Best of Season 1: The Menendez Brothers: "BLOOD MONEY: The Night Beverly Hills Lost Its Innocence" Part 1

0:00 Celebrity Trials is kicking off season two with a new host and new name. Hey, I'm Garrett Fisher, and starting March sixteenth, I'll be the new host on Daily Crime and Justice. It's the same great show, now with extra crime and extra justice. In the meantime, please enjoy this encore performance of one of Celebrity Trials classic episodes. See you on March sixteenth. We'll miss you, Read Carter and wish you the best. Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Read Carter, and welcome to Celebrity Trials. Picture this August twentieth, nineteen eighty nine, a warm Sunday evening in Beverly Hills. Jose and Kitty Menendez are settling in to watch TV in their Mediterranean style mansion on ELM Drive. They've got it all, wealth status, two sons at Elite universities, the American dream wrapped in a five million dollar bow. But at ten PM, their sons Lyle and Eric will walk through that door with loaded shotguns, and by ten fifteen, the Menendez parents will be so mutilated by close range blasts that responding officers initially think it's a mob hit. Kitty Menendez will be shot ten times, Jose six times. The crime scene will be so brutal that hardened Beverly Hills cops guys who've seen it all, will be shaken for the next six months.

1:29 Lyle and Eric Menendez will play the grieving sons perfectly. They'll spend their inheritance like lottery winners. They'll cry for the cameras. They'll tell anyone who'll listen about mysterious mob connections and business enemies. But here's the thing about perfect crimes. They only stay perfect if you keep your mouth shut. And Eric Menendez he couldn't handle the guilt, so he confessed to his therapist, and that confession would transform two rich kids from Beverly Hills into two of America's most infamous killers. This weekend, as we wait for breaking news from the courts, we're diving deep into one of the most sensational cases that captivated America before social media, before court TV became a household name, before true crime podcasts made everyone an armchair detective, A case that asked fundamental questions about abuse, privilege, and whether being a victim can ever justify becoming a killer. Because thirty six years later, these brothers are still making headlines. Eric is in the hospital with a serious medical condition. They've been resentenced, they have a parole hearing coming up on August twenty first, and a new generation on TikTok thinks they should be freed.

2:43 So let me tell you the story of how two boys from privilege became cold blooded killers, how they almost got away with it, and why America can't stop debating whether they're monsters or victims or maybe both. To understand what happened that night in Beverly Hills, you need to understand Jose Mendez. And let me tell you something, folks. Jose Menendez was the kind of American success story that makes other immigrants weep with envy. Born in Cuba, fled to America at sixteen after Castro took power. No money, no connections, just ambition that could cut glass. By nineteen eighty nine, he was a top executive at Live Entertainment, pulling down one million dollars. A year before that, he'd been at RCA Records, signing acts like the Eurythmics and Menudo.

3:29 Remember that detail because it's going to matter later. Jose didn't just want success, he demanded it. From everyone around him, especially his sons. Lyle, the older one, was twenty one in nineteen eighty nine, Eric was eighteen. These weren't neglected kids. They were overscheduled, over pressured, and, according to what they'd claim later, over the line into something much darker. The family lived in a nine thousand square foot mansion in Beverly Hills, not just any neighborhood, elm Drive, where the lawns are perfect and the secrets are buried deeper than the swimming pools. Kitty Menendez, the mother, was a former beauty queen who'd given up her teaching career to support Jose's ambitions. By all accounts, she was deeply unhappy, possibly depressed, definitely drinking too much. But from the outside, the Menendez family was goals before Instagram made that a thing. Two handsome sons attending elite schools. Lyle was at Princeton well he had been until he got suspended for plagiarism. Eric was a nationally ranked tennis player. They had the cars, the clothes, the country club memberships, everything money could buy.

4:39 What money couldn't buy was a functional family, and on August twentieth, nineteen eighty nine, that dysfunction exploded in a way that would captivate America for the next three decades. Here's how Lyle and Eric initially told the story. They'd gone out to see a movie Batman, The Tim Burton One with Jack Nickellson. They'd tried to meet a friend at the cheesecake Factory in Beverly Hills, but it was too crowded, so they'd driven around, eventually heading home around ten PM. When they walked in, they found their parents shot to death in the den. Lyle called nine one one, screaming, someone killed my parents. The nine one one call is haunting.

5:20 Lyle sounds hysterical. Eric is wailing in the background. These are either two boys who've just discovered the most horrific scene imaginable, or their oscar worthy actors. The operator has to calm Lyle down just to get the address. Police arrived to find a massacre. Jose Menendez was slumped on the couch, his head nearly blown off by a point blank shotgun blast. Kitty was on the floor in a pool of blood, her face unrecognizable. The violence was so extreme detectives initially thought it had to be a professional hit. Think about that for a moment. These weren't just murders. This was overkill in the most literal sense. Kitty Menendez was shot ten times. She'd tried to run and was shot in the leg, then executed on the floor. One shot was to the kneecap, what investigators call a mercy shot, meant to cause maximum pain. This wasn't just murder, this was rage. But here's where the story gets interesting. The brother's behavior in the aftermath was, let's call it unusual.

