Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez‘s murder case has played out in the public for over three decades from two high-profile trials to a life sentence — and now a renewed chance at freedom.
After their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, were found dead in 1989, Erik and Lyle became the prime suspects. The brothers were both arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder. Two subsequent trials resulted in Erik and Lyle’s conviction and a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Erik and Lyle, meanwhile, have maintained that their mother and father were physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and that their actions were that of self-defense.
The Menéndez brothers remained behind bars as their case continued to be referenced in episodes of Law & Order, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Sopranos. Erik and Lyle were also cited several times on the FX drama The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016, which Ryan Murphy executive produced.
Murphy officially explored the Menéndez story in September 2024 with his Monsters series. Nicholas Alexander Chavez brought Lyle to life while Erik was played by Cooper Koch. José and Kitty, meanwhile, were portrayed by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny, respectively.
The executive producer has since pointed out how his show created renewed interest in Erik and Lyle — despite their disapproval over how they were portrayed.
“They are now being talked about by millions of people all over the world. There’s a documentary coming out in two weeks about them, also on Netflix. And I think the interesting thing about it is it’s asking people to answer the questions, ‘Should they get a new trial? Should they be let out of jail? What happens in our society? Should people be locked away for life? Is there no chance ever at rehabilitation?’” he told Variety in September 2024. “I’m interested in that, and a lot of people are talking about it. We’re asking really difficult questions, and it’s giving these brothers another trial in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, it’s really opened up the possibility that this evidence that they claim that they have, maybe that there is going to be a way forward for them.”
Erik and Lyle were granted a new hearing for their case one month later after the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office cited new evidence indicating that their father allegedly molested them.
Keep scrolling for a complete timeline of events in Erik and Lyle’s case, from the initial arrest to their new chance of being released from prison:
1989
José and Kitty were found dead at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. After Lyle called the police, authorities discovered José was shot six times and Kitty was shot 10 times. Lyle and Erik weren’t initially named persons of interest, as the police pursued other avenues including a potential Mafia hit.
1990
In the months after their parents’ deaths, Erik and Lyle confessed to the murders to their therapist, Jerome Oziel. Oziel recorded their conversations, where they discussed the crimes, and the siblings were later arrested after the authorities were tipped off about the tapes.
At the time of the murder and brothers’ confessions, Oziel was having an affair with Judalon Smyth. Oziel told his mistress about the sessions with the Menéndez brothers. Smyth was the one to report what she knew to the police after Oziel ended their relationship. (Oziel subsequently lost his license to practice in 1997 for violating patient confidentiality and after being accused of having sex with female patients, according to the Los Angeles Times.)
Oziel told Bustle in 2017 that claims of his professional impropriety were “flatly and completely false.”
Lyle and Erik were arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder each.
1992
It took years before a trial was set due to the tapes potentially violating doctor-patient confidentiality. After much litigation, Judge James Albrecht subsequently ruled that tapes of the conversations between Erik and Oziel were admissible evidence since Oziel claimed Lyle threatened him, which violated his privilege as a patient.
The ruling was appealed, leading to a two-year delay in legal proceedings. The Supreme Court of California ruled in 1992 that most of the tapes were admissible except one, in which Erik discussed the murders. A Los Angeles County grand jury ultimately issued indictments later that year that charged the brothers with the murders of their parents.
1993
Erik and Lyle were initially tried separately as they alleged that years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse caused them to shoot their mother and father. The case ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
1995
When the retrial began, most of the evidence surrounding the abuse couldn’t be used as a defense. Erik and Lyle — who were tried together — were ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder.
1996
Jurors deliberated between life without parole or the death sentence before choosing the former in 1996.
“Lyle was definitely closer to getting the death penalty than Erik and many jurors made speeches such as Bruce Seitz, both in favor of Lyle and against him. After the case, when I spoke with the juror who had the heart attack, we discussed the death penalty,” former juror Lesley Hillings recalled in an interview with reporter Mary Jane Stevenson. “I explained to her some of the judge’s instructions and what we could and could not consider, and she then questioned whether or not she too would have been able to vote for the death penalty under those circumstances.”
Erik and Lyle appealed the decision several times. The California Court of Appeal upheld Lyle and Erik’s murder convictions in 1998 and the Supreme Court of California declined to review the case later that same year. Both Menendez brothers filed habeas corpus petitions with the Supreme Court of California in 1999, which were also denied.
2000s
Both Menéndez brothers filed habeas corpus petitions with the United States District Court that were ultimately denied in 2003. Erik and Lyle’s defense team decided to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which resulted in another denial in 2005.
Amid their attempts to get a new trial, Erik and Lyle were transferred to different prisons following their sentencing. Lyle was taken to Mule Creek State Prison while Erik moved around from Folsom State Prison to Pleasant Valley State Prison. The brothers reunited in 2018, when they were moved into the same housing unit at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility — their first reunion since they began serving their sentences nearly two decades prior.
2023
Peacock released a docuseries in 2023 titled Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, where singer Roy Rosselló alleged he was drugged and raped when he was a teen by Erik and Lyle’s father, José. The accusations from the former Menudo band member was included in a petition filed with Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The court documents requested a retrial while citing new evidence in the case, such as Rosselló’s allegations against José and a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders.
“Nobody had looked at [the cousin’s personal] effects until 2015, and that’s when it was found, 10 years after our last appeal,” Erik and Lyle’s post-conviction attorney Mark Geragos said in a statement to People in September. “We’re saying the second trial did not comport with constitutional protections for a variety of reasons. And a Habeas [Corpus petition] has new evidence. It requires new evidence because this case had basically been moribund for close to 17 years.”
2024
Season 2 of the hit Netflix series Monsters debuted in September and chronicled Lyle (Chavez) and Erik’s (Koch) lives before, during and after the murder of their parents. Episodes 4 and 5 received critical acclaim and fan praise for introducing Erik and Lyle’s abuse claims against their parents, but the rest of the season came under fire for several inaccuracies.
Erik released a statement slamming Monsters and its depiction of him and Lyle one day after it was released.
“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant likes rampant in the show,” read a statement from Erik that was shared via Lyle’s Facebook page. “I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”
Murphy, however, stood by his decision not to pick a side on screen. Less than one week after Monsters was released, Netflix announced that Lyle and Erik were interviewed for The Menéndez Brothers documentary. The October 2024 release includes footage from conversations with juror Betty Oldfield, Kitty’s sister Joan Vander Molen and prosecutor Pamela Bozanich.
The brothers also received public support from Koch and prison reform activist Kim Kardashian, who visited the pair in prison and wrote a personal essay for NBC News advocating for their release. The Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced in October that a new hearing has been set amid new evidence into Lyle and Erik’s murder case.
