By Yulissa Barrios, Staff Writer
With the recent popularity of Netflix’s newest release, Monsters: The Erick and Lyle Menendez Story and The Menendez Story, many people started to be more aware about the tragic murder case.
The story is about two brothers, Lyle and Erik Mendez, who shot their parents in their Beverly Hills home in the late 1980s. Many people are wondering if they killed them for the money or as an escape from the horrors in the home.
The case starts off with the Mendez brothers’ parents, José and Kitty Menendez. José Menendez was a Cuban immigrant who came for a better opportunity in the United States. He went to get a degree in accounting at Queens College, and that is where he met Kitty Menendez. After graduating, He used his insight in business to work his way to become the head of RCA records in the 80’s.
Because of his upbringing, he was extremely hard on his children to maintain the image of a perfect family.
Luanna De Paula, a sophomore majoring in medical humanities, stated, “Erik is more on the sentimental side and seemed to plan the murder first. Then, Lyle loved to lie and saw it as a money opportunity and escape from the abuse of his father and negligence of his mother”.
After their parents were shot, at first, the police did not think to question the brothers because they initially thought that it was tied to the shady business of which their father was a part of.
The police eventually linked the murder with the Menendez brothers due to Judalon Smith, the girlfriend of the physiologist of the brothers, who went to the police and mentioned how she witnessed the brothers confessing to the murders.
In the trial that took place in 1993, the prosecution gave the argument that they committed the murders for financial gains because after their parents’ death, they went on a huge shopping spree including Rolex watches and making large amounts of investments.
However, the brothers confessed that their father had sexually abused them for years.
In an interview for the Menendez Story, Lyle Menendez stated, “My father was one of the most intimidating and worst humans I’ve met in my whole life, so that’s why there were zero character witnesses on my parent’s behalf.”
Because José Menendez did a good job hiding his evil self from others, there weren’t many people who would testify against him.
In addition, in an interview with Robert Rand , an investigator on the case, said that Kitty “had known about Eric’s abuse all the time” and didn’t do anything about it.
The brothers and their family were hopeful about the possibility of winning the case. However, they eventually were given life in prison with no chance of parole.
Because they went on a spending spree right after the death of their parents, it could look like they were only after the money, no one in their right mind would kill their parents for no reason.
When examining footage from the case, through the terrified and emotional facial expressions and shaking, it is possible to think that they had to retell one of the most unpleasant moments in their lives.
There are some people who believe that the brothers did it because of the money, and others who say they did it as an escape from the abuse of their father. Regardless of your position on this crime, it is always interesting to follow recent news about how the Menendez brothers have a chance of resentencing and get the chance to be released from prison.
