyle married Rebecca Sneed at a ceremony in a visiting area of Mule Creek State Prison; they had known each other for around 10 years before their engagement.

On June 12, 1999, Erik married Tammi Ruth Saccoman 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." In an October 2005 interview with ABC News, 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."

In 2005, Saccoman self-published a book, They Said We'd Never Make It – My Life with Erik Menendez, but she said on CNN's Larry King Live that Erik also "did a lot of editing on the book". In an interview with People magazine, she stated:

Not having sex in my life is difficult, but it's not a problem for me. I have to be emotionally attached, 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.

Saccoman also stated that she and her daughter drove 150 mi (240 km) every weekend to visit Erik, and that her daughter refers to him as her "Earth Dad". Discussing his life sentence, Erik 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."

In popular culture

Books

• In 2010, the Menendez case is discussed in The Abuse Excuse by Alan Dershowitz.

Documentary

• In 2000, "Menendez Brothers – Blood Brothers", an episode from the documentary series by Court TV (now TruTV) Mugshots, was aired at FilmRise.
• In 2015, Barbara Walters Presents: American Scandals featured the Menendez brothers in an episode, "Menendez Brothers: The Bad Sons".
• In 2016, the Menendez brothers were featured in the true-crime documentary, Snapped.
• In 2017, the Menendez brothers were featured in a documentary, Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers – American Sons, American Murderers on ABC.
• In 2017, A&E aired a five-part documentary titled The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All, in which Erik describes via telephone the murders and the aftermath. The series also shows never-before-seen photos and new interviews with prosecutors, law enforcement, close family and friends, and medical experts.
• In 2017, HLN launched the new series How it Really Happened – with Hill Harper, with an episode featuring the Menendez brothers story. The episode, "The Menendez Brothers: Murder in Beverly Hills", ends with a telephone interview of Lyle from jail with Chris Cuomo.
• In 2020, BuzzFeed Unsolved featured the Menendez brothers in a one-episode special, "How They Were Caught: The Menendez Brothers".
• In 2021, the Menendez brothers were the subject of ABC's 20/20 special, Inside the Menendez Movement. The special features the popularity of the brothers on the video-sharing social media application TikTok and their growing number of supporters from young adults outside and inside of the United States.
• In August 2022, Discovery+ released Menendez Brothers: Misjudged?, a two-hour documentary focusing on the Menendez brothers' case and trial.
• In May 2023, Peacock released a documentary series titled Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, which features Puerto Rican singer and former Menudo member Roy Rosselló alleging that he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by José Menendez.
• In March 2024, the case was the topic of the 48 Hours episode "The Menendez Brothers’ Fight for Freedom."
• In July 2024, the brothers were featured in the third episode of Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer.
• On October 7, 2024, The Menendez Brothers, a documentary film featuring prison interviews with the brothers, was released on Netflix.

Dramatization

• In 1994, the Menendez brothers were depicted in the CBS television film Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills, with Lyle portrayed by Damian Chapa and Erik by Travis Fine.
• Also in 1994, the television film Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders starred Billy Warlock and David Berón as Lyke and Erik, respectively.
• The case was dramatized in the Lifetime television film Menendez: Blood Brothers (2017). Lyle was portrayed by Nico Tortorella, and Erik by Myko Olivier. Courtney Love also starred as Kitty Menendez.
• Dick Wolf produced Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, which was released on NBC in 2017. An 8-episode special from the Law & Order franchise, the series depicted the detailed killings, investigation, arrests, and trials of the Menendez brothers. Compared to its predecessors, the series portrayed the brothers more sympathetically, focusing on the defense led by lawyer Leslie Abramson, as well as the physical and sexual abuse allegations. Lyle was portrayed by Miles Gaston Villanueva, who received a Best Actor nomination at the 33rd Imagen Awards, and Erik was portrayed by actor and singer Gus Halper. Its premiere at the Paley Center for Media was attended by Lyle's family and friends, who praised the series' depiction of the brothers. In an interview with Megyn Kelly Today after the first episode premiere, Lyle revealed that the series was "painful to watch", but said the depiction of him by Villanueva is "surprisingly accurate" despite the producers and the actor not being able to communicate with him. The 2018 Primetime Emmy Awards nominated Edie Falco for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her portrayal of Abramson.
• Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the second season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's Netflix anthology series Monster, was released on September 19, 2024. Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez portrayed Erik and Lyle, respectively, while Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny respectively starred as José and Kitty. Its first teaser was released on the 35th anniversary of José and Kitty's deaths. The season incorporates the Rashomon effect in its portrayal of the Menendez family, basing it on various witnesses and testimonies, leaving the killings open to interpretation and allowing the viewers to decide which version of events they believe. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances, music, and overall production quality, but criticized its runtime, inconsistent tone, and the incestuous depiction of the brothers. After its release, Erik issued a statement denouncing the season, calling it a "dishonest portrayal" and claiming that "Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of [his and Lyle's] lives so as to do this without bad intent."

