The Menendez Brothers’ Fight for Freedom | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] you have a prepaid call from ly Menendez my name is Lyle Menendez I met AR in Donovan State
Prison in San Diego California and I am here for killing my parents my brother and I were convicted together
first-degree murder verdicts for both Eric and Lyall Menendez excuse us this is a special report from the vanise
courthouse both Menendez brothers have been found guilty how big a deal was the Menendez case well when you think back
it was huge the Mendez family was very wealthy this was Beverly Hills murders just don't typically happen Kitty was my
baby sister there was a brutal murder everyone from the gardener to the president had a view of what happened
I'm Jackie Lacy I'm the former elected district attorney of Los Angeles County a couple was sitting around watching TV
when their adult sons came in with shotguns and slaughtered them what did these parents do to deserve them there
must be a reason just never been a kid of Kil or innocence it was always about why it
happened Jose Menendez was the self-made millionaire he was very driven very demanding the prosecutions theory was
they got tired of their lives being micromanaged they wanted to spend the money the way they wanted to spend the
money they were buying Rolex watches they were buying real estate the way that they acted was not like oh my
goodness my parents are dead it was soulless it was strictly Greed from day one you believe they wanted a portion of
the money they wanted it [Music] all my name is Cliff Gardner I represent Eric and ly Menendez
it's not a complex case it's a simple case they abused their whole life my dad had been molesting me he Bap me did you
ask him not to yes the brothers were claiming that we were molested by our father when we
threaten to go public they threatened to kill us and so we had to go in and kill
them before they killed us I thought he was going to kill me that night I never saw anything in the home never I have
got to think that it was their attorney's ideas that if your only way you're going to save your ass is to say
that you were molested and that's what they did it's divided the family immensely I love my cousins they
shouldn't have gone through what they went through they're not lying they were being abused
as you sit there in prison there is some news now that could really impact you and your brother's case right yes that's
pretty just sort of shocking former mudo singer Roy roselo claims he was drugged and raped by Jose
Menendez in the mid 80s menudo had just signed with RCA records where Menendez was a top executive we now have evidence
that makes absolutely clear that those boys were molested and if those boys were molested it would have been
manslaughter and they would be out the judge in this case if he finds that the New Evidence is credible and
the conviction should be vacated do you think the DA's office would seek a new trial I think they would spend a lot of
time thinking about it 34 years of incarceration you wonder when will there be fair review of this
so maybe now my hope in the case is that they'll finally walk out of prison [Music]
[Music] Lyall and Eric Menendez have been behind bars in California for more than three
decades for the 1989 killing of their parents Jose and kitty Menendez convicted of first-degree murder and
sentenced to life in prison I really can't anything in a case that captured the nation's
attention they had no hope of ever walking free but new evidence may change that Eric chose not to speak with us for
this broadcast but Lyle did you have a prepaid call from ly Menendez this call and your telephone number will be
monitored and recorded Hi l can you hear me hi yeah I can hear you what did you think when you heard about these new
claims and evidence I mean for me I just was happy just a burden to be telling what happened to and just have so much
doubt in the public a the question is not whether the Menendez brothers killed their parents they admit that they did
instead the focus of the case has long been 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 says the New Evidence corroborates those claims and lessens their culpability if
the judge finds this evidence credible I think it is sufficient to give them a new
trial but to understand how we got here we have to go back to the beginning the evening of August 20th 1989 when Lyall
Menendez made this call to 911 from the family's Beverly Hills mansion Beverly Hills emergency yes please uh what's the
problem K my parents pardon me after officers responded to the scene then 21-year-old Lyle and 18-year-old
Eric reported that they had arrived home to find their parents shot to death in the family room Jackie ly was a deputy
district attorney in Los Angeles at the time I think one of the Beverly Hills Detectives described it as one of the
most brutal crime scene he had ever seen in his life I've been in this business for over 33 years and I've heard of very
few murders that were more Savage than this one was Jose Menendez a former top executive at RCA records and his wife
Kitty had been shot multiple times at close range with a shotgun it was an expression of hatred for these two
people and that was the last time I saw to her alive Milton Anderson Kitty's older brother still remembers receiving
the news my brother called me and he said that kitty and Jose were were dead I loved her sister Kitty was a very
ambitious girl she was a very beautiful woman Kitty and Jose met when they were in college in Illinois Jose had come to
the US from Cuba they went on to marry and start a family like and Eric were their only children over the years with
