Joseph Lyle Menéndez and Erik Galen Menéndez were beyond privileged since birth, from having rich, powerful parents to attending prestigious schools. Their father Jose Enrique Menendez, a Cuban native, moved to the United States to get a better education. Jose had always been an overachiever and a hard worker. He was credited with being diligent and brilliant. However Jose was highly and widely disliked for his overly confident demeanor. The mindset of being a winner and being the best carried on with him past school and into his work life. Jose quickly became a successful businessman. He married his wife Mary Louise “Kitty” Andersen. Mary Louise admired Jose’s dominant personality and his ability to get what he wanted. The two married young
…show more content…
The boys had everything they could have asked for and more. But behind closed doors no one could have actually known what was happening. The feelings of frustrations, hatred and resentment escalated quickly as the boys turned into men. Their perfect family was falling apart. Erik and Lyle committed the original “Crime of the Century” when they murdered their parents. Many speculated as to why this happened and how the brothers reached the point of becoming murderous. From the beginning to the end society highly impacted the trial and it’s outcome.
On August 20, 1989, 20 year old Lyle and 18 year old Erik shot and killed their parents. After murdering their parents they decided to stage it as an organized crime done by other people. The brothers left the house directly after they murdered their parents, saw a movie and went to an annual festival in Los Angeles to create a strong alibi, When they returned home around midnight Lyle called 911. Frantic and screaming Lyle cried on the phone, “Somebody killed my parents”. Multiple times both of the brothers stated that they did not know who killed their parents. By the time the police arrived on the scene, Mary Louise was unrecognizable from being shot so many times all over her body including her face. Jose was …show more content…
The judge banned all cameras from the courtroom, this completely changed the environment in there. This also allowed a newfound component of intimacy from the men to the jury. However, the defense was at a major disadvantage. The self defense plea was ruled inapplicable, because the judge dismissed any evidence or testimony that was not relevant to Erik’s and Lyle’s mental state a week before the murders. The numerous testimonies from character witness were now irrelevant to the trial. On top of that, neither of the brothers took the stand, unlike the first trial where Lyle’s statements were very crucial to the outcome. The boyish sweaters were gone and the brothers were treated like grown men. The sympathy aspect was gone, the part of the case where the brothers were the victims did not matter anymore. There were no more outside voices influencing the jury anymore. With that, the defense's’ case was extremely compromised. After 16 hours, the jury found Erik and Lyle guilty of first degree murder with special circumstances. In law, “special circumstances” include murder carried out for financial gain. Under the California law when being sentenced to first degree with special circumstances the defendant automatically gets the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Erik and Lyle were sentenced to
The boys had everything they could have asked for and more. But behind closed doors no one could have actually known what was happening. The feelings of frustrations, hatred and resentment escalated quickly as the boys turned into men. Their perfect family was falling apart. Erik and Lyle committed the original “Crime of the Century” when they murdered their parents. Many speculated as to why this happened and how the brothers reached the point of becoming murderous. From the beginning to the end society highly impacted the trial and it’s outcome.
On August 20, 1989, 20 year old Lyle and 18 year old Erik shot and killed their parents. After murdering their parents they decided to stage it as an organized crime done by other people. The brothers left the house directly after they murdered their parents, saw a movie and went to an annual festival in Los Angeles to create a strong alibi, When they returned home around midnight Lyle called 911. Frantic and screaming Lyle cried on the phone, “Somebody killed my parents”. Multiple times both of the brothers stated that they did not know who killed their parents. By the time the police arrived on the scene, Mary Louise was unrecognizable from being shot so many times all over her body including her face. Jose was …show more content…
The judge banned all cameras from the courtroom, this completely changed the environment in there. This also allowed a newfound component of intimacy from the men to the jury. However, the defense was at a major disadvantage. The self defense plea was ruled inapplicable, because the judge dismissed any evidence or testimony that was not relevant to Erik’s and Lyle’s mental state a week before the murders. The numerous testimonies from character witness were now irrelevant to the trial. On top of that, neither of the brothers took the stand, unlike the first trial where Lyle’s statements were very crucial to the outcome. The boyish sweaters were gone and the brothers were treated like grown men. The sympathy aspect was gone, the part of the case where the brothers were the victims did not matter anymore. There were no more outside voices influencing the jury anymore. With that, the defense's’ case was extremely compromised. After 16 hours, the jury found Erik and Lyle guilty of first degree murder with special circumstances. In law, “special circumstances” include murder carried out for financial gain. Under the California law when being sentenced to first degree with special circumstances the defendant automatically gets the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Erik and Lyle were sentenced to