The Menendez Brothers Part 3

Summary

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Truer Crime – The Menendez Brothers Part 3

Podcast: Truer Crime
Host: Celisia Stanton
Episode Date: October 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

In Part 3 of Truer Crime's Menendez Brothers series, host Celisia Stanton delves deep into the fateful days and hours preceding the infamous murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez. This episode eschews simple narratives, focusing on the brothers' perspectives and the psychological, familial, and societal forces that shaped their decisions. Stanton also traces the seismic cultural aftershocks of the case, the media circus it spawned, and the shifting landscape of public perception—from condemnation and mockery to reconsideration and advocacy. The episode invites listeners to grapple not just with the brutality of the crime, but with questions of trauma, belief, and justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Final Days: From Desperation to Murder

• Strain at Home: As summer ends, the Menendez house is fracturing. Eric’s hope for independence is crushed when his father forbids him from living on campus at UCLA, requiring him instead to spend nights at home. This triggers deep despair in Eric ([04:15]).
• Family Secrets Emerge: A volatile fight between mother (Kitty) and son (Lyle) ends with Kitty tearing off Lyle’s toupee, revealing more family secrets and paving the way for Eric’s confession to Lyle about the ongoing sexual abuse by their father, Jose ([05:54]).
  • Lyle’s Reaction: Lyle at first reacts with anger and disbelief, even questioning Eric’s silence, but ultimately says, “I believed him. And I did believe him.” ([07:46])
• Attempts at Negotiation: The brothers initially look for non-violent solutions.
  • Lyle tries to negotiate with their mother Kitty ([10:14]) and then confronts Jose directly, leveraging his knowledge of the abuse to demand it stops and that Eric be allowed to go to school safely ([11:32]).
  • Jose's Cold Warning: Jose dismisses Lyle’s plea: “What I do with my son is none of your business… you’re going back to Princeton, and your brother’s going to UCLA, like we planned. And we’re going to forget this conversation ever took place.” ([12:30])
• Escalation of Fear: After threats and failed negotiations, the brothers become convinced that not only will the abuse continue, but that their lives are now in danger.
  • Lyle: “I sat back down, thinking that it was a disaster and that I had just made it a hundred times worse.” ([13:40])
  • Eric recalls his father's repeated threat: “If you tell, I will kill you.” ([14:27])
  • Eric realizes his mother "always knew": “Well, she said, 'Oh, I know. I’ve always known. You think I’m stupid?'” ([15:05])
• Decision to Kill: Driven by terror and hopelessness, the brothers plan the murders over two days, purchasing shotguns under fake names ([15:50]). The tension reaches its peak on August 20, 1989, when Eric and Lyle believe their father is about to kill Eric ([18:11]).

The Night of the Murders ([18:30–20:52])

• In a state of panic, Eric and Lyle arm themselves and burst into the den where their parents are, firing repeatedly.
  • Eric’s Perspective: “I remember grabbing my gun. And I remember my hands trembling. And all I knew is that if I didn’t get to those doors before Mom and Dad got out, that I was gonna die.” ([18:48])
  • Aftermath: Chaos, glass shattering, smoke filling the room. Lyle fires until his gun is empty; Kitty is still moving, so he reloads and shoots her at close range ([20:16–20:38]).
• The pair are paralyzed in the aftermath, traumatized by their actions and their motivations exposed later in court.

The Courtroom, the Media, and the Culture

Defense Case ([20:52])

• The defense lays out a narrative of lived terror and abuse, arguing the killings were acts of desperate self-preservation.

Prosecution Case and Media Response ([23:04])

• The prosecution counters by painting Eric and Lyle as calculating and materialistic, highlighting their post-murder shopping sprees and alleged efforts to erase evidence—"not mourning, they were celebrating" ([23:24]).
• Crime Scene Photography: A prosecution photograph—a close-up of Kitty’s open eye—becomes a symbol of "overkill," stirring the jury’s and public’s emotions ([23:54]).

The Trial’s Cultural Impact: Entertainment vs. Empathy ([26:43–30:47])

• The Menendez trial becomes a TV spectacle, propelling Court TV to national prominence. The public shows more interest in performance and persona than trauma or abuse.
  • Saturday Night Live Parody: SNL lampoons the case, making the brothers’ trauma a punchline ([27:03–28:47]).
  • Other Satirical Takes: In Living Color and Jay Leno join the media mockery, trivializing the abuse allegations and focusing on the brothers’ privilege and appearance.
  • Quote – Celisia Stanton:
    “Characters don’t cry real tears. Characters don’t walk around in fear. Characters don’t make you feel complicit when you laugh.” ([30:47])
• The media, tabloid, and talk show focus on spectacle drowns out conversations about trauma and abuse.