Kitty by his side Jose excelled in his career working for RCA records among other major companies he was going right
up the ladder without any hesitation at the time of his death Jose was working for a film studio running their home
video division investigators initially suspected that the killings may have been tied to his business dealings Lyall
sort of indicated you know my my dad dealt with Shady characters and once you say something like that detectives are
going to start to look at okay what were his business contacts family members and
investigators wondered whether it may have been Mafia related at the time the home video industry was known for having
ties to the Mob everybody said it was a mob headit because it was so brutal it it really was like a scene out of The
Godfather movies initially Lyle and Eric Menendez were not even on investigators
radar they didn't do any gunshot residue test on their hands they let him go back
and get evidence without even thinking hey could it have been the kids but they didn't stay off investigators radar for
long their behavior in the wake of the crime eventually Drew scrutiny the brothers appeared to be spending their
parents' money and lots of it they were investing in businesses they acted like they had won
the lottery and their Behavior at their parents Memorial Services raised some eyebrows at the podium L read a letter
from Jose there was filled with love and pride for his sons did you see Lyall get
emotional as he was reading that letter no l also made a statement that his father always said you can never fill my
shoes and he jokingly said guess what I'm wearing my father's shoes today struck you as odd that he would say
something like that I was very odd while all that may have seemed unusual it wasn't hard evidence but then about 6
months later police got a tip from an unlikely Source the girlfriend of a psychologist who Lyle and Eric Menendez
had been talking to she told police that the brothers had confessed to the killings in therapy and there was an
audio taped recording of it but for that confession who knows whether they've ever been caught on March 8th 1990 after
police got their hands on that tape ly Menendez was taken into custody Eric Menendez who was out of the country at
the time surrendered to police days later not many Hollywood murder mysteries ever took a more dramatic turn
than police are describing in a couple of savage Beverly Hills killings police say the motive was apparently money a 14
million inheritance to be shared by the brothers but years later when the C made
its way to trial the brothers would make it clear that it might not be so simple
in August 20th 1989 did you and your brother kill your mother and father why did you kill your
parents cuz we were afraid [Music] in the summer of 1993 nearly 4 years after Jose and kitty
Mendez were gunned down in their home their sons Lyle and Eric Menendez went on trial they face the death
penalty good afternoon the only question in this case is why did these killings occur why they
were killed is what what the focus of all of our evidence will be on what the defense was arguing was that since this
was a self-defense case the brothers were deserving of a lesser charge and Punishment the defense attorneys who
tried the case didn't respond to our request for an interview Cliff Gardner represents Lyall and Eric Mendez today
they had the defense of imperfect self-defense imperfect self-defense meaning the brothers honestly believe
that they had to take action to save their their lives even though it might not seem rational and if it's honest but
unreasonable you are coupable of manslaughter not of murder both brothers took the stand ly Mendez spoke of sexual
abuse at the hands of his mother and father he said his father began sexually abusing him when he was only 6 years old
he would uh fondle me and he would ask me to do the same with him over time he said it became worse
and he break me but while Lyall said his father stopped sexually abusing him when
he was eight Eric said it never ended for him and that he finally confided in his older brother days before the crime
at age 18 I didn't know what to do at the time so I figured I'd tell Lyall and maybe he could help me he started
telling me that one of the reasons he had never told me before was cuz my dad had always threatened his life the
brothers testified that Lyall soon confronted their parents and that their mother indicated she knew about the
abuse all along in Anger Lyle said he directed a threat at his father I told him that I would tell everybody then he
said we all make choices in life son Eric made his you've made yours what did you think was going to happen I
thought we were in danger I thought he had no he felt he had no choice but to what that he would kill us
the brothers testified that they got into another argument with their parents on the night of the crime and that they
believed their parents were about to kill them to keep the family secret from coming out so they said they grabbed
shotguns that they had bought 2 days earlier for protection went into the family room and started shooting their
parents at one point even stopping to reload and what did you do after you Reloaded
I ran around and shot my mom the defense may call its next witness to bolster their claims of abuse
the defense called to the stand numerous relatives friends and acquaintances of the family who described incidents of
physical and emotional abuse that they said they observed Alan Anderson ly and Eric's cousin was one of those Witnesses
growing up Allan would spend summers at the Menendez home he had a lot to say about Jose hitting the kids with a belt
