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Lyle (left) and Erik (right) Menéndez during the first trial in 1992.
The allegation of sexual abuse by a former member of youth music band Menudo has once again put the spotlight on one of the most publicized murder cases in United States history.
Roy Rosselló made this complaint in the documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, as seen in a preview released by NBC.
Rosselló, who joined the band in the 1980s, accuses record manager José Menéndez of sexually abusing him.
This revelation could shed new light on a decades-old case that had the United States on edge: the brutal murder of Menéndez and his wife at the hands of their own children in 1989.
We analyze how this crime came about, the controversial trial that followed, and the unknowns that have resurfaced.
the murder
On March 20, 1989, Cuban-American José Menéndez, a top executive in the entertainment industry, and his wife, Kitty shot dead in his villa from the affluent Californian city of Beverly Hills.
His two sons, Erik and Lyle (then 18 and 21) called the police the next day.
They claimed to have found their parents dead when they got home.
Initially, the police followed the trail of mafia groups and other people close to Menéndez as possible perpetrators of the double murder.
However, the couple’s two children soon caught the authorities’ radar, in part because of the luxurious life they began leading after the death of their parents, buying apartments, sports cars and luxury watches.
Erik Menéndez made a mistake that would ultimately decide the case: he confessed to his psychologistdr Jerome Oziel how he and his brother murdered their parents.
The Judgments
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The brothers at one of the hearings in 1995.
The younger brother’s statement was leaked and reached the authorities, who accused them.
Both went Arrested in 1990 and charged with murderwhich was the beginning of a long series of legal proceedings.
The trial, which began in 1993, was one of the first to be televised and caught the attention of tens of millions of Americans.
Erik and Lyle admitted before the jury that they murdered their parents, but claimed they did it “in self-defense.” the alleged abuses psecologicallyphysically and sexually to which her father subjected her.
The brothers gave chilling details about the alleged beating and rape of José Menéndez and also claimed that he threatened them with death so they would not say what was happening.
Prosecutors, for their part, based their charge on the brothers’ cold and premeditated murder. inherit their parents’ estateestimated at $14 million.
Some jurors believed the brothers, while others supported the prosecutors’ approach.
Disagreement on verdict (manslaughter or murder) The first attempt was declared null.
In a second trial, the circumstances changed completely: it was held without cameras, and the judge limited the testimonies and evidence used by the defense about the allegedly abusive dynamics José Menéndez had imposed in raising his children.
Also, the defense was unable to produce witnesses to support the physical and sexual abuse that the young people attributed to their father, so the testimonies of both were virtually the only evidence their defense could turn to.
At that point, the judge ruled out manslaughter based on the alleged abuse, forcing the jury to choose between only two options: convict the defendants of murder, or find them not guilty and release them.
On April 18, 1996, brothers Lyle and Erik Menéndez They were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. No chance of parole.
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Eric Menendez in 2002.
27 years after that verdict, the confession by a member of Menudo about the alleged sexual abuse of José Menéndez has caused some to wonder if the trial lacked elements that needed to be considered before the two brothers were jailed for life.
In fact, the brothers’ defense attorney stated during the trial that she knew the story of a former Menudo member, but that she didn’t feel it was appropriate to call him to protect his career, according to the New York Daily News.
Erik and Lyle were held in separate prisons and communicated by letter for 22 years until they met again in 2018 at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where witnesses say they had an emotional reunion.
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