Mistrials and Retrial: Shifting Legal Context ([33:55])

• Initial trials end in hung juries; the question is no longer simply "guilt or innocence," but "why?"—could trauma mitigate murder?
• For the retrial, the judge prohibits abuse testimony on grounds battered woman’s syndrome doesn’t apply to men. Manslaughter is off the table, and Lyle does not testify.
  • “It felt like walking in cold. No background, no buildup. Just him.” ([36:30])
• Both brothers are quickly convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life without parole.

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Reconsideration and Renewed Sympathy

Changing Attitudes: New Evidence and Public Support ([39:20])

• In 2023, Menudo singer Roy Rosello alleges Jose Menendez sexually abused him as a child—this time, he is believed, and the public begins to question why Eric and Lyle weren’t ([39:30]).
• Societal Attitudes Towards Male Victims: Historical reluctance to recognize male sexual abuse shapes how the Menendez brothers’ defense was received ([40:54]).
• Cultural Shift: Documentaries, TikTokers, and even celebrities like Kim Kardashian push for reconsideration, while some TV dramatizations are criticized as "dishonest and damaging" by Eric himself ([41:57]).
  • Eric’s Statement on Ryan Murphy's Monster:
    "This portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward, back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women." ([42:00])

Legal Developments:**

• In 2024, new evidence emerges: a letter from Eric, as well as Roy Rosello’s testimony, lead to a DA recommending resentencing ([42:54]).
  • Family members support the brothers; a niece, AnaMaria Baralt, states:
    "If their case was heard today with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, their sentencing would have been very different." ([43:21])
  • In May 2025, Eric and Lyle are resentenced to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole.

The Ongoing Question – What Is Justice?

• Celisia’s Concluding Reflection:
  "If the brothers were abused, and I believe they were, then you can’t separate that from why they killed… it means we have to reckon with the question they raised that nobody wanted to ask in 1993: What if the monster was real?" ([43:57])
• The Menendez case triggers ongoing debates about how trauma, credibility, and cultural packaging shape perceptions of guilt, victimhood, and justice.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lyle Menendez, recalling Eric’s confession:
  "He told me that those things with his dad were still going on… he was just crying. Had no answers for any of it. Just crying." ([06:49], [07:32])
• Eric, on the night of the murders:
  "All I knew is that if I didn’t get to those doors before Mom and Dad got out, that I was gonna die." ([18:48])
• Stanton on media coverage:
  "The Menendez brothers became a meme before memes even existed, a joke that told itself. And in doing so, the world missed the bigger question. Not did they do it? That part wasn’t in dispute. But why?" ([30:47])
• Stanton, summarizing the impact:
  "When you strip away the spectacle, the sweaters, the sound bites, the media frenzy, what you find is pain. And here’s the thing. If the brothers were abused, and I believe they were, then you can’t separate that from why they killed." ([43:57])
• On shifting public understanding:
  "Belief doesn’t undo the past, but it can change what comes next. That same culture that once mocked Eric and Lyle now floods Internet comment sections with messages of support. So what changed? Was it us? Was it the brothers? Or was it just the way the story was told?" ([44:29])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:27—07:52 – Eric confesses abuse, Lyle’s reaction, the family’s secrets exposed
• 10:14—13:40 – Attempts to negotiate with parents, Jose’s cold refusal, escalation
• 14:27—15:09 – Eric’s and Kitty’s confrontation; realization that the parents are united
• 15:50—19:15 – Planning, gun purchase, the lead-up and execution of the murders
• 20:52—23:24 – Aftermath in court; defense vs. prosecution narratives
• 26:43—30:47 – The trial becomes a media event and object of national ridicule
• 36:30—39:00 – Retrial, ban on abuse testimony, speedy conviction
• 39:30—43:21 – Roy Rosello's testimony, shifting cultural and legal perceptions, resentencing in 2025
• 43:57—End – Concluding reflections on trauma, storytelling, and justice

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Final Reflection and Action

Celisia Stanton closes the episode by challenging listeners to reflect on what justice means in cases where no one fits the expected mold of victim or villain. She encourages support for organizations like No More Tears, which promote restorative justice and healing for those impacted by violence, and provides resources for further engagement with the podcast and its community.