never had a problem with that and kitty she wouldn't get up to consult the children nothing while none of the
witnesses including Allan ever saw Lyle or Eric Mendez being sexually abused Allan did recall something that struck
him as odd Jose would tell the boys in the bedroom and then he would close the door and then he'd take showers with him
he says during that time Kitty wouldn't let him go near the room so I was not allowed while the boys were alone with
Jose with the door closed in the master bedroom to go down the hall to probably not hear whatever I may hear another
cousin Diane Vander Molen gave similar testimony and she also recounted a conversation she says she had with Lyle
when he was eight um he proceeded to indicate to me by touching himself uh down and and saying that his dad and him
had been touching each other down there and what did you do I went and got Kitty
and uh told her what was going on and what happened when Kitty came down she didn't believe me Andy Cano yet another
cousin also took the stand and testified about a conversation he says he had with
Eric when Eric was about 13 He told me his father was massaging his he told me never to reveal it to
anybody still prosecutors argued that even if Lyle and Eric Mendez were abused it doesn't give them the right to kill
and they pointed out that when the brothers confessed to that psychologist they never mentioned abuse use or
self-defense then the timing of disclosure was convenient the prosecutors who tried the case didn't
respond to our request for an interview former Los Angeles County DA Jackie Lacy
reviewed portions of the trial at our request and people do make things up when their life is on the
line but all these years later Lyall Menendez maintains they are telling the truth and the reason they didn't come
forward then was complicated what was holding you back just shame just not wanting it to be public the pure nature
of the crime however says Lacy doesn't support the brother's claim that they acted in
self-defense prosecutors pointed out that Jose and kitty were watching TV at the time they were killed and they
weren't armed in order to get close enough to blow somebody away you would have been been able to see that they
didn't have weapons ly Menendez is adamant that he and his brother were in fear for their lives for me it was
just dark and confusing and total belief that there was danger you know it's fight or flight to a degree it was Panic
the prosecution argued the evidence proves the killings were premeditated when the brothers purchased those
shotguns prose computer said that they took steps to cover their tracks like driving to a gun store all the way in
San Diego San Diego is not a Round the Corner Drive last time I checked it was two hours sometimes after they killed
their parents they went around and picked up the expended shotgun shell casings so that their fingerprints
wouldn't be discovered on those shells there was a lot of thought and a lot of deliberation that went into it they also
got rid of the shotguns made that 911 call who is the person that was shot my mom and my dad and misled the initial
investigators prosecutors pointed to money as the motive they said Jose Menendez told his sons he had removed
them from his will and based on their investigation they suggested that after the crime Lyall Menendez attempted to
destroy o will on the family computer Lyle denies doing that and insists money had nothing to do with what happened if
there was a new will it was never found we never had any financial problems with
my parents although the brothers were tried together there were two separate juries deciding their fate when
deliberations began they stretched on for weeks before both juries determined they were divided over whether Lyall and
Mendez should be convicted of murder or manslaughter therefore I find that the jury is hopelessly
deadlocked a mistrial was declared it was just a devastating result I needed it to be over one way or
the other but it was far from over prosecutors would try the case again they needed a win the heat was on
[Music] [Music] nearly two years passed as Lyall and Eric Mendez sat in jail awaiting a
second trial some of their family members like Alan Anderson believed that they were justified in the killings I
know they did what they did because they were in fear of their life While others
like Kitty's brother Milton Anderson considered them coldblooded Killers I don't believe that Jose or Kitty would
do any of the things that they were accused of Jose was changing his will and that's when they went out and bought
the shotgun at the retrial which began in October 1995 one jury instead of two would hear
the case no video cameras were allowed in court and a new team of prosecutors would employ a different strategy the
first TR was okay there may have been abuse but we don't allow vigilantes in our society the second trial of the
prosecution's case there was no abuse at all and what made it easier for prosecutors to argue that says attorney
Cliff Gardner is the fact that the prosecution raised new and successful objections to the admission of a large
amount of Defense evidence now the jury would hear from only some not all of the
witnesses who knew the Menendez family and helped corroborate the brother's claims of abuse the da was not going to
take another loss they could not take another loss the judge who had also presided over the first trial excluded
the testimony on the grounds that it was irrelevant repetitive and in some instances lacking in Foundation because
this time Lyall Menendez would not take the stand Eric did testify why did you decide not to
