For many in 1989, it was a clear-cut case of greedy rich kids wanting it all when Lyle and Erik Menéndez killed their wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. Six months after the gruesome shotgun slayings of José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez, the brothers were arrested, with the prosecution claiming the motive for murder was their parents’ $22 million estate. But for FBI criminal profiler Ann Burgess, it made no sense.
“The prosecution was saying it was for money,” Burgess said in the new Disney+ true-crime documentary series Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer. “It wasn’t adding up. There had to be something else.”
What Burgess uncovered, through sessions with Lyle, were claims of years of sexual abuse by José that ultimately led the boys down an unthinkable path. Yet, after nearly seven years and two trials, a jury found Lyle and Erik guilty of first-degree murder in 1996 and they were sent to prison for the rest of their lives.
“When you take away any type of hope from someone,” said Burgess, “I feel that’s wrong.”
On the 35th anniversary of the killings, the brothers’ hope has been restored in the wake of new evidence in the case and a bombshell documentary, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, that aired fresh allegations of abuse by José. The evidence could see the case return to court and has helped reap a new wave of support for the brothers on social media. “It’s the brothers’ last shot at freedom,” journalist and Menendez + Menudo executive producer Nery Ynclan tells WHO.
When police first arrived at the Menéndez home on the night of August 20, 1989, they found the blood-splattered bodies of music executive José, 45, and Kitty, 47, in the den. Lyle and Erik, 21 and 18 at the time, said they had returned home to find their parents shot dead. Six months later, during which time they went on a conspicuous spending spree that included a new Porsche and Rolex watches, they confessed. But it was a case of self-defence, they argued.
Lyle and Erik told the court they had been sexually abused since around the age of 6, and in the lead-up to the killings had confronted their parents. The matter came to a head on August 20, said the brothers, when they feared their parents would kill them to keep the abuse hidden. Arming themselves with recently purchased shotguns, the brothers burst into the den as José and Kitty watched TV, and fired more than a dozen rounds at their parents.
“The crime scene was horrific,” attending officer Sgt Mo Angel told CNBC.
The first trial ended in hung juries – one for each brother – in 1994. In the second, the judge didn’t allow expert testimony on the alleged abuse, and Erik and Lyle were convicted by a single jury.
“It was wrong,” said Burgess. “I felt sad for them.”
In 2018, a letter came to light that was written by Erik to his cousin Andy Cano before the killings, which appears to allude to the abuse. “It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now,” Erik wrote. “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.”
And last year, Menendez + Menudo revealed accusations that José sexually abused singer Roy Rosselló, a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. José was an executive at Menudo’s label, RCA Records. “That’s the man here that raped me,” Rosselló said in the documentary, pointing to a photo of José.
It was journalists Ynclan and Robert Rand who brought Rosselló’s allegations to light, prompting the brothers’ legal team into action. “Days after our documentary, their lawyer filed a writ of habeas corpus to introduce the new evidence,” Ynclan tells WHO. “A judge reopened the case and ordered the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office to review it.”
As that investigation continues, Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53, remain hopeful of a new day in court.
“The question becomes … do they deserve mercy now, since there is no doubt their father was sexually abusing them,” says Ynclan. Said their lawyer Cliff Gardner, “This is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It’s just that simple.”
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