Crime Menendez Brothers Case Reopened For Appeal (2024)

[DoctorTaco]

I kinda remember hearing that their defense claimed sexual abuse but didn't know of any details.

At the same time, they were 21 and 19 years old when they did it. What's some middle-aged man going to do to a couple of grown adults?

This wasn’t some take down between strangers outside a 7/11- the psychological grooming, abuse, and emotional manipulation over their entire lifetime handcuffed them well past the point where they’d be able to kick the old man’s ass.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

thanks netflix.

now they are gonna reopen the dahmer case and say he was innocent.

Dahmer is dead.

 

[White Whale]

thanks netflix.

now they are gonna reopen the dahmer case and say he was innocent.

The problem with documentaries or movies retelling events is they leave out a lot of evidence.

The West Memphis 3 documentary left out a lot of evidence that showed why they were convicted such Damien Echols torturing animals and telling people he killed the children.

The Central Park 5 Netflix movie left out the fact they were assaulting and robbing people the night of the attack and their parents where with them when they got questioned.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

This wasn’t some take down between strangers outside a 7/11- the psychological grooming, abuse, and emotional manipulation over their entire lifetime handcuffed them well past the point where they’d be able to kick the old man’s ass.

Not kick his ass but at least not be afraid of abuse from him. Apparently, the abuse stopped when they were teenagers.

So the defense's argument can't really be "they were afraid the dad was going to continue to abuse him," but rather "they were traumatized with the abuse they endured as children and took revenge."

So manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. And since it's been 30+ years since they were first arrested, maybe it is time they were released.

 

[dildos]

The Netflix special doesn't paint them in a very good light. In fact, they go into great detail about all of Lyle's phone conversations with that girl that wrote the book about them.

Anyway, I don't think they have much of a case.

As an aside, my wife sees them every so often. I guess Kim Kardashian and the actor who played Lyle in this newest series were at Donovan last weekend too. Guess Kimmy is trying to get them exonerated too.

I was talking to my wife's coworker a couple weeks ago, who's a counselor that works between the prison and one of the local colleges and she had to meet with Lyle to go over some class he needed to get into UC Irvine lol

sorry bro my post was kindda just in jest as ment.

but your wife really sees them? is there anything on the super downlow that you are able to elaborate on?? dm me. because we were long hair bros. (yes i know you werent going to but it was worth a shot for shits and giggles.)

 

[dildos]

Dahmer is dead.

ok thanks.

wow i never knew that.

this changes everything netflix has produced.

 

[Belaya Smert]

I think the heinous nature of their crime would indicate something fucked up happened to them in early development that would fuck up their growth. It makes sense to me that the abuse they suffered fucked them up to the point they became capable of what they did.

Sexual abuse is something kids learn to be ashamed of. If you’ve spent your entire life disassociating, lying to yourself, lying to people around you, having the few folks who you do tell not believe you, having nothing change when they do- it would be difficult to admit it in front of the biggest stages of the US media.

The parents caught wind of them breaking into houses and were gonna put those two trust fund babies out on the streets. I 100% believe they were abused; but by their own admission it had more to do with losing their free ride and not so much to do with dad being a .

I don’t blame them for what they did; but reality is they executed both their parents in cold blood and attempted to go along with the burglary gone wrong.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

Lyle and Erik Menendez have been behind bars in California for more than three decades for the 1989 killing of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in the notorious case that captured the nation's attention. Now, the brothers are hoping that new evidence will reopen their case and set them free.

"48 Hours" contributor Natalie Morales speaks to Lyle Menendez from prison as he awaits a judge's decision in an encore of "The Menendez Brothers' Fight for Freedom," now streaming on Paramount +.


The Menendez brothers admit that they killed their parents. Instead, the focus of the case has long been on why they did it. They insist that they killed out of fear and in self-defense after a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of their parents.

One of their lawyers, Cliff Gardner, tells "48 Hours" that new evidence corroborates those longstanding claims and lessens their culpability. Gardner argues that Lyle and Erik Menendez should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder, and that if they had been, they would have received a much shorter sentence and been out of prison a long time ago.
The new evidence includes a letter that Gardner says was written by Erik Menendez to Erik's cousin, Andy Cano, in December 1988, about eight months before the crime. The letter reads, in part, "I've been trying to avoid dad. It's still happening, Andy, but it's worse for me now. … Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. … I'm afraid. … He's crazy. He's warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle."
Andy Cano did testify at the brothers' trials. He said that Erik Menendez at age 13, years before the killings, told him that his father was touching him inappropriately. Prosecutors at trial suggested that Cano was lying.

The brothers were tried twice. Their first trial ended in a mistrial when two juries, one for each brother, couldn't reach a unanimous decision as to whether Lyle and Erik Menendez were guilty of manslaughter or murder. When they were tried a second time, prosecutors attacked the abuse allegations more aggressively. They referred to the allegations as "the abuse excuse." That trial resulted in the brothers' convictions for first-degree murder.

Gardner says this letter is proof that the abuse allegations were not made up. He says the letter was never presented at either trial, and that it was discovered in storage within the last few years by Andy Cano's mother. Andy Cano died in 2003.

The letter isn't the only piece of evidence that has surfaced. Roy Rossello, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, has come forward claiming that he was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez, back in the early 80s, when Rossello was a minor and a member of the band. At the time, Jose Menendez was working as an executive at RCA Records, and RCA signed Menudo to a recording contract.