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This episode of Truer Crime unpacks not just the events, but the tangled narratives, competing perceptions, and social evolutions that have come to define the Menendez case. It invites listeners to hold space for contradiction, discomfort, and questions that linger decades later.

Transcript

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[B]

Because we were afraid.

[A]

Last time on Truer Crime, the Menendez brothers took the stand and changed everything. They didn't deny what they'd done. They explained why. And for the first time, the courtroom and the country heard a different story. A story about fear, about abuse, about two young, young men forced into silence. But there's still one piece of this story I haven't told. What happened in the days and hours leading up to the murders? What pushed two sons from panic to planning? And how do they explain the moment they pulled the trigger? Because this isn't just a courtroom drama. It's a story of unraveling, of terror, of choices that can't be undone. Today. I'll walk you through those final days. And not just as they were told by lawyers and the press, but through the brothers own words. This is the story of the Menendez Brothers, Part 3. My name is Cecia Stanton, and you're listening to Truer Crime. To understand what happened the night of the murders, we have to go back to those last few weeks of summer. And inside the Menendez house, everything was starting to crack. And for Eric, it felt like his whole world was collapsing. His father had forbidden him from living on campus at ucla. If he wanted to go to college in the fall. Jose told him he'd be expected to spend several nights a week at home. For Eric, this was devastating. The dream he'd been clinging to, of finally getting away, of getting out of that house, it suddenly vanished overnight. And then just. Eric watched something unfold between his mom and brother. A volatile argument. Kitty screamed at Lyle, and then she reached up and tore off his toupee. Eric had no idea his brother even wore one. And in that moment, something clicked. It wasn't just the humiliation. It wasn't just the fight. It was the realization that even now, this family was still keeping secrets. And Eric couldn't hold his inside any longer. Here's Lyle.

[B]

He wanted to talk to me.

[A]

And.

[B]

I could tell something was wrong. He was sitting on the sofa, real timid and his head was down. And he just. I came in. He kind of looked up at me and he looked down and he said, I want to talk to you. And I figured it was about my hairpiece or something, but it seemed like something was wrong and something was wrong. He told me that some of these sack warriors. But he was very sad about the fact that he said we weren't a family because there were so many secrets.

[A]

Secrets that stretched back years that they'd both learned to swallow until now.

[B]

You know, he was basically shaking. And I asked him what was the matter. And at some point he couldn't tell me. And he just started crying. And I said, you know, you could tell me. What is it? And he told me that those things with his dad were still going on.

[A]

At first, Lyle didn't know what to do with the information. He lashed out.

[B]

I asked him if he liked it. I asked him why he didn't tell me. A long time ago. I asked him why he didn't fight back. Because he said that dad was forcing.

[A]

Him.

[B]

And he was just crying. Had no answers for any of it. Just crying.

[A]

But beneath the anger was something else. Guilt, horror. And something that felt like grief.

[B]

And I told him, you know, I believed him. And I did believe him.

[A]

It was the first time they'd ever talked about it out loud. A moment that carried more weight than either of them could undo. Because once the secret was spoken, the question became, what now?

[B]

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[B]

I talked to her in her bedroom and just told her. I don't remember. I just. I remember telling her that. That there were going to be some changes with regards to Eric living in the house probably, and possibly even going to live with me at Princeton.

[A]

Kitty didn't understand what he was trying to say, so he told her plainly.

[B]

I had to explain. And I said that dad was doing things to Eric, that I had found that out. And she said, what things? And she got very angry and I said sexual things. And she just exploded. Said that. Basically, all I remember is she saying that Eric's lying and coming toward me and saying if I want to talk to my dad. I mean, if I want to. I don't remember exact words, but basically that I was going to have to deal with my dad. She wasn't going to talk about it. And I couldn't get her to stay and talk about it. And so she left. And I just left.

[A]

That's when Lyle knew if they were going to make it stop, they'd have to go straight to the source. And Lyle believed that he could do that, that he could force their father's hand because he had leverage.

[B]

I was gonna go in there and just say all we wanted was for Eric, for it to stop, obviously, and then for Eric and I to go to the same school, and that's it. And, you know, no retaliation, nothing of that sort. No exposing him, which I knew would be his number one concern, really only concern. And he knew I could do that. Obviously he would know that. And so I really felt if I just mentioned it to him, that I knew and that it was gonna stop, and if I was forceful and I wasn't weak with it, he would have no choice.

