Whereas brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez are pushing for his or her freedom, one man who investigated their double homicide case believes their life sentences needs to be upheld.
“If they were brought to trial again today, they would be found guilty,” Clark Fogg, a retired senior forensic specialist with the Beverly Hills Police Division, instructed Fox Information Digital.
Joseph Menendez, who goes by his center title Lyle, and Erik have been convicted of taking pictures their dad and mom, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, to loss of life of their Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, mansion in 1989.
They have been ordered to serve life in jail in 1996, however they’ve not too long ago been in search of lowered sentences.
Erik and Lyle Menendez pay attention throughout their trial within the Nineteen Nineties. (Ted Soqui/Sygma)
“The jury’s, you know, the judgment came down that they are to remain in prison for the rest of their life. … We have the best judicial system, you know, anywhere in the world,” Fogg stated. “And we have to abide by that and abide by what a jury feels and what the judge feels is appropriate based upon not only this case, but other cases.”
A brand new Netflix true crime drama, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” has sparked a spread of opinions on its accuracy and portrayal of the actual story from many years in the past.
Fogg believes the present is “totally inaccurate” and “based on facts that did not happen.”
MENENDEZ BROTHER, WHO GUNNED DOWN PARENTS, SLAMS NEW SHOW FOR ‘DISHONEST PORTRAYAL’
Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez on the steps of their Beverly Hills residence in November 1989. (Ronald L. Soble/Los Angeles Instances)
Erik Menendez printed his personal assertion via his spouse Tammi Menendez on X, saying the present creates “a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show.”
“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest 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,” Erik stated in his assertion shared by Tammi.
Fogg believes the brothers’ motive for the murders needed to do with “greed and money.”
“Why did they even have to kill their mom in the first place?” Fogg stated. “If you killed Mr. Menendez separately from her, she would end up getting the inheritance, right? So they had to eliminate both of them in order to have the inheritance.”
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An undated photograph of the Menendez household because it seems throughout a panel at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville June 2. Brothers Lyle and Erik have been convicted of fatally taking pictures each of their dad and mom in 1989. (Michael Ruiz/Fox Information Digital)
Fogg investigated the Menendez brothers’ case in 1989. He took pictures and preserved proof on the crime scene, attended the autopsies and took the stand throughout each trials. When talking with Fox Information Digital, he painted a horrific image of the crime scene.
“One of the detectives had to actually hold a golf umbrella over my head as I was taking photos because, every so often, things would be falling from the ceiling,” Fogg stated. “It comes down to one thing. The reason why they’re in jail is that they killed their mother and father brutally, not poison them, but shotgun them to death to a point that they were all over the ceiling. … That’s how brutally they were murdered.”
Fogg, who has spent 40 years working in legislation enforcement and has performed over 30,000 crime scene investigations, stated he had 44 rolls of movie from the Menendez crime scene.
“It looked like Mrs. Menendez was trying to get away because there was blood on the bottom of the soles of her shoe. … Even at that point, they kept on killing her with, you know, gunshot blasts, one after another.”
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This 1992 file photograph reveals double homicide defendants Erik, proper, and Lyle Menendez, left, throughout a courtroom look in Los Angeles. (Mike Nelson/AFP through Getty Pictures)
In 2023, attorneys for the Menendez brothers introduced the invention of a letter written by Erik Menendez to a cousin, Andy Cano, eight months earlier than the murders, by which he goes into element concerning the ongoing abuse by their father.
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad,” Erik writes within the letter. The brothers declare this letter helps their unique testimony throughout the first trial, alleging the abuse.
Fogg questioned the authenticity of the letter.
“We’re talking about his cousin dying, you know, two decades ago and then this letter mysteriously popping up,” Fogg stated. “So, my questions are, is this letter valid? Have they done a paper analysis on it? Have they done an ink analysis to determine whether or not the ink is actually dating from the 1980s?”
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Lyle, left, and Erik, proper, are pictured in latest mugshots from 2023. After years aside, they have been moved into the identical housing unit at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego in 2018, in line with the New York Day by day Information. (California Division of Corrections)
Relations of the brothers have not too long ago spoken out in assist of their freedom.
“We are virtually the entire extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez. We are 24 strong and today we want the world to know we support Erik and Lyle,” relations wrote in an announcement that Tammi Menendez posted to X in response to the brand new Netflix sequence. “We individually and collectively pray for their release after being imprisoned for 35 years. We know them, love them, and want them home with us.”
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of the Netflix sequence, instructed the Los Angeles Instances, “I think it’s faux outrage. I think that this story, this Netflix series, is the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years because it’s getting people to talk about it, and it’s getting people to ask the questions that are important.”
A separate documentary concerning the brothers, “The Menendez Brothers,” is scheduled to premiere on Netflix Oct. 7. The movie will “offer another perspective — that of the brothers themselves, provided in all-new audio interviews,” in line with a press launch.
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Fogg believes the brothers stay behind bars for good cause.
“They’re in jail, and they’re in jail for life without possibility of parole for one thing and one thing only,” Fogg stated. “You do not homicide your dad and mom. You do not homicide anyone, interval.”