speak uh for two reasons I was just done after the first trial and I didn't have
the attorney that I trusted so much to asking me these deep personal questions but Carol Nara the only surviving lead
prosecutor from the second trial who declined to speak with us suggested in a 1996 interview there might have been
another reason why Lyall didn't take the stand there were things that had been developed since the first trial that
would have damaged his credibility a great deal prosecutors said they had new evidence that Lyle had asked a friend
and a former girlfriend to fabricate testimony Lyall admits to 48 hours that he did do that but says he later
withdrew those requests because Lyle didn't take the stand his cousin Diane Vander Mullen was
prohibited from testifying about that conversation she says she had with Lyle when he was eight in which she says Lyle
told her that his father was touching him the jury did still hear from cousin Andy Cano about that similar convers
ation he claimed to have had with a 13-year-old Eric but the prosecution attacked his credibility the state's
position was that Andy was a liar and when cousin Alan Anderson took the stand prosecutors attacked his credibility too
bringing up the fact that Lyall Menendez gave him money after the crime Anderson
says it was to help pay for a medical procedure he didn't say anything like well if I go to court you know or no he
it was just straight up between him and I him being a nice cousin knowing I was in financial bind he knew he had the
resources to help me at the second trial prosecutors placed more of a focus on the brutality of the crime and they
painted Jose as a restrained loving father someone incapable of molesting his children prosecutors referred to the
brother's defense as the abuse excuse in the first trial that defense called more than 50 Witnesses this time
they called about half it wasn't that they didn't want to present them they were not
allowed the jury deliberated for days and then the verdicts are in in the retrial of Eric and Lyle
Menendez guilty of first-degree murder I hugged my brother we cried and I said look we're going to be okay I was
not happy at all at the jury's recommendation the brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the
possibility of parole and you believe they deserve that oh what they did to my sister they
should have gotten a death penalty Lyall and Eric Mendez were sent to separate prisons more than two
decades past and then around 2020 the case made a surprising Resurgence on social
media following a documentary that aired on the case in which Eric Mendez repeated his claims of abuse droves of
people took to Tik Tok and Instagram to express support for him and his brother Dr Judy ho is a neuroschistosomiasis
that just because the brothers delayed reporting abuse it doesn't mean they made it up that's all very consistent
with people who have been through trauma and maybe feel like it was even their own fault in some ways or they're
ashamed of the trauma and there's a lot more self-stigma and shame associated with male victims she also says that the
abuse the brothers describe could even help explain why the crime was so brutal it makes sense that in that moment it's
almost like a break down and that's not to make an excuse for anything that they've done but it's just to describe
the State of Mind of this is years and years of abuse where they couldn't act to protect themselves and once they
pulled the trigger it was like there was no turning back but could Lyall and Eric
Mendez have truly been in fear for their lives that night they're 18 and 21 why couldn't they leave right well certainly
there was a path that they could have taken is to try to get away from the family but it sounds like even at that
age they were very much under the control of their father still I think that often times what people are not
aware of is that trauma completely rewires the brain they probably did think at one point it was either them or
their parents that it was a fight ORF flight conditioning that had come up attorney Cliff Gardner believes the case
would be tried differently today the idea back then was a dads don't molest their children and if by chance it
happened these are 18 and 21 year old kids they're strapping young men they just leave and both those I think
undercut in what we know today still a better understanding of the effects of sexual abuse and some social media
support would do little on their own to make a difference in the brother's case legally instead what their defense
needed was new evidence and eventually that's what it got did you or Eric think that another person would accuse your
father of child molestation I did not I could not believe it [Music] over the years Lyall and Eric Mendez
appealed their convictions but were unsuccessful it seemed unlikely that they would ever see beyond Prison Walls
but then new evidence began to the surface the first piece in the form of a letter just kind of out of the blue one
of uh my father's sister found a letter in store appet attorney Cliff Gardner says
the letter was written by Eric Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in December 1988 about 8 months before the crime
it's not dated but you were able to get a frame of reference of the timing of it
based on the contents of the letter exactly he talks about the Christmas party we know the Christmas party that
they put on was in Christmas of 88 he talks about hiring a new tennis coach there's a number of things in the letter
that allow us to authenticate when it was written and it's a particular section of the letter that Gardner says
