August 20, 1989. It was a humid Sunday night in Beverly Hills. Inside a $5 million mansion on North Elm Drive, Jose and Kitty Menendez were sitting on their sofa, eating ice cream and watching the movie The Jurgens. They had no idea their lives were about to end in a flurry of 12-gauge shotgun blasts. When people ask who did the Menendez brothers kill, the answer is technically simple: their parents. But the "why" and the "how" are what have kept this case in the public consciousness for over three decades.
Lyle and Erik Menendez didn't just commit a crime. They executed their parents. Jose Menendez, a high-powered music executive, and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez, a former pageant queen, were the victims of one of the most brutal domestic slayings in California history. It wasn't a clean hit. It was messy. It was overkill.
The Victims: Jose and Kitty Menendez
To understand the weight of the question—who did the Menendez brothers kill—you have to look at the victims themselves. Jose Menendez was the embodiment of the American Dream, or at least the high-gloss, 1980s version of it. He fled Cuba as a teenager and climbed his way up to the top of the entertainment industry. At the time of his death, he was the CEO of Live Entertainment, a subsidiary of Carolco Pictures. He was a hard-driving, some would say tyrannical, father who expected nothing less than perfection from his sons.
Kitty Menendez was a different story. Friends often described her as a woman who had lost her way within her own marriage. She was a stay-at-home mom who dealt with Jose's frequent infidelities and a spiraling sense of personal unhappiness. By 1989, the family dynamic was a powder keg.
The night of the murders was horrific. Jose was shot in the back of the head. Kitty tried to run. She was shot in the leg, then the arm, then the chest, and finally the face. The brothers actually left the house to get more ammunition because they ran out during the initial struggle. Think about that for a second. That kind of focus requires a specific type of mental state—either cold-blooded calculation or absolute, blind terror.
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Why the World Still Cares
The trial was a circus. It was the first time Court TV really showed us what "True Crime" could look like as a 24-hour news cycle. We saw two handsome, wealthy young men in polo shirts and sweaters crying on the stand. They didn't deny the killings. Instead, they claimed they acted in self-defense after years of horrific sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at the hands of their father.
The prosecution had a different theory. They pointed to the brothers’ spending spree after the murders. Rolex watches. Porsches. High-end clothing. Within six months, they had blown through roughly $700,000. To the DA, this wasn't a "private war" against an abuser; it was a cold-blooded grab for a $14 million estate.
The first trial ended in a hung jury. People couldn't agree. Was it "imperfect self-defense" or first-degree murder? The second trial was much different. Judge Stanley Weisberg stripped away much of the abuse testimony, leading to a conviction of first-degree murder and a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
The New Evidence and the 2020s Revival
If you’ve been on TikTok or Netflix lately, you know the Menendez name is back. Why? Because new evidence has surfaced that supports the brothers’ claims of Jose’s predatory behavior.
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Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, came forward recently alleging that Jose Menendez drugged and raped him when he was a teenager. This is a massive development. For decades, the brothers were often mocked. People thought they were "spoiled brats" making up stories to save their skins. Rosselló's corroboration changes the context of their defense significantly.
Then there's the "letter." Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, months before the murders. In it, he hinted at his father's "cruelty" and his desire to escape. This wasn't something cooked up after the arrest; it was a contemporary account of his mental state.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often think the brothers were caught immediately. They weren't. They lived as free men for months. They were eventually caught because Erik couldn't handle the guilt and confessed to his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel. In a twist straight out of a noir film, Oziel’s mistress, Judalon Smyth, was the one who went to the police after Oziel threatened her.
Another misconception is that they are currently in different prisons. For twenty years, they were. They were finally reunited in 2018 at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. The footage of them seeing each other for the first time in two decades is incredibly moving, regardless of what you think of their crimes.
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Navigating the Legal Path Forward
Right now, the Menendez brothers are seeking a "habeas corpus" petition. This is a legal move to have their convictions vacated or their sentences reduced based on the new evidence mentioned above. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has even expressed an openness to reviewing the case.
If you are following this case or researching the history of who did the Menendez brothers kill, there are a few key ways to stay informed on the actual legal proceedings rather than the dramatized versions:
- Track the Habeas Petition: Follow the Los Angeles County Superior Court filings. This is where the real legal battle is happening, far away from the Netflix cameras.
- Analyze the 1990s vs. Now: Compare the jury instructions from the first trial to the second. The removal of the "manslaughter" option in the second trial is widely considered the reason for their conviction.
- Study the Menudo Connection: Read Roy Rosselló’s sworn statements. They provide a chilling look at Jose Menendez’s behavior outside of his own family.
- Understand Resentencing Laws: California has recently passed laws that allow for the resentencing of inmates who have served long periods and show significant rehabilitation. The brothers have been "model prisoners" for 30 years, running programs for fellow inmates and beautifying the prison grounds.
The case of Lyle and Erik Menendez remains a Rorschach test for the American public. To some, they are victims who took a desperate, violent path to freedom. To others, they are calculated killers who took the lives of the people who gave them everything. The facts of who they killed are set in stone, but the "why" continues to evolve as more of the Menendez family's dark history comes to light.
Keep an eye on the California appellate courts in the coming months. We are closer to a definitive resolution—one way or the other—than we have been since the mid-90s.