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Apple Podcasts Spotify Tweet Share Share CommentThe Menendez brothers—Lyle and Erik—committed a terrible crime more than 30 years ago. They were sentenced to life in prison. But suddenly they are having a moment. There’s a miniseries about them on Netflix. There’s a documentary, too. And there’s been a ton of TikTok videos made by people who are openly wondering: Should these two men still be behind bars?
“No one’s arguing that they didn’t kill their parents, but they’re saying the level of culpability would be so low that after 36 years, they should be out,” said Brian Buckmire, a criminal defense attorney and contributor at ABC News. I called him up because I wanted someone to walk me through how we got here. As someone who came of age around the time the Menendez brothers were arrested, their sudden reemergence has taken me by surprise.
Last week, the facts of the Menendez case suddenly became very relevant. In front of a Los Angeles criminal courthouse, the Menendez brothers’ family and their attorney gathered for what they called a “show of unity”—and a press conference. They said they had new evidence that the brothers’ crimes were inseparable from years of abuse they’d experienced at the hands of their father. And on Thursday, the Los Angeles County district attorney recommended that the brothers’ sentence be thrown out and they be resentencing and immediately eligible for parole.
AdvertisementOn a recent episode of What Next, we spoke about why two of America’s most notorious criminals are asking to go free. Our conversation, which was recorded before the Los Angeles DA made his recommendation, has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementMary Harris: I have a strong sense memory of the Menendez brothers case, but I don’t have a lot of details. I just remember the broad outlines of the story: Two rich, handsome brothers killed their parents, and it took over the country. Can you fill in the details here?
Brian Buckmire: Lyle and Erik Menendez are from a very affluent family. The father, José Menendez, is a music executive. Cuban immigrant. American Dream type of story.
AdvertisementHe clawed his way up to the top. And they were in Beverly Hills.
Exactly. But in 1989, at their Beverly Hills home, he and his wife, Kitty, are shot dead. At first the investigation thinks it’s a mob hit because of his connections with the music industry. But that doesn’t really hold water. It’s not until a year and change afterward that one of the brothers, Erik, tells his psychotherapist what happened—confesses to the murders. And that’s when the whole thing unravels for the brothers. They get arrested, charged with first-degree murder and special circumstances, specifically that they were lying in wait.
As the investigation goes, they went out the day before trying to get handguns, couldn’t get handguns, ended up buying shotguns because they had a quicker waiting period. Bought the ammunition, went to the home. The parents are watching a movie or TV or something. And they come up behind them and shoot them. Based on the trajectory of the bullets, the kill shot to the father is the back of the head and the mother is crawling away........