Lyle and Erik Menendez
From Free net encyclopedia
Joseph Lyle (Lyle) Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and brother Erik Galen (Erik) Menendez (born November 27, 1971) from Beverly Hills High School, were convicted in a highly publicized trial for the shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
The murders occurred on August 20, 1989, in the den of the family's Elm Drive home in Beverly Hills, California. The brothers then drove off and dumped their shotguns on Mulholland Drive and bought tickets at a local movie theater to use as an alibi. When the brothers returned home, Lyle called 9-1-1 and cried, "Somebody killed my parents!" In the following months, the brothers led a life of luxury and lavish spending, adding to investigators' suspicions that they were involved in their parents' deaths. Prosecutors later alleged that the brothers spent about $1 million in their first six months as orphans. On December 8, 1992, the Menendez brothers were indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury on charges that they murdered their parents.
The Menendez brothers and the murder of their parents became a national sensation when the new television network Court TV broadcast the trial in 1993. The younger brother's defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, vaulted to fame with her flamboyant defense, alleging that the brothers were driven to murder by a lifetime of abuse from their parents. Despite the competent defense, the past criminal records of the brothers stood in contrast to the "escape from parental abuse" theory. The trial ended in two deadlocked juries (while the brothers were tried together, each had a separate jury). After a less publicized second trial, both brothers were convicted of two counts of first degree murder, plus conspiracy to commit murder.
On July 2, 1996, Judge Stanley M. Weisberg sentenced Lyle and Erik Menendez to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Weisberg sentenced the brothers to consecutive sentences for the murders and the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
At present, Lyle is being held at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California. Erik is at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California. Each brother has married since entering prison, but neither is allowed conjugal visits. In fact, Tammi Menendez, Erik's wife, recently self-published a book entitled They Said We'd Never Make It - My Life With Erik Menendez. Erik, however, heavily edited the book according to both him and Tammi, mentioning this fact on Larry King Live. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, they are expected to spend the remainder of their natural lives in prison, and will die without consummating their marriages.
The Menendez brothers grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended Princeton Day School and Princeton University. According to Erik on the same Larry King show, he and his brother have not spoken for over ten years.