The Menendez family had Lyle, Erik, Jose, Mary, ¨Kitty¨ Louise. The family lived in New York, later they moved to California in 1986 because of their fathers ¨Jose¨ career. Jose worked for Hertz Corporation and RCA Records, then became the CEO of live entertainment. Lyle and Erik went to Princeton Day School before moving to California. A year before the murder of Jose and Kitty, the brothers committed burglaries in their neighborhood, and the family had to move to Beverly Hills from Calabasas.
Jose and Kitty were murdered on August 20th, 1989. Jose and Kitty were nearly unidentifiable by 15 rounds from two 12-gauge shotguns. Police thought the killings were a mob hit. The brothers had alibis, but they ¨found¨ their parents dead in the house. Their alibis were that they were going to the movies that night, but they made a stop at home to get Erik’s ID. They discovered their parents’ bodies and called 911 right away. The officers who responded found Erik sobbing. 6 months after the murders, the brothers were put in jail to see if they were guilty. Police were alerted by Lyle and Erik’s therapists that Erik confessed to murdering their parents on taped confessions because he had a deep desire to escape their father’s control. Erik and Lyle said they killed their father because he was emotionally and physically abusive, and the reason they killed their mother was because she didn’t protect them from their father’s abuse.
In court, prosecutors were arguing about whether they were after the inheritance because they purchased a ton of expensive things after Kitty and Jose were killed. Jose was alleged to have molested Lyle and Erik for years. Lyle was molested from ages 6-8, while Erik was molested from ages 6-18. The judge ruled there was insufficient evidence that Jose abused his sons. Years later, multiple cousins of the family said they believed Erik and Lyle about the sexual abuse because told similar things when they were children. More recently, Roy rosselló, singer of the boy band Menudo, had also accused Jose of sexual assault.
After seven years, three trials, and thousands of hours on TV, Erik and Lyle were finally found guilty of the murders of Jose and Mary ¨Kitty¨ Louise in 1996. They were charged with two counts of first-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In May 2025, they were resentenced with eligibility for parole, but in late August 2025, they were both denied release because of their misbehavior in prison and cellphone use, as well as Erik’s past gang affiliation and alcohol use. Those were red flags to commissioners who denied their release. They will have another shot at parole in three years, but could request an administrative review. They became one of the most famous criminal cases of the late 20th century due to family drama, dramatic testimonies, and the brutal murders.