is key he says 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 is crazy he's warned me a 100 times about telling anyone especially
ly no one knew about it a child it was never presented remember Andy Cano did testify
at both trials he said that Eric Mendez at age 13 confided in him that his dad had been touching him prosecutors
suggested that Cano was lying he explained to me that these massages that his father was giving him were beginning
to hurt the letter is significant why well the state's position was that Andy was a
liar Andy was making it up this shows that Andy wasn't making it up it's contemporaneous evidence from Eric to
his cousin Andy about what was happening but the letter was just the beginning more evidence has surfaced that Gardner
says further supports Lyall and Eric Mendes's long-standing claims that they were sexually
abused a man named Roy roselo has come forward claiming that he was sexually abused by Jose Menendez too Roy was a
member of the boy band menudo which was big in late 70s mid 80s there a sensation in the
Spanish-speaking world and throughout Latin America their appeal has caught on big menudo originated in Puerto Rico the
band is best known were producing bigname Talent like singer Ricky [Music] Martin the idea behind the band was to
keep it perpetually young few of the performers remained in the group beyond the age of 16 instead being rotated out
for younger Talent it turns out Jose Menendez had ties to the group Jose Menendez was working at RCA at the time
and RCA signed menudo to a recording contract former Mano member Roy roselo now 54 was not available for an
interview with 48 hours but in a sworn affidavit filed just last year he claims he went to Jose Mendes's home in the
early 80s at the direction of the band's then manager Edgardo Diaz roselo 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 roselo first spoke publicly about
the allegations in a [Music] documentary roselo also alleges that he was sexually abused by Jose Menendez on
two other occasions right before and right after after a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York I met Roy
and he talked to me about it it was a difficult conversation for him it was difficult for me to hear but I thought
Roy was credible it can take years for people to recognize what happened to have the
courage to come forward when I first heard that I I cried for me it was very meaningful to
just have things come out that caused people to really realize okay at least this part
of what it's about is true ly Menendez says he remembers menudo band members coming over to the
family home when they lived in New Jersey before moving to Beverly Hills he does not recall Rella
specifically what do you remember about the menudo band members going to your home only that my father had intimate
involvement with that particular group they usually would not have too much involvement with groups other than
negotiations but with Mano and Ardo Diaz he traveled with them he went to their concerts he stayed in hotels that they
stayed at Li Mena says he didn't think much of it until rumors began surfacing towards
the end of he and his brother's first trial people in Industry were talking about that maybe something had happen
because there was a sex scandal in the group Rell along with other former menudo members have long accused Edgardo
Diaz the band's one-time manager of sexual abuse Diaz has always denied the allegations and no charges have been
filed against him the Los Angeles Police Department is currently investigating a
specific incident in which roselo alleges Diaz raped him at this hotel in the 1980s but what does this new evidence
mean in terms of Lyall and Eric mende his case the importance of the New Evidence you have to look back and
understand what the state's position was at the second trial the state's position
was that the sexual abuse never happened and the state's position as to Jose Menendez was he wasn't the type of
person who would molest a young boy this new evidence takes both those arguments
and undercuts them entirely Gardner has filed a hius petition asking that his client's
convictions be vacated the boys were Abus AB his children they abused their whole life
and this is a manslaughter case not a murder case it's just that simple and if they were convicted of
manslaughter they would have received a much shorter sentence and been out a long time ago but will a judge by
Gardner's argument it is very very possible that Jose Mendez was a child molester but you don't get to murder him
and his wife in Cold Blood what do you make of the New Evidence to see a timeline of how the
case unfolded go to 48 [Music] hours.com after attorney Cliff Gardner filed the habus petition in May 2023
asking that Li and Eric Menendez convictions be vacated it turned into a waiting game for a judge to rule we ask
former da Jackie Lacy what she makes of the New Evidence starting with that letter the one that appears to have been
written by Eric Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano months before the crime the interesting thing about the letter is
that there are only two people who can authenticated Andy Kano and Eric Menendez Andy Cano died in 2003 and Lacy
points out that he never mentioned the letter when he testified you would think when Andy was
on the stand twice he'd have brought that up and oh yeah he told me about it recently and here's the letter the
timing of that letter though you are able to sort of pin down because you know is the holidays because he writes
about his Christmas plans but Natalie look at it another way and you could include those details and get that