[A]

But that's not what happened. Lyle confronted Jose, told him he knew what was going on, said exactly what he planned to. But Jose wasn't willing to just back down.

[B]

He just said, you listen to me. What I do with my son is none of your business. And he said, I warn you, don't throw your life away. Just stay out of it. He said that? Let me tell you what's going to happen. He said, you're going back to Princeton and your brother's going to ucla, like we planned. And we're going to forget this conversation ever took place.

[A]

Lyle tried to push back. He cursed. He threatened to tell police, the family. He said he wouldn't stay quiet.

[B]

After I threatened him, his demeanor changed pretty drastically. Then he said, he said, we all make choices in life, son. Eric made his. You've made yours. And then he just looked at me and he got up to leave.

[A]

That was the moment it shifted. The fear became something else, something heavier. Lyle was terrified. And deep down, he knew he hadn't fixed it. He'd made it worse.

[B]

I thought, oh, my God, he thinks I'm gonna tell people regardless. I knew what he was thinking, and I told him. I started pleading with him. Before he left. I got up and said, dad, you know I'm only gonna tell people if you don't stop touching Eric, if it doesn't stop. And he just looked at me and said, you're gonna tell everyone anyway. And he left. And I sat back down, thinking that it was a disaster and that I had just made it a hundred times worse.

[A]

Jose left for a business trip, but when he returned, he turned his attention back to Eric. It was then that he confronted his younger son in his room.

[B]

He started yelling at me. He was saying that he had told me never to tell Lyle and that he had warned me not to do that. And now he said that Lyle was gonna tell everyone and that it was my fault. And now Lyle was gonna tell everyone, and he was not going to let that happen.

[A]

Eric was terrified. He remembered what his father had always told him. If you tell, I will kill you. He bolted out of his room and ran crying into the den. Inside was his mom watching tv.

[B]

She said, what's the matter with you?

[A]

He told her she wouldn't understand. And then she said something that stopped him cold.

[B]

Well, she said, oh, I know. I've always known. You think I'm stupid?

[A]

That was the moment that Eric stopped seeing his parents as separate people. If she had always known, then to him they were the same. He looked at her and said, I hate you. And ran. After that night, in the brother's eyes, the truth was set. There was no more pretending, no more hoping someone would step in. Eric was terrified, and not just in the abstract. He believed his father was going to kill him. Maybe not that night, maybe not the next, but soon. And now his brother believed it too. So they started making a plan. It was August 18, two days before the murders. They drove from store to store, first in Los Angeles, then in San Diego, trying to buy guns. They were 21 and 18. But the process wasn't as easy as they thought. Handguns came with wait times. Some stores asked for id. Eventually they found a store that didn't ask too many questions. They used fake names, fake addresses, and walked out with two shotguns. Then they headed back to LA and tried to practice. But the gun range wouldn't let them in. It didn't allow shotguns. And besides, the ammo they had, that wouldn't be enough to stop a person. So they bought different ammo. Buckshot. A plan was in motion, but that didn't mean they felt safe. If anything, the fear was getting worse. Lyle and Eric spent the final weekend of their parents lives like they were waiting for something terrible to happen. And in a way, they were. On Sunday, August 20, the brothers made a plan to go out to a movie. But when they tried to leave the house, Kitty stopped them, said they couldn't go. Soon, Jose stepped in, forceful and cold.

[B]

And that's when my dad came in and sort of pushed her aside. He spoke to my brother and told him to go upstairs to his room and wait for him while he finished his movie. And then my brother like, didn't move, didn't know what to do. And I said, no, you're not gonna touch my brother. And we had a big argument.

[A]

But Jose didn't stop.

[B]

He was just ignoring me and telling my brother to his face to get upstairs and wait for him. And my brother left and went upstairs.

[A]

Eric knew exactly what that meant.

[B]

I said to myself, I'm never gonna let him touch me again. My dad told me to get to my room and that he would be there in a minute and he was gonna come up and there was gonna be sex and it was like an explosion.

[A]

In my mind, what followed was a blur. Lyle watched as their parents disappeared into the den, watched his dad close the doors. And in that moment, he knew what was coming next.

[B]

I was sure that that was it. They were in the den and my dad had closed the doors. And I didn't believe that the dad was going to finish any movie or talk to Eric. I thought he was just buying time. And I realized that they had been waiting for Eric to get home. And I just freaked out.

