Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Menendez brothers' chance at freedom. Questions for top investigator at Karen Read retrial. Plus, what's RICO?
Thu, 15 May 2025
The Menendez brothers have been resentenced and are now eligible for parole. Will they go free? A supervisor in the Karen Read case is on the stand for a marathon three days of testimony. Plus, updates in the cases of Donna Adelson, Lori Vallow Daybell, and Harvey Weinstein. Find out more about the cases covered each week here:www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.com
Chapter 1: What recent developments have occurred in the Menendez brothers' case?
It's one of the counts Sean Combs is facing in federal court. But what does RICO actually mean? NBC News legal analyst Danny Savalos will be here with an explainer.
Instead of just charging with a federal-based sex crime, the key to the RICO allegations is that there's an organization involved.
But before all that, it was one of the biggest true crime stories of the past three decades, the murders of Kitty and Jose Menendez by their own sons. On Tuesday night, the brothers got a shot at redemption. Lyle and Eric Menendez are in their 50s now. They were just 18 and 21 years old when they gunned down their parents in their Beverly Hills home.
Prosecutors at their trial said the killings were premeditated and motivated by financial gain. The brothers said that they had acted in self-defense to put a stop to their father's sexual abuse. After their first trial ended with a hung jury, they were convicted in a second trial in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. And that's where they might have stayed.
But on Tuesday afternoon in a Los Angeles courtroom, Judge Michael Jesick ruled the brothers were changed men and resentenced them to 50 years to life, which meant a chance at parole and a chance at freedom. Here to tell us more about the brothers' journey and what might happen next is NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett. Hey, Laura. Hi. Great to be back with you. Great to have you.
We've seen so much on TV lately with the Netflix documentary everyone was talking about. And Keith, of course, had his special for Dateline. Lots of people very interested in the Menendez brothers again.
They are, and I think part of what's so fascinating about this case is that it obviously gripped everyone in the early 90s because it was really the first time a trial that had been so sensationalized was televised, right? And then it goes dormant for the better part of 30 years, and then there's sort of this resurgence because of a Netflix series called
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Chapter 2: What factors influenced the Menendez brothers' resentencing?
a Peacock documentary, a Max documentary, if I'm not mistaken, too. And so there's like this flurry of activity. And then the DA at the time decides, oh, I think I should support their resentencing. That was a huge moment. New DA comes to town, pulls that support, which was another big moment. And it's sort of all culminating now in this new path for freedom for them.
It's been put out there right into the universe, all this new retelling of this story, but it's people's attitudes toward some of the content that has changed since all those years ago.
Yeah, because their claim fundamentally was not that they didn't do it. Everyone sort of quickly figured out that they did it, and so they had to come clean about that. But part of the explanation was that They endured, they say, years and years of violent, awful sexual abuse at the hands of Jose Menendez, their father.
And they had a habeas petition, which, as you know, is trying to get a new trial based on the idea that they went through all of this abuse and so they should be less culpable. Not that they didn't do it, but that they should be less culpable. Yeah.
And I think as a society, people have come around more to, you know, understanding feelings people have, you know, being sexually assaulted, which is their claim.
And the shame associated with it and sort of the campaign of silence around childhood sexual abuse, I think for boys in particular, has changed dramatically over the past 35 years.
The other thing that has changed is attitudes towards crime and punishment. And in California, a new law means that inmates of a certain age, you know, if they have a good prison record, they can have their case looked at again.
Yeah, that has sort of provided this springboard for them to take advantage of the law. And the law was there to say, look, people are going to commit crimes. when they're young. And at a certain point, we may decide they're rehabilitated. And it doesn't mean they're going to automatically going to get out. There's going to be a case by case analysis.
And there's hundreds of these petitions that have come forward. And and they're sort of just one of those cases that we happen to be focused on.
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Chapter 3: What will happen next for the Menendez brothers after resentencing?
Okay, Laura, thank you so much for your insight and for coming on Dateline True Crime Weekly. Anytime.
I'll be back when we finally get a word from the parole board.
Coming up, three days of testimony from a sergeant in the Karen Reid case. The prosecution is trying to put him at the center of the investigation, but the defense keeps bringing up someone else. After nearly four weeks of testimony in Karen Reid's retrial, prosecutors are still carefully laying out their case.
They argue that after a night of heavy drinking in January 2022, Karen Reid hit John O'Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV and left him to die during a snowstorm. Reid has pleaded not guilty, and her defense says she is the victim of a cover-up by law enforcement.
So far, we've heard from O'Keefe's family and friends, first responders and law enforcement officers who investigated the case. This week, all eyes were on one of those officers who spent three days on the stand.
Good morning. Good morning, sir.
Could you please introduce yourself to the jury?
