34: "Truth and Lies - The Menendez Brothers"

Shear Crime Podcast

This week, Kenzie and Ame are covering the documentary Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers - American Sons, American Murderers, found on Hulu. Erik and Lyle were convicted in 1996 for planning and carrying out the brutal murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion on a quiet Sunday evening. When the crime scene resembled that of a mafia hit job, the boys decided to keep the truth from the authorities. Not only did they seem to get away with murder for 6+ months, they also made is hard to ignore all they had gained from a monetary standpoint by the deaths of their mother and father through the payout of life insurance policies. When the truth is finally spoken to a psychologist, and leaked to investigators, the world would finally find out the truth of what happened to the Hollywood mogul and his wife. Since their confessions had been taped, the brother's only hope for a defense was to convince the jury of why they felt that their parents needed to be killed. Allegations of sexual abuse and molestation at the hands of their father was the most shocking claim that came about in court as to a motive. With the boys facing the death penalty, would this be enough to simply keep them behind bars?