[A]

This was the moment. Lyle believed that their dad was going to make good on his promise to kill them. So he ran upstairs and told Eric, it's happening now. And they grabbed the guns. Here's Eric reflecting on the moment years later.

[B]

I remember running. I remember grabbing my gun. And I remember my hands trembling. And all I knew is that if I didn't get to those doors before mom and dad got out, that I was gonna die. It was the only thought in my head. I couldn't breathe. I was gonna die. I had seconds left. It was like every single thing that mom and dad had told me. That they were gonna kill me. How much they hated me. It was all happening right now.

[A]

They loaded their guns on instinct, barely breathing, shells clattering in their hands.

[B]

We were just loading as fast as possible and we just sprinted to the room, hoping to get there when they were not expecting us.

[A]

They burst through the doors.

[B]

I started firing. The lights were out. And I just. I remember seeing. I don't remember too well, but I remember seeing shadow right off to the right. And my brother over to the left. He ran off into that direction. And I started firing immediately in the direction of whoever was standing right there.

[A]

Chaos. Glass shattered. Smoke filled the room. When it was over, Lyle's gun was empty. But someone. Kitty, was still moving.

[B]

And so I reloaded.

[A]

And what did you do after you reloaded?

[B]

I ran around and shot my mom.

[A]

Where did you shoot her?

[B]

I shot her close.

[A]

Was that the last shot that was fired?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

They dropped their guns, sat in the foyer paralyzed. The TV still played in the other room, but the house was quiet again. Not peaceful, just silent. Everything you just heard. The fear, the confrontation, the desperation. It was laid bare in court, piece by piece, as the defense presented their case. This was their explanation, their confession, their attempt to help the world understand what had happened on the night of August 20, 1989. The detective said missing kids usually come home. What happens when they don't? Based on a true story Police looking for John Gacy.

[B]

We discovered bodies. By the looks of it, they're younger men. The things he did to those kids. He's sick.

[A]

The system failed these families.

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Devil in disguise.

[A]

John Wayne Gacy.

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[A]

To the prosecution, the version of events outlined by Lyle and Eric was ridiculous. To them, this wasn't a story of survival. It was calculated strategy, cold blooded ambition and selfishness dressed up as trauma. When it was their turn to make their case in court, they pointed to the money. The Menendez estate was worth $15 million. And in the weeks after the murders, the brothers didn't exactly disappear into grief. They shopped Lyle, bought a Rolex and a Porsche. Eric hired a tennis coach. They checked into luxury hotels. Prosecutors argued they weren't mourning, they were celebrating. And then there was the computer. According to Vanity Fair, Lyle hired a technician to wipe the family's computer in case their father had disinherited them. The implication was clear. This wasn't panic. This was premeditation. But one of the most haunting moments of the prosecution's case didn't involve money at all. It involved a photograph. The jury was shown crime scene photos, images I won't describe in detail here. But one photo in particular stayed with the courtroom. Kitty's eye, still open, appeared to stare at her son. As Vanity Fair described it, you couldn't help but think she was watching her son deliver the coup de grace. The prosecution called it overkill. Lyle had to reload. Kitty, they said, tried to run. Even if you believed the abuse, even if you believed they were terrified it was hard to square that with the way Jose and Kitty had died. That was the contradiction at the center of this case. A contradiction that would come to define how the world saw these two boys. Not just then, but for decades to come. This wasn't just a trial anymore. It was a cultural event, a televised drama that blurred the line between courtroom and stage. Vanity Fair described it like the Oscars. People lined up just to get a seat, and everyone had an opinion. Some court reporters said they were convinced the boys were telling the truth. Others thought it was all an act, just another performance from two entitled kids trying to dodge the consequences. The public was split. And maybe that's the thing that makes this case so haunting. The facts didn't change, but what people believed about them, that was always up for debate. Because once the cameras started rolling, the story stopped being about just what had happened. It became about how it was seen, who gets believed and who never had a chance. And it wasn't like the trial was just on TV. It was TV. When Court TV launched in 1991, it was the Menendez brothers who put them on the map. For the first time, a case this high profile, this shocking, this strange, was airing in living rooms across the country, gavel to gavel, and America couldn't look away. Two rich boys from Beverly Hills sobbing on the stand, accused of blowing their parents away with shotguns. They cried. They wore sweaters. They were soft spoken, polite. The dissonance between their demeanor and their crime was the perfect setup For Punchlines in 1993, Saturday Night Live aired a whole parody of the Menendez trial. Cue Court TV music, the logo flashing across the screen. Now cut to a young John Malkovich, badly wigged and playing Lyle Menendez on the stand. Kitty Menendez.