My name is Yuri Buchanek. I work for the Massachusetts State Police.
Dateline producer Sue Simpson is here to bring us up to speed on this witness and what his testimony tells us about where the retrial may go next. Sue, thank you so much for joining us again.
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Chapter 4: Who is Sergeant Yuri Buchanek and what is his role in the Karen Reed retrial?
On the day or the morning of January 29, 2022, do you know who was assigned to take calls for new cases? Yes.
Yes. Before 7 a.m. on the 29th, it was Michael Proctor that was assigned to be on call.
Was there a supervisor assigned that morning?
Yes, there was. And who was that? It was myself.
Buchanek and Proctor worked together to develop the theory of how John O'Keefe was killed. Now, Michael Proctor was fired earlier this year due to misconduct, in part because of demeaning and derogatory text messages he sent about Karen to his friends and even to his supervisors during the investigation. Buchanek was on one of those group text chains, and he even liked one of the messages.
And the prosecution had Buchanek read some of those messages he received from Michael Proctor.
The prosecution is trying to make Sergeant Buchanek the face of the investigation and minimize Proctor's role because of those demeaning text messages he sent. Andrea, you probably remember how damaging Proctor's testimony was in the first trial, so they're trying to avoid a repeat of that. And they're trying to avoid mentioning Michael Proctor's name as much as possible.
Prosecutor Hank Brannan did things like refer to Proctor as the case officer instead of the lead investigator. And they also had Buchanek show physical evidence collected from the scene to the jury instead of getting Michael Proctor to do that.
So the defense clearly has a different perspective on the investigation. What did they have to say on cross-examination?
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Chapter 5: How is the prosecution handling the investigation and testimony in the Karen Reed case?
You do know that he touched or had input in nearly every part of this case, obviously, as the case officer, correct?
He managed the case.
So he had some input or had some connection to nearly every part of the case, be it the physical evidence, the search warrants, the interviews, things of that nature.
He was one of the involved with collecting evidence, conducting interviews, and signing affidavits for the search warrants.
He didn't take a minor role in this case. He had a major role in this case. Would you at least agree with that?
He had a role that was more significant than others. With a team of the size that we had working on this case, he did not have a major role.
Sue, as we mentioned, you've been in the courtroom. What has it been like in the room? And is the jury very attentive as this is happening? Can you see them kind of perking up?
Oh, they were very attentive. There's no question about that. And I have noticed one man on the jury where every time Alan Jackson gets up, you get the sense that this guy, if he could applaud, he would. Oh, wow. Other jurors are more studious. They're taking notes. But this gentleman is clearly enjoying the spectacle, the theater that Alan Jackson brings.
Yeah, so you talked to Karen Reed after Buchanek's testimony finally wrapped up. And it appears at this point— that the state will not be calling Michael Proctor. Did she offer any insight as to whether the defense would call him?
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Chapter 6: What is the defense's strategy in challenging the Karen Reed investigation?
Chapter 7: What is RICO and how does it relate to current legal cases?
Chapter 8: What are the latest updates in other major true crime cases covered this week?
I will answer your question, absolutely. The investigation was conducted with honor and integrity.
In Dateline Roundup, updates in the case of Donna Adelson, the Florida grandmother accused of masterminding a hit on her former son-in-law, blistering testimony in the Harvey Weinstein retrial, and the latest motion filed by Lori Vallow Daybell ahead of her third trial.
She was just claiming that her constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. Plus, racketeering 101.
It's one of the counts Sean Combs is facing in federal court. But what does RICO actually mean? NBC News legal analyst Danny Savalos will be here with an explainer.
Instead of just charging with a federal-based sex crime, the key to the RICO allegations is that there's an organization involved.
But before all that, it was one of the biggest true crime stories of the past three decades, the murders of Kitty and Jose Menendez by their own sons. On Tuesday night, the brothers got a shot at redemption. Lyle and Eric Menendez are in their 50s now. They were just 18 and 21 years old when they gunned down their parents in their Beverly Hills home.
Prosecutors at their trial said the killings were premeditated and motivated by financial gain. The brothers said that they had acted in self-defense to put a stop to their father's sexual abuse. After their first trial ended with a hung jury, they were convicted in a second trial in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. And that's where they might have stayed.
But on Tuesday afternoon in a Los Angeles courtroom, Judge Michael Jesick ruled the brothers were changed men and resentenced them to 50 years to life, which meant a chance at parole and a chance at freedom. Here to tell us more about the brothers' journey and what might happen next is NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett. Hey, Laura. Hi. Great to be back with you. Great to have you.
We've seen so much on TV lately with the Netflix documentary everyone was talking about. And Keith, of course, had his special for Dateline. Lots of people very interested in the Menendez brothers again.
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