Podcast

• In 2016, the Menendez brothers were subjects of the weekly comedic "true-crime" podcast The Last Podcast on the Left.
• The case has been discussed multiple times across various podcasts from Court TV, including Murder and the Menendez Brothers.
• On October 9, 2024, the brothers are set to participate in Netflix's You Can't Make This Up, an accompanying podcast to the documentary film The Menendez Brothers and the crime drama series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

References, parody, and dark comedy

• In 1990, the Law & Order season 1 episode "The Serpent's Tooth" is loosely based on the Menendez brothers case.
• Saturday Night Live aired a comedy sketch in 1993 featuring guest host John Malkovich where the Menendez brothers cry in an exaggerated manner, and blame the murder of their parents on their identical twin brothers. In 2015, the Menendez brothers are referenced again in the sketch song "First Got Horny 2 U" from a Season 41 episode hosted by Elizabeth Banks.
• In the 1994 film, Dumb & Dumber, an A Current Affair episode playing on TV states: "Inside the home of the Menendez brother's attorney."
• The sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air makes various comedic passing references to the Menendez case. One such example is in season 4, episode 14, 19:20 into the episode.
• In the crime film Natural Born Killers (1994), archived footage of Erik's testimony from the first trial is featured in the credits, which references various sensationalized crime cases in the United States.
• In the episode "The D'Arcy Files" of Married... with Children, Al says the line "It's too late to hire the Menendez brothers."
• The media hype surrounding the first trial was parodied in the dark comedy film The Cable Guy (1996).
• In 1997, Gary Indiana published his novel Resentment: A Comedy, which is drawn in part from the Menendez murders and trial.
• In The Sopranos season 1 episode "Boca", Junior Soprano makes a reference to the brothers' case, citing how their psychiatrist had appeared as a witness in the trial.
• In Gilmore Girls, season 1 episode 1, Lorelai tells Rory to make it through dinner and then she can "pull a Menendez".
• The Menendez brothers' mugshots appear in the intro of the police procedural series Criminal Minds (2005–2020).
• "Gavin Volure", a season 3 episode of the TV series 30 Rock, features Tracy Jordan (portrayed by Tracy Morgan) making multiple references to the Menendez brothers as he fears that his own children will similarly attempt to kill him for his wealth, an act he termed as "Menendez-ing". In 2012, Lyle Menendez was briefly referenced in season six episode "Nothing Left to Lose", in which a character has a tattoo with the text "Free Lyle Menendez".
• In 2009, The Venture Bros. featured two former boy detectives named Lance and Dale Hale who are strongly implied to have killed their father with a shotgun.
• The brothers were referenced by Bobby Singer (portrayed by Jim Beaver) in season 6, episode 12 of the CW series Supernatural (2005-2020).
• In 2016, the Menendez brothers were mentioned several times in the FX drama The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016). Based on O. J. Simpson's homicide case, the series was set at the same time as the Menendez brothers' trials. There are several characters who have worked in the brothers' and O. J. Simpson's respective cases, such as Robert Shapiro, Lance Ito, and Gil Garcetti. Shapiro (portrayed by John Travolta) mentioned Erik in Episode 2 stating, "In fact, I arranged the surrender of Erik Menendez from Israel." This statement is based on the actual speech by Shapiro during Simpson's infamous Bronco chase, in an attempt to have him surrender to the police.
• The urban fantasy series Lucifer (2016-2022) features a reference to the brothers in the episode "Pops."
• In Netflix's That '90s Show, Red made a reference to the Menendez brothers while talking to his wife Kitty; coincidentally "Kitty" was also the nickname of their mother.

Others

• The Menendez brothers are seen in the background of the 1990–91 NBA Hoops' Mark Jackson basketball card, in which the New York Knicks point guard is seen making a bounce pass. They are sitting courtside behind Jackson. In December 2018, eBay began terminating auctions in which the brothers are mentioned in the listing. The New York Knicks played 28 games during the period in which the Menendez brothers went on a spending spree after the murders. Some eBay sellers have continued to sell the card and have also altered the images accompanying the listing so that the Menendez brothers are neither mentioned nor seen in photos of the card accompanying the listing.

See also

• List of homicides in California
• Bathtub Girls murder, the 2003 killing of a mother in the Toronto area by two sisters who claimed that she neglected them due to her alcoholism, and they also lived lavishly off of the inheritance for a year until a boyfriend told the police.
• Robert and Michael Bever, two American brothers who were convicted of murdering their parents and three siblings.

Further reading

• Davis, Don (1994) Bad Blood: The Shocking True Story Behind the Menendez Killings St. Martin, New York, ISBN 0-312-95334-8
• Menendez, Lyle; Novelli, Norma; Walker, Mike; and Spreckels, Judith (1995) The Private Diary of Lyle Menendez: In His Own Words! Dove Books, Beverly Hills, California, ISBN 0-7871-0474-4
• Menendez, Tammi (2005) They Said We'd Never Make It: My Life With Erik Menendez NewGalen Publishing, Santa Clarita, California, ISBN 0-9768744-0-7
• Soble, Ronald L. and Johnson, John (1994) Blood Brothers: The Inside Story of the Menendez 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 Menendez Juror Temple University Press, Philadelphia; new "20 Years Later" edition updated with new material, Graymalkin Media (2017) ISBN 978-1631681622
• Rand, Robert (2018) The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation BenBella Books ISBN 978-1946885265

External links

• Nightmare on Elm Drive by Dominick Dunne. Vanity Fair, October 1990
• Three Faces of Evil by Dominick Dunne. Vanity Fair, June 1996
• Wife of Erik Menendez talks about relationship at MSNBC TV, December 22, 2005
• Tammi Menendez on Loving Erik at ABC News
• Menendez Brothers at Court TV (now TruTV)
• Menendez Brothers at Crime Library
• Mug shots of the brothers on The Smoking Gun
• archived trial transcripts from Court TV