[B]

That's correct.

[A]

Then can you tell the court who did murder your parents? Our other two brothers, Danny Menendez and Jose Menendez Jr. Fake Lyle bursts into exaggerated sobs. Crossfade to Mike Myers playing a Court TV correspondent.

[B]

Good evening. I'm Greg Jarrett for Court tv. It was a startling day of testimony at the trial of Lyle and Eric Menendez. After several weeks of presenting its case, the defense stunned the courtroom with the revelation that not Only are there two other previously unknown Menendez brothers, Danny and Jose Jr. But that they in fact, committed the murder with which Lyle and Eric are charged. Later this afternoon, younger brother Eric joined Lyle on the stand. And in riveting testimony, they spoke of the secret existence of these two previously unknown Menendez brothers and the years of emotional abuse they suffered.

[A]

Back to the Courtroom. Lyle and Eric in matching outfits and answering questions in unison. Now, is it true your father never allowed your other two brothers, Danny and Jose Jr. Out of the house?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And that he never allowed them to go to school?

[B]

Yes. Yes.

[A]

Never had them in family pictures or.

[B]

Mentioned them to friends? Yes.

[A]

No driver's licenses, no birth certificates, no Social Security coverage.

[B]

My father said Danny and Jose Jr. Didn't deserve to have any official records.

[A]

Of their existence because.

[B]

They were weak.

[A]

And not good tennis players. The bit went on for another six minutes like this. It was absurd, but audiences loved it. This was sitcom material. A real family, real murders spun into a punchline about tennis. And SNL wasn't alone. Turning this tragedy into entertainment became a sport.

[B]

This week, in Living Color asks the.

[A]

Question, what if the Menendez brothers were black?

[B]

Did you talk to the governor, man? Did you tell him that it wasn't?

[A]

I fought, man.

[B]

I remember them flashes more than a stoplight.

[A]

Yo, I'm telling you.

[B]

Did he tell you that our dad tongue kisses better than our dates? Did he tell you that?

[A]

Everybody night. Our dad tucked us in.

[B]

He tucked us in with him.

[A]

You know, there have been so many great acting families.

[B]

You know, the Red Graves, the Baroys, the Menendez, the Fairbanks, the Reagan.

[A]

You caught it. Let my boys go. Oh, come on. They're so adorable.

[B]

They are too fine to go to prison. Woo.

[A]

And you know what? Lyle's my favorite. I'll tell you why. I know he wears a two.

[B]

But you know what?

[A]

It's not about looks when you're a guy like Lyle.

[B]

It's just not about that.

[A]

Get over it. And let's face it, Kitty and Jose had to go. Here's the deal. You stick a toothbrush up your 6.

[B]

Year old kid's ass, he gets to.

[A]

Blow you away in the family room.

[B]

That's the rule. Look, big guy.

[A]

Sir.

[B]

We just wanted to see what.

[A]

Was in your will.

[B]

I knew it.

[A]

We never should have let you play with those Menendez boys. The Menendez brothers will be free before I am. The Menendez brothers got home on time. Tabloids dubbed them the Rich Kid Killers. Talk radio hosts went in local news segments, joked about their sweater strategy, speculating that their soft clothing was a manipulation tactic meant to appear sympathetic to the jury. Jay Leno even did a segment where he dressed up in a disguise, pretending to be fundraising for the brothers legal fees.

[B]

Won't you help Eric and Lyle? Hi, folks. Want to help out the Menendez brothers? They're broke.

[A]

Oh, sure. I want to help them.

[B]

Yeah, you bet. I'll sit in the jury. You think it was an accident? It could have been an accident. Friendly fire.