Rossello is now 54 years old. He says in a sworn affidavit filed in 2023 that he went to Jose Menendez's home in the fall of 1983 or 1984. Rossello would have been between 14 and 15 years old at the time. He says he drank "a glass of wine," then felt like he had "no control" over his body. He says Jose Menendez took him to a room and raped him. Rossello also states in the affidavit that he was sexually abused by Jose Menendez on two other occasions, right before and right after a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
"When I first heard about it … I cried," Lyle Menendez told Morales. "For me, it was very meaningful to just have things come out that caused people to really realize, OK … at least this part of what it's about is true."

The Menendez brothers' attorney, Cliff Gardner, filed a habeas petition in May 2023 citing the letter and Rossello's affidavit as new evidence that proves his clients' convictions should be vacated.

"The boys were abused as children. They were abused their whole life. … And this is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It's just that simple," Gardner said to "48 Hours" about the Menendez brothers. "My hope in the case is that the judge will realize that this new evidence is indeed credible and persuasive, and he'll vacate the convictions."

If that happens, it would be up to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office whether to retry the case. In a statement, the district attorney's office told "48 Hours" it is investigating the claims made in the habeas petition. It is unclear when a judge will rule in the case.

Menendez brothers await a decision they hope will free them

Lyle and Erik Menendez claim new evidence proves the brothers' longstanding claim that they killed their parents in self-defense.

www.cbsnews.com

I don't see that it changes anything. These weren't kids that couldnt leave the situation (if true), they were adults.

Also how do we verify the letter was sent back in the day?

 

[Bob Gray]

I don't see that it changes anything. These weren't kids that couldnt leave the situation (if true), they were adults.

Also how do we verify the letter was sent back in the day?

If true, it doesn't change the fact that they killed them, it just changes the circumstances enough that manslaughter would be a possibility.

 

[TeTe]

sorry bro my post was kindda just in jest as ment.

but your wife really sees them? is there anything on the super downlow that you are able to elaborate on?? dm me. because we were long hair bros. (yes i know you werent going to but it was worth a shot for shits and giggles.)

Yeah, my wife works at the prison they are both in now (and Erik and Lyle are actually cell mates now). None of the other inmates like them either because they still act like smug assholes. I guess Erik's wife comes to the prison to visit and they somehow get conjugal visits, even though LWOPs aren't supposed to.

They're both doing college programs right now even though they already obviously have degrees.

 

[fingercuffs]

I think the heinous nature of their crime would indicate something fucked up happened to them in early development that would fuck up their growth. It makes sense to me that the abuse they suffered fucked them up to the point they became capable of what they did.

Sexual abuse is something kids learn to be ashamed of. If you’ve spent your entire life disassociating, lying to yourself, lying to people around you, having the few folks who you do tell not believe you, having nothing change when they do- it would be difficult to admit it in front of the biggest stages of the US media.

Well done for realising my typo and that I didn't actually mean dodos.
I should probably watch them again but with the new one on its way I'll probably watch that one first.

Exciting times to be a true crime nerd given all streaming possibilities jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[AWilder]

All i remember about this case was when they tried to blame the killings on an Asian gang or something, one guy apparently looked Asian one who was speaking another language, I think it was Asian.

That was a bit from a ben stiller movie or sketch

 

[fingercuffs]

Yeah, my wife works at the prison they are both in now (and Erik and Lyle are actually cell mates now). None of the other inmates like them either because they still act like smug assholes. I guess Erik's wife comes to the prison to visit and they somehow get conjugal visits, even though LWOPs aren't supposed to.

They're both doing college programs right now even though they already obviously have degrees.

I don't know if you've mentioned it before and I forgot but neat insight there.
Has she noticed an uptick of press around the prison with the Netflix drama?

 

[dildos]

Yeah, my wife works at the prison they are both in now (and Erik and Lyle are actually cell mates now). None of the other inmates like them either because they still act like smug assholes. I guess Erik's wife comes to the prison to visit and they somehow get conjugal visits, even though LWOPs aren't supposed to.

They're both doing college programs right now even though they already obviously have degrees.

this is a pretty cool personal story on your behalf.

thanks for sharing.

besides acting like smug assholes, is their a reason that the other inmates dont like them? do they not believe their stories??

sorry for my aussie noobness does LWOP clearly mean life with out patrol? its just a dumb question im just asking.

i mean, i know why they are in a shared cell, because otherwise others would just try too off them easily. but tbh im really not familiar with the story, do many believe the two bros?? or

 

[Spam On Rye]

I always thought they were molested but ya never know. One thing you can be sure of though, if one of these streaming companies is making a docu series it's not gonna be objective.

 

[DoctorTaco]

I 100% believe they were abused; but by their own admission it had more to do with losing their free ride and not so much to do with dad being a .

You honestly believe getting haped by their dad for their entire childhood was a secondary motivation to their parents not giving them money???

 

[Belaya Smert]

You honestly believe getting haped by their dad for their entire childhood was a secondary motivation to their parents not giving them money???

I think they were not willing to kill their parents until they were gonna get the silver spoon taken away. But again much like yourself i don’t know exactly what went down.

 

[Scerpi]

Yeah, my wife works at the prison they are both in now (and Erik and Lyle are actually cell mates now). None of the other inmates like them either because they still act like smug assholes. I guess Erik's wife comes to the prison to visit and they somehow get conjugal visits, even though LWOPs aren't supposed to.

They're both doing college programs right now even though they already obviously have degrees.

Who married Erik? lol... when?

 

[deadshot138]

Dahmer is dead.

It's called posthumous exoneration

 

[DoctorTaco]

I think they were not willing to kill their parents until they were gonna get the silver spoon taken away. But again much like yourself i don’t know exactly what went down.

I don’t know the details but I can take an educated guess that their dad forcing his dick inside of them for a decade probably had a lot to do with why they shot him in the face.