Lyle and Erik Menendez of Beverly Hills set the gold standard for greed. The subsequent court cases became one of the most significant causes of the late twentieth century.
The handsome brothers, Lyle, was 21 at the time, and Erik, 18, brutally murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Police mistook the murders for a mafia hit, which the brothers arranged. And they nearly got away with it until greed got better.
Where Are The Menendez Brothers Now In 2022?
For many years, the brothers were imprisoned in different institutions, but they are now both detained at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
Lyle and Erik, Erik’s older brother, did not see each other from 1996 to 2018 since they were in different jails. Lyle was formerly incarcerated in Mule Creek State Prison in California.
As an ABC News correspondent reported, they held each other for a few minutes without saying anything during their reunion in 2018.
Later the jail officials permitted them to spend an hour together. The brothers are reported to be still serving in jail as they had received life imprisonment.
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Why Did They Kill Their Parents?
Lyle and Erik Menendez’s defense team claimed that their father sexually molested them.
According to The New York Times, the brothers claimed that the fatal shooting of Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home was an act of “imperfect self-defense.”
At the time of the double murder, Lyle was 21, and Erik was 18. They felt, “honestly but wrongly,” that their parents would murder them if they did not act.
Initially, the brothers were tried individually, but both juries were deadlocked. Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich, who prosecuted Lyle, believes the defense’s emotional pull caused the mistrial.
Furthermore, he added that it was equivalent to putting pro-life and pro-choice individuals in the same room and having them argue. The brothers were later tried jointly and convicted in 1996.
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Lyle and Erik Menendez Family Net Worth
Menedez had reportedly attended Southern Illinois University, where he met Kitty, and the two married in 1964.
Kitty was an elementary school teacher before becoming a stay-at-home mother with Lyle and Erik. Meanwhile, the family relocated to California, where José worked for RCA.
He later became the head of RCA Records and was a well-known figure in the music industry, signing big-name acts such as The Eurythmics and Duran Duran.
Lyle and Erik allegedly spent $1 million on parties, travel, and shopping in the six months following the murder.
The prosecution charged the brothers with murdering their parents at their Beverly Hills home, claiming they were motivated by a desire to control their parents’ reported $14.5 million estate.
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More To Know On Jose And Kitty Menendez’s Death
In 1964, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez married. Jose was a businessman whose family moved from Cuba to Illinois during the Fidel Castro insurrection.
He comes from a wealthy family who lost some fortunes to the Cuban regime.
Jose obtained his CPA after graduating from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and worked as an executive for RCA in California.
He was well-known among show business personalities and had a promising career.
Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, Kitty was an elementary school teacher with her kids, Lyle and Erik Menendez.
She met Jose while studying at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She grew up in a middle-class Chicago household.
Lyle and Erik killed Jose and Kitty on August 20, 1989, as they were watching TV in their home. The pair were killed after being showered with gunfire in their den.