6:24 Within days of the murders, while police were still processing the crime scene, Lyle and Eric went on a spending spree that would make a Saudi prince blush. We're talking seven hundred thousand dollars in six months. Lyle bought a Porsche Carrera. Eric hired a tennis coach for fifty thousand dollars a year. They bought Rolex watches, designer clothes, and even considered buying a restaurant. Now people grieve differently. I get that, But grieving by immediately spending your dead parents' money like you just won the power ball that raised some eyebrows. Detective Less later said something that stuck with me. They were ordering wings and Buffalo chicken strips while supposedly planning their parent's funeral. It was like they were celebrating, but the brothers had explanations for everything. The spending they were trying to fill the void left by their parents' death, the calm demeanor, shock, the fact that nothing was stolen from the house despite it being a supposed robbery. The killers must have been scared off For six months, it looked like they might actually get away with it. Police investigated Jose's business dealings, looking for enemies. They looked into mob connections. They even investigated whether it might have been a mistaken identity hit meant for someone else. But Eric Menendez had a problem guilt, and in October nineteen eighty nine, he made the mistake that would unravel everything. Doctor Jerome Ojol was Eric's therapist. Eric had been seeing him for

7:55 various issues, and after the murders, the sessions intensified. During one session in October nineteen eighty nine, Eric broke down and confessed he and Lyle had killed their parents. But here's where it gets complicated. Oziol, who honestly seems like he walked out of a bad Hollywood screenplay himself, was having an affair with a woman named Judelan Smith, and he made the monumentally stupid decision to let her listen in on his sessions with Eric from the waiting room. According to Oziel's later testimony, Eric confessed that they'd killed Jose because he was too controlling and was planning to disinherit them. They'd killed Kitty because she was suicidal and they were putting her out of her misery, which, let me just say, is possibly the worst justification for matricide I've ever heard. Mom seemed sad, so we shot her ten times? Isn't exactly a compelling defense. Oziol, sensing that he might be in danger himself, told Lyle about Eric's confession.

8:54 Lyle allegedly threatened him, saying he'd kill him if he told anyone. So Usiel did what any reasonable person would do. He kept recording the sessions and told his mistress everything. This whole situation was a legal nightmare. Doctor patient confidentiality is supposed to be sacred, but there are exceptions, like when the therapist believes someone's life is in danger. Ozel claimed he felt threatened, which meant he could potentially break confidentiality. Meanwhile, Judelan Smith and Oziel's relationship imploded. She accused him of assault and controlling behavior, and in March nineteen ninety she went to the Beverly Hills Police department and dropped a bombshell.

9:37 The Menendez brothers had confessed to murdering their parents and she'd heard it all. On March eighth, nineteen ninety, Lyle Menendez was arrested outside the mansion where he'd killed his parents. Eric was in Israel playing a tennis tournament. When he learned about Lyle's arrest. He flew back and turned himself in. The perfect crime had lasted exactly two hundred and one days. Back in a moment, welcome back to celebrity trials, I'm Reed Carter, and we're examining how two rich kids from Beverly Hills transformed from suspects to cultural lightning rods. The Menendez brothers first trial began in July nineteen ninety three, and it was unlike anything the American legal system had seen before. This was one of the first trials broadcast gavel to gavel on court TV. Every tier, every objection, every shocking revelation was beamed into American living rooms. But here's what made this trial truly revolutionary. The defense strategy Leslie Abramson, Eric's attorney, and Jill Lansing representing Lyle, didn't deny that their clients had killed their parents. Instead, they argued something that would fund to mentally change how America talked about abuse. The brothers claimed they'd been sexually abused by their father for years, that Jose Menendez wasn't just

11:08 a demanding father, he was a predator who'd been raping his sons since they were children. They claimed Kitty knew and did nothing to stop it, and on the night of August twentieth, nineteen eighty nine, they believed their parents were planning to kill them to keep the secret quiet. Let me paint you the scene in that courtroom, Lyle Menendez, who looked like he'd stepped out of a Princeton Admissions brochure, breaking down in tears as he described being raped by his father, Eric barely able to speak. Talking about years of abuse, The brothers claimed Jose would force them into sexual acts, that he'd threatened to kill them if they told anyone that the abuse continued even into their teenage years.

11:50 The prosecution, led by Pamela Bozanitch called bs on all of it. They pointed out that the brothers had never mentioned abuse to anyone before killing them. Their parents, no teachers, no friends, no other family members had ever noticed anything amiss. The prosecution argued this was a calculated murder motivated by greed, and the abuse claims were a desperate attempt to avoid the death penalty. But here's what's fascinating about that first trial, the juries. Each brother had a separate jury couldn't reach a verdict. After months of testimony weeks of deliberation, both juries deadlocked. Some jurors believed the abuse claims and thought it was manslaughter, others thought it was cold blooded murder.