[A]

And while the world mocked them, it largely ignored their claims of abuse. Few headlines grappled with the testimony itself, the stomach turning descriptions of control, humiliation and fear. And even fewer asked what it meant that these young men said they were abused and that their defense was we were scared we were going to die. Instead, it was easier to turn them into characters, because characters don't cry real tears. Characters don't walk around in fear. Characters don't make you feel complicit when you laugh. Some members of the Menendez family spoke out about it. They criticized the media coverage, begged reporters to stop reducing the trial to a punchline. But the critique barely made a ripple. By then, the story had taken on a life of its own. And what was lost in that transformation was the emotional center of the case, the reality that for all the contradictions, for all the money, the privilege, there was something darker lurking beneath the reality that abuse doesn't always look like we think it should. The courtroom was asking the public to sit with the unthinkable, to imagine that these boys had grown up in a house filled with secrets, that they had spent their lives swallowing their pain and pretending to be okay. But the culture didn't want to do that. It wanted something to laugh at. The Menendez brothers became a meme before memes even existed, a joke that told itself. And in doing so, the world missed the bigger question. Not did they do it? That part wasn't in dispute. But why? And what if they were telling the truth while the world mocked them? Back in the courtroom, things had reached a standstill. Two juries, two brothers, and five months of brutal emotional testimony. But when it came time to decide Eric and Lyle's fate, the courtroom didn't erupt. It stalled. Because despite the headlines, this wasn't a simple case of guilt or innocence. The judge had given the jury options from first degree murder all the way down to involuntary manslaughter. And the question wasn't just did they do it, it was why? What did fear mean in the context of murder? Could trauma explain the unthinkable? Were the murders an elaborate ploy for money or a desperate act of self defense? According to the Los Angeles Times, deliberations were tense. Some jurors even described them as nearly religious. The room was split. Some believed the brothers and others didn't. And then there were those who believed them but still couldn't accept fear as a justification. And notably, gender seemed to matter. Former jurors said that every vote for first degree murder came from a man. After 19 days, Eric's case ended in a hung jury. Eventually, Lyles did too. No verdict, no closure. Just two mistrials and the looming promise of a retrial. But the second trial, it would be an entirely different story. For starters, the cameras were gone, and so was the context. The judge ruled that allegations of Jose Menendez's abuse were inadmissible. As Eric told Netflix, the judge argued that because the brothers weren't women, battered women's syndrome didn't apply. And without that, the trauma Eric and Lyle described was deemed irrelevant. This time, there'd be no testimony from relatives, no stories from childhood coaches, no supporting voices at all. And to make matters worse, Lyle decided not to testify. Which meant that Eric took the stand alone. And as he later told Netflix the it felt like walking in cold. No background, no buildup. Just him. And if that wasn't enough, the rules had changed. Manslaughter was off the table. The jury had two Murder in the first degree or a full acquittal. The jury didn't take long. In less than a week, both brothers were convicted. Life in prison without the possibility of parole. For a long time, that seemed like the end of the story. But then came Roy Rosello. In 2023, the former Menudo singer came forward with a harrowing accusation that Jose Menendez had drugged and raped him when he was just 14 years old. Roy said it happened at the Menendez family home, that he'd been taken there by Menudo's manager, handed wine, and woke up disoriented and alone. This time, the world didn't laugh. No sketches, no tabloid jokes. Roy was believed. And suddenly, a door cracked open. Because if Roy's account was credible, what did that mean for the brothers? Eric issued a statement from prison. It's sad to know there was another victim of my father. And quietly, the public started asking questions they'd been too uncomfortable to ask before. Why was Roy believed but not Eric and Lyle? Was it timing? Class? Culture? All of the above? For most of American legal history, rape wasn't even legally considered something that could happen to men. According to the R Street Institute, the definition was once limited to carnal knowledge of a woman and abuse between fathers and sons that was buried even deeper. It's still one of the most under reported crimes in the country. That same R Street report notes that victims often don't speak up because they fear disrupting the family dynamic, because they feel shame, or because they believe that no one will take them seriously. And in the early 90s, that's exactly what happened to Eric and Lyle. But today, the cultural landscape is shifting. Netflix released a documentary about the brothers. TikTok creators reexamined hours of trial footage with fresh eyes and the old 1993 SNL sketch. The YouTube comments section is filled with viewers asking for it to be taken down. One person wrote, I was willing to laugh if this was funny, but this was brutally bad. Even Kim Kardashian voiced her support for Lyle and Eric. But not all the attention helped. Ryan Murphy's monster series reimagined the case with creative liberties that Eric publicly called dishonest and damaging. In a statement released through his wife, Eric said, this portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward, back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women. Murphy dismissed the backlash as faux outrage. He said the show sparked millions of conversations about abuse. But it