Joseph Lyle Menéndez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menéndez (born November 27, 1970) are American brothers from Beverly Hills, California, who were convicted in 1994 for the 1989 shotgun murders of their wealthy parents, entertainment executive José Menéndez and his wife Mary (“Kitty”). Although the brothers were not considered to be suspects at first, suspicions were aroused when they began to spend money lavishly after the murders.
During the trial, the brothers claimed they committed the murders because of years of sexual and emotional abuse they had suffered at the hands of their parents, particularly their father. They were first tried separately, with one jury for each brother. Both juries deadlocked, which led to a mistrial. For the second trial, they were tried together by the same jury, which rejected the defense’s claim, and as a result, they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<1>
CITED REFERENCES
1. Wikipedia contributors, “Lyle and Erik Menendez,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_and_Erik_Menendez (accessed April 4, 2019).
