The Crime Scene: The Menendez Brothers' Fight For Freedom
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What is 'The Crime Scene Weekly' about?
This is Deborah Roberts. We've got a new show for you that I think you're really going to want to check out. It's called The Crime Scene Weekly from ABC News. Each week, host Brad Milkey, who you know from Start Here, sits down with the journalists covering the latest true crime stories. From the discovery of grisly new crimes to breakthroughs in cases that are far from closed, you can stay up to speed on the latest true crime headlines. It's true crime in real time. And for the next few weeks, we're going to bring the Crime Scene Weekly to you here in the 2020 feed. If you like it, make sure to follow the show and keep listening. Again, it's the Crime Scene Weekly. Now, here's Brad.
Who were the Menendez brothers and what did they do?
35 years after the gruesome double murder that gripped the nation, the Menendez brothers are back in the spotlight and fighting for their freedom. But it's not just what you know, it's who you know and who you can get on your side. Over the last couple weeks, that's all changing. Welcome to the crime scene. I'm Brad Milkey. I host ABC's daily news podcast, Start Here. And every week, we're bringing you the latest on what's big and what's new in the true crime scene. This week, we're talking to ABC chief national correspondent Matt Gutman, who's based in L.A. and has been following this case for years. He's with us now. Hey, Matt. Hey, Brad. Before we get into the recent news, I just want to revisit some important details here, because I grew up in Southern California, Matt. Like, I grew up on the OJ trial, the Tupac killing, and yet this still remains one of the most infamous double murders of its day. So Lyle and Eric Menendez, 18 and 21, gunned down and killed their parents, Jose Menendez and Kitty Menendez in Beverly Hills.
That's not in dispute, right? They were convicted of murdering their parents. Can you take us back to that time? What was life like for this family?
We're talking about Kitty and Jose Menendez. And Jose Menendez was really a star in the entertainment world, right? He's involved in music producing. He has become a millionaire. He has single-handedly raised his family and all of his extended family up. This is an American success story, right? Basically came from Cuba. They were virtually penniless. And now he is living in a multimillion dollar Beverly Hills mansion. He's got these two kids, Eric and Lyle, chiseled faces, forearms, muscled and veined from tennis and sports. And they're just like poster children of Beverly Hills kids, you know, with these mops of thick, dark hair. You know, they look the part. But obviously something went very, very wrong.
And on this hot August 20th night, 1989, Kitty and Jose are gunned down. And not just gunned down. This is like brutal, nasty, visceral, up-close murder. Shotgun blasts to the kneecaps, to the back of the head on Jose. The mother is crawling at some point. She's shotgunned. They actually had to reload the shotguns, whoever the assailants were. And it was so gruesome that police didn't quite know what to make of it initially, especially because Eric and Lyle Menendez, as you mentioned, 18 and 21 at the time, were like, hey, it's not us. They were intruders. And then the different stories started to come out and they never quite made sense. And then in March of 1990, police pretty much started to piece together what was going on.
They arrested Eric and Lyle, and they understood that these two young men had premeditated this murder. They had planned to murder their parents. They had purchased shotguns. They had driven down to near San Diego to buy them. They had shotgunned their parents. They had reloaded at some point. It was face-to-face and intimate. This was a killing that involved a tremendous amount of personal hatred.
What was the original trial and defense of the Menendez brothers?
And so in 1993, their trials began. I think they were tried separately at the time, right? They both pleaded not guilty. What was the claim they were making?
Right. They are now saying that they murdered their parents because they had to, because of self-defense, because they were afraid of their father. And this unspools something else that was also completely novel and really sort of earth shattering. There was now open talk in court and in the public about about these two now young men being sexually abused by their father, Brad.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is 'The Crime Scene Weekly' about?
0:00–0:46
2
Who were the Menendez brothers and what did they do?
0:46–4:13
3
What was the original trial and defense of the Menendez brothers?
4:13–8:53
4
What new evidence has emerged in the Menendez case?
8:53–13:48
5
How has public perception influenced the Menendez brothers' case?
13:48–17:47
6
What are the recent legal developments in the Menendez case?
17:47–30:31