12:36 The hung juries were a victory for the defense and a humiliation for the prosecution. How could they fail to convict two men who admitted to shotgunning their parents to death? So they tried again. But the second trial, beginning in October nineteen ninety five, was different. Judge Stanley Weisberg made crucial rulings that favored the prosecution. Much of the abuse testimony was limit. The judge rule that even if the abuse happened, it didn't justify murder. The brothers weren't allowed to use the imperfect self defense argument that had created reasonable doubt in the first trial, and this time there was only one jury for both brothers. The second trial was less sensational but more damning. Without the emotional abuse testimony dominating the proceedings, the prosecution could focus on the facts, the planning, the lies, the spending spree. They played the nine to one one call repeatedly pointing out what they claimed were rehearsed emotions. They showed the jury photos of the crime scene, emphasizing the brutality of the killings. On March twentieth, nineteen ninety six, the jury reached a verdict guilty of first degree murder with special circumstances. Both brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

13:54 The Menendez brothers, who'd grown up with every privileged money could buy, would spend the rest of their lives in prison, or so everyone thought. Here's what fascinates me about the Menendez case. It refuses to die. Every few years, something happens that puts these brothers back in the headlines. New documentaries, new evidence, new generations discovering the case and asking uncomfortable questions. Were Lyle and Eric Menendez cold blooded killers who executed their parents for money or were they abuse victims who snapped after years of torture? Can it be both? And does it matter? The evidence for premeditation is pretty damning.

14:35 They bought the shotguns days in advance, using a fake ID. They waited until their parents were relaxed and vulnerable. After the murders, they picked up the shell casings to hide fingerprints. Not exactly the behavior of two boys in the grip of panic. The spending spree, the initial lies about mob hits, the fact that they drove around Beverly Hills after the murders to establish an alibi. It all points to calculation, not desperation. But then there are things that don't quite fit the greedy kid's narrative. Why confess to a therapist if it was all about money, why not just keep quiet and enjoy the inheritance. Some of the abuse testimony was corroborated by other witnesses, family members who said Jose was controlling and inappropriate, though none who witnessed outright sexual abuse.

15:25 And there's something else to consider. In nineteen ninety three, America, wasn't ready to believe that fathers could sexually abuse their sons. The idea that boys could be victims of sexual violence from their parents was still largely taboo. The prosecution played into this, suggesting that real men don't get abused, that the brothers were lying because no self respecting male would admit to being raped unless it was a desperate legal strategy. We know better now. We know that sexual abuse of boys by family members is tragically common and underreported. We know that victims often don't tell anyone for years or decades.

16:06 We know that abuse victims sometimes do terrible things. But knowing all that, does it change anything. Even if every word of the abuse allegations was true, does that justify walking into a room and shooting your parents with such violence that seasoned cops thought it was a professional hit back in a moment. You know what strikes me most about the Menendez case. It's not the brutality of the murders or the sensational trials. It's how it became a mirror for America's anxieties about family, wealth, and justice. In nineteen eighty nine, These were rich kids who killed their parents for money. Case closed by nineteen ninety three, they were possible abuse victims failed by the system. By nineteen ninety six, they were convicted killed who'd tried to game the system with fake abuse claims. And now in twenty twenty five, their TikTok causes celebs with gen Z influencers arguing they should be freed. The case has become a raw shack test. What you see depends on what you believe about abuse, about justice, about whether victimhood can excuse violence.

17:20 It asks uncomfortable questions about who we believe and why rich white boys claiming abuse must be lying, But what if they weren't. Tomorrow we'll dive into how this case exploded, back into the headlines, why Netflix can't stop making shows about it, and how new evidence has given these brothers something they haven't had in decades. Hope. We'll explore the letter Eric allegedly wrote to his cousin before the murders, the testimony from a former Menudo member who says Jose Menendez raped him too, and the medical emergency that has Eric Menendez fighting for his life while simultaneously fighting for his freedom. Because here's the thing about the Menendez brother They've been in prison for thirty five years. They've served more time than many convicted killers who've been paroled. They've been model prisoners, getting married in prison, earning degrees, counseling other inmates. They're not the same people who walked into that Beverly Hills mansion with shotguns in nineteen eighty nine.

18:16 But their parents are still dead. Kitty Menendez is still shot ten times, Jose Menendez's head is still nearly blown off. Those facts don't change no matter how many documentaries get made or how many tiktoks go viral. The question is what do we do with people who've done unforgivable things for reasons that might be understandable. How long is long enough and who gets to decide? I'm read Carter with Celebrity Trials Tomorrow, we'll explore how two brothers went from America's most hated killers to social media martyrs and why they might actually walk free after all these years. Because justice isn't always fast, but it's always complicated, and sometimes the most important trials happen decades after the verdict. Remember, you don't have to be a celebrity going in, but you will be one when the verdict comes down and the Menendez brothers. They've been celebrities for all the wrong reasons for thirty six years. The only question now is whether they'll die that way. See you tomorrow,