Lyle and Erik Menendez

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Joseph Lyle Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and brother Erik Galen Menendez (born November 27, 1971) were convicted in a highly publicized trial for the shotgun murders in 1989 of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, residents of Beverly Hills, California. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, the brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their lives in prison.

Contents 1 The parents 2 The brothers 3 Crimes 4 Trials 5 Life in prison 6 References 7 External links

[edit] The parents

Jose was born in 1944 to an upper-middle class family in Havana, Cuba. His father was a well-known soccer player who owned his own accounting firm. His mother was a swimmer who was elected to Cuba’s sports hall of fame. Jose had two older sisters, Teresita, known as "Terry", and Marta. Although the family was not rich, Jose’s parents’ accomplishments in sports guaranteed them an honored place in Cuban society. Jose was five years younger than Terry and was spoiled and adored by his mother.

Kitty was born in 1941, the youngest of four children of Charles and Mae Andersen. Her family lived in Oak Lawn, a suburb south of Chicago, Illinois. During her early childhood, Kitty’s family was solidly middle class. Her father owned a heating and air-conditioning business that did well and her mother stayed at home to care for Kitty and her two older brothers, Milt and Brian, and Kitty’s older sister, Joan.

[edit] The brothers

The Menendez brothers grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended Princeton Day School. Lyle attended Princeton University but eventually dropped out after allegations of plagiarism emerged. Lyle was placed on academic probation and for poor grades and disciplinary probation for causing damage to university property.

Erik attended Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles. He was listed as an incoming freshman at UCLA in 1989, but did not attend.

In 1988, Erik and Lyle broke into homes owned by parents of their friends and reportedly stole a total of more than $100,000. When Erik was stopped for a driving violation, stolen property was found in his car trunk. Although the amount stolen was large enough to be classified as a felony offense called grand theft burglary, Jose Menendez did not want his sons to spend any time in jail and hired Gerald Chaleff, a well-respected criminal defense attorney to represent them. Ultimately, all charges against Lyle were dismissed and Erik agreed to accept all responsibility. However, since Erik was a juvenile with no criminal record, Erik was only sentenced to community service with the homeless. The brothers also underwent psychological counseling and Jose paid thousands of dollars in compensation to the victims. However, neither Erik or Lyle were remorseful for their crimes.^[1]

In the Summer of 1989, Lyle's girlfriend revealed that she was pregnant. Jose reportedly convinced her to have an abortion and paid her $100,000.^[2]

[edit] Crimes

The murders occurred on August 20, 1989, in the den of the family's 722 Elm Drive home in Beverly Hills. The brothers then drove off and dumped their shotguns on Mulholland Drive and bought tickets at a local movie theater, seeing the movie Batman to use as an alibi. When the brothers returned home, Lyle called 911 and cried, "Somebody killed my parents!" Initially, the police did not consider the brothers as suspects. At their trial, Erik said he spotted a shotgun shell they had left on the floor, and removed it when the policeman talking to him looked away.

In the following months, the brothers led a life of luxury and lavish spending, later adding to investigators' suspicions that they were involved in their parents' deaths. Lyle bought an expensive Rolex watch and a Porsche Carrera, and he opened a buffalo wings restaurant near the local college campus. Since the boys were part Cuban, it was Erik's dream to try to make Cuba a United States territory. Erik also hired a full time tennis coach and competed in a tournament in Israel. Prosecutors later alleged that the brothers spent about $1 million in their first six months as orphans. The police did not suspect them until Erik confessed to his psychiatrist, who after being threatened to keep quiet by Lyle, told the police. On December 8, 1992, the Menendez brothers were indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury on charges that they murdered their parents.

[edit] Trials

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, including sexual abuse from their father, Jose. 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. In the penalty phase of the trial, the jury did not support death sentences for the brothers but instead returned recommendations of life in prison. The jury later said that the abuse defense was never a factor in their deliberations and that the jury rejected the death penalty because neither brother had a felony record or a history of violence. However, unlike the previous trials, the jury unanimously rejected the defense theory that the brothers killed their parents out of fear but rather that the murders were committed solely for the intent of gaining control of their parents' considerable wealth.

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. On September 10, 1996, the California Department of Corrections separated the Menendez brothers, sending them to different prisons. Both were classified as maximum-security inmates and segregated from other prisoners.

On February 27, 1998, the California Court of Appeals upheld the murder convictions, and on May 28, 1998, the California Supreme Court voted to uphold the murder convictions and life-without-parole sentences with none of the Supreme Court justices voted to review the case[1]

[edit] Life in prison

Since entering prison, both brothers have gotten married, even though California does not allow conjugal visits for those convicted of murder or for those doing life in prison.

In January 1997, Lyle married longtime pen pal Anna Erikkson, a former model. However, the marriage reportedly ended after less than a year [2] after it she reportedly discovered that Lyle was "cheating" on her by writing to another woman. Lyle remarried magazine editor Rebecca Sneed in 2003.^[3][4]

In June 1999, Erik, then 28, married Tammi Ruth Saccoman, 37, at Folsom State Prison in a prison waiting room. Tammi later stated that "Our wedding cake was a Twinkie. We improvised. It was a wonderful ceremony until I had to leave. That was a very lonely night."[3] ^[5] In an interview with ABC News in October 2005, Erik's wife Tammi stated that her relationship with Erik, her husband of six years, is "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."^[6] Tammi Menendez also self-published a book in 2005 entitled They Said We'd Never Make It - My Life With Erik Menendez, though Erik said on the Larry King Live show that he had heavily edited the book.^[7] In an interview with People Magazine, Tammi Menendez stated that "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 friends don't understand. When it started to get serious, some of them just threw up their hands." Tammi stated that she and her 10-year old daughter drive the 150 miles every weekend to see Erik, whom her daughter refers to as her "Earth Dad."[4]

Regarding his sentence of life without parole, Erik has stated that "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."[5]

Erik reportedly works as a night janitor and shares a 6-by-9-foot cell with a another prisoner.^[6]

As of 2008, Lyle was being held in Mule Creek State Prison. Erik was in the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, the brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their lives in prison. According to Erik on the same Larry King show, he and his brother have not spoken to each other for more than ten years.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Wife of Erik Menendez talks about relationship at MSNBC TV, Dec. 22, 2005
• Tammi Menendez on Loving Erik at ABC News
• Menendez Brothers at Court TV
• Menendez Brothers at Crime Library
• Mug shots of the brothers on The Smoking Gun