letter together after they were caught this letter for all we know could have been written by Eric Menendez shortly
after the murder given to Kano and Kano may have gotten cold feed about it and not submitted it but Gardner argues the
New Evidence is sound he says the reason the letter was not brought up at trial is likely because Eric Menendez and Andy
Cano forgot about it if you look at the letter it's not just about what Jose's been doing it's about all sorts of other
things it was just one of many letters that they wrote to each other there really shouldn't be any doubt about the
authenticity of the letter and as for Roy roselo the former mudo band member can you discount his claims altogether
no I think what the judge has to weigh and consider is is this newly discovered evidence that would have changed the
verdict and Lacy says she does not believe it would have they're still stuck with the planning the cover up the
money that they spent afterwards I think that you could argue the sexual abuse occurred on the other hand at the moment
these men are driving down to San Diego paying for the murder weapons coming back and waiting for an opportune time
to go in and kill their parents the molestation is not occurring right then I do not believe that at the time they
murdered them that they were in danger at that particular minute of being murdered by those people I think they
hated them they might have had a good reason to hate them but we can't condone vigilantism when you calmly and
logically looked at the facts surrounding the killing it's a murder but Gardner believes the New Evidence
would have made a difference to the jurors he says evidence of abuse can mitigate a crime and that's why
prosecutor uers fought so hard to keep it out of the second trial when sexual abuse physical abuse is relevant to your
state of mind uh and state of mind is the key in determining whether something's murder or whether
something's man what this evidence does is it puts you back in the situation that they were
in with the first trial that there was corroboration for the abuse and in the first trial remember two juries were
divided over whether the brothers should have been convicted of murder or manslaughter the declares a mistrial
Gardner thinks this new evidence combined with that of the first trial rules out murder entirely 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 said it is
investigating the claims made in the habius petition Alan Anderson wants to see his cousins released what I would
say to the prosecutor as a judge would be please look at all of the evidence they are speaking the truth they
shouldn't be in there as long as they've been but still Kitty Mendes's brother Milton
Anderson feels just the opposite he says he doesn't believe the New Evidence is credible I don't think it's evidence and
he wants his nephews to stay put I think they should die of old age in prison I loved my sister and I protected her in
life and I will love my sister and protect her in her death ly Mendez says he understands his uncle's Pain part of
my remorse is for the pain I caus people like him as they await a judge's decision Lyle and Eric Menendez who
reside in the same prison since 2018 are focused on Rehabilitation and continuing their
education I connect with other prisoners that have sex abuse histories and work with them both brothers are married to
women outside prison I think it has made a huge difference to have love and support like
that I try not to be defined by that one night that's s of a lifelong journey not to be defined by that one
night [Music] need more time with 48 Hours go deep behind every True Crime episode with
firsthand accounts from 48 Hours investigations were you at all prepared for what happened in this case shock is
the word that comes to mind get inside the twists and turns and get in on the case listen to postmortem from 48 hours
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CASE UPDATE: In May 2025, Lyle and Erik Menendez were resentenced to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole. Due to that resentencing, they are now eligible for parole hearings under youth offender parole laws. In August 2025, the brothers’ first bids for parole were denied. In September 2025, a judge rejected the brothers' habeas petition for a new trial.

In March 2024, "48 Hours" contributor Natalie Morales reported on new evidence in the case: a letter between cousins and an affidavit, revealing a decades-old secret. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Lyle Menendez discusses new evidence in their murder case, including claims of childhood abuse and its potential impact on their convictions.

Key points

New Evidence Emerges. Claims of abuse resurface as new evidence suggests the brothers were victims themselves.
The Menendez Brothers' Confession. Lyle and Eric Menendez confessed to killing their parents, claiming self-defense due to abuse.
The Brutal Crime Scene. The murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez shocked the nation with its brutality.
Trial and Retrial. The Menendez brothers faced multiple trials, with shifting narratives and evidence.
Verdict in the Menendez Case. Eric and Lyle Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder, leading to emotional reactions.
Resurgence of the Case. The Menendez brothers' case gains attention on social media after a documentary airs.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What did these parents do to deserve them?

Reflecting on the Menendez brothers' actions.

1:13WatchMar 8, 2024

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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