𝙰 𝙼𝙴𝙽𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚉 𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙿𝙾𝚂𝚃

𝙰 𝙼𝙴𝙽𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚉 𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙿𝙾𝚂𝚃

feat. a list of video sources, court tv feed, posts, and books surrounding the Menendez killings of 1989. 

I am creating this masterpost as a general source for info regarding the Menendez Brothers. This is a case I’ve been studying for the past month or so and have become increasingly passionate about. I care very much about Lyle & Erik deeply and knowing how much their case has been coming to light over social media I thought it might be helpful to create a little hub here on tumblr. I am going to do my best but I encourage, of course, for anyone who wishes to add onto this post and please share it. There will be a lot of links so I’m sure this post isn’t eligible to make it anywhere beyond my own blog (due to however tumblr is functioning these days) however, please be aware *huge trigger warning* this case talks a lot about physical, emotional, verbal, mental, and sexual abuse of both brothers by their parents. It is a tough case and as such, some of the video/reading material may be hard to endure. 

Unfortunately, I will not be putting any links from tik tok or instagram. I have neither and I know sexualizing the brothers on tik tok was a bit of a trend which I do not support. However, I am not against anyone else adding links as long as they are positive and not demeaning. 

Lastly, I just want to say that I believe the best source we have for viewing and educating ourselves on this case is the CourtTv feed itself– aka. the first trial. There you will be able to see and hear Lyle (left) and Erik’s (right) story and listen to their testimonies. You will be able to see them and listen to all the evidence in order for you to make your own opinion’s about the case. I will provide a link below as well as a link to the transcripts of the Second Trial.  

A BRIEF OVERVIEW: 

For anyone who isn’t familiar with this case: 

Lyle and Erik were convicted of killing their parents on the night of August 20th in 1989. They shot their parents s in their family home due to a lifetime of abuse as well as the strong belief that their parents were going to kill them. They were eventually caught and arrested several months after the killings and underwent their first trial three years later. They each had a different set of juries and defense lawyers (Jill Lansing & Michael Burt for Lyle, and Leslie Abramson & Marcia Morrissey for Erik). Despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of the defense, the jury was deadlocked and the trial was declared a mistrial. Had they been convicted during this first trial they would have faced the gas chamber and been killed. 

During the second trial the judge threw out most of the defense and they were no longer allowed to talk about the sexual abuse. There were also no camera and they were only aloud witness’s to testify about the boy’s state of mind prior to the killings. They now had only one jury instead of two and Lyle did not testify during this trial. The jury also no longer had the option to convict them of “imperfect self-defense.” 

In the end, both brothers were convicted of murder in the first-degree and sentenced to life without the possibility of patrol. Following the trial they were separated for more then twenty years, but are both now together, currently serving their time in the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility located in San Diego, California. 

links below the cut

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