leaves us with a hard question. Does visibility inherently equal justice, or is it just more pain packaged as content? In this case, though, visibility did lead somewhere. In 2024, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon recommended resentencing, citing new evidence, including a letter Eric wrote to his cousin Andy Kano a year before the murders, in which he mentioned his father's abuse as well as Roy Rosello's testimony. According to abc, nearly two dozen family members spoke in support of the brothers resentencing. Anamaria Baralt, a niece of Jose Menendez, said, if their case was heard today with the understanding we now have about abuse and ptsd, their sentencing would have been very different. And In May of 2025, it was. Eric and Lyle were re sentenced to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole. Belief doesn't undo the past, but it can change what comes next. That same culture that once mocked Eric and Lyle now floods Internet comment sections with messages of support. So what changed? Was it us? Was it the brothers? Or was it just the way the story was told? Some say if Eric and Lyle had been sisters, they'd be free by now. And maybe that's speculation, but it's also a mirror showing us how much belief depends on packaging, on performance and whether someone looks like a victim or a villain. The Menendez case helped usher in this new era. Televised trials, true crime fandom. As the founder of Court TV once said, even without a celebrity, if the story is sensational enough, people Will watch. And this story was sensational. Two wealthy brothers, a mansion in Beverly Hills. Shotguns, secrets, blood on the floor. It was easy to get caught up in the spectacle, to treat it like a season of television instead of a real family unraveling. But when you strip away the spectacle, the sweaters, the sound bites, the media frenzy, what you find is pain. And here's the thing. If the brothers were abused, and I believe they were, then you can't separate that from why they killed. That doesn't mean that what they did was right, but it does mean that their pain wasn't a subplot. It was central. And it means we have to reckon with the question they raised that nobody wanted to ask in 1993. What if the monster was real? And if you sit with that, really sit with doesn't erase the violence, but it reshapes how we see it. Because trauma doesn't follow rules. It doesn't conform to the logic of the courtroom or to some tidy arc of a TV trial. It's jagged, complicated, really inconvenient. So we're left with this. Two parents, two sons, a story the world wasn't ready to hear, and a question that still echoes 35 years later. What does justice look like when no one fits the part they're supposed to play foreign? Now that we've reached the end of our coverage of the Menendez brothers story, I wanted to leave you with one final way to take action, especially if you've been thinking about what accountability and healing could really look like in cases like this. There's this organization that I came across that I'm super moved by, and it's called no More Tears. It was founded back in 2002 by a group of incarcerated men at San Quentin Rehabilitation center alongside community advocates in the Bay Area. And its mission is really powerful. It's to reduce violence by empowering the very people who once contributed to it to become part of the Solution. For over 20 years, they've led violence prevention workshops and restorative justice healing circles inside prisons, reaching more than 10,000 men. And the impact is real. Of the more than 1500 no more tears graduates who've come home, 85% remain free citizens, and none have reoffended with violent crimes. Since founder Lonnie Morris was released in 2021, no More Tears has expanded their work beyond the prison walls. Now they offer healing circles, youth mentorship and re entry support throughout the Bay Area, all led by people who've lived it. By supporting no More Tears, you're helping to invest in community led solutions to violence and incarceration rooted in accountability, compassion and transformation. To learn more or to donate, you can visit nomoretearsq.com and as always, you can keep up with True Crime on Instagram, X Threads and bluesky truercrimepod. And if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to our Official [e-mail] to stay in the loop. And if you want to follow along with me personally, I'm on Instagram and TikTok. Alicia Stanton and I also write a weekly newsletter called Sincerely Celicia where I share my favorite recommendations and unfiltered thoughts on politics, culture and life. You can read past issues and sign up to get it straight to your inbox@sincerely celicia.substack.com A full list of sources and action items related to today's episode is available on our [e-mail] True Crime is created, hosted and written by me, Celisia Stanton, and is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Additional writing, research and production by Olivia Hussingfeld. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. Editing by Liam Luxon, artwork by Station 16, original music by Jay Ragsdale, and makeup and vanity set mix by Dayton Cole. Thank you to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at uta, the Nord Group and the team at Odyssey. For more podcasts like True or Crime, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit us@Tenderfoot TV. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of True or Crime. If you want an ad free version of the show plus early access to every episode for this month's episode case and tons of other great Tenderfoot podcasts. You can subscribe to Tenderfoot plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. It's a small way to support the work and it makes a big difference.

[B]

And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[A]

Uh, limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[B]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need at libertymutual.

[A]

Com. Savings vary underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.