Menendez Brothers Lose Bid for New Trial | Crime Alert 6AM 09.26.25

After separate parole hearings both denied, judge also puts a stop to the Menendez brothers' motion for a new trial. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news now Lylin Eric
Mendez will not be getting out of jail. Lawyers for
the brothers convicted of killing both parents, Jose and Kitty,
filed a petition with the court signing two new pieces
of evidence. They claim the evidence supports claims of sex abuse.
LA Superior Court Judge William Ryan rejected the motion, saying

(00:23):
the new evidence was not compelling enough to produce a
reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one jurrr Lyln,
Eric Menendez will be eligible to apply for parole again
in three short years.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm Sidney Sumner. That's right. The Menandez brothers will not
be getting another trial. It's the conclusion of a two
year legal process reviewing a hebeas corpus petition filed by
the brothers' attorneys, Cliff Gardner and Mark Garragos. The petition
argued that two new pieces of evidence support the brothers
claim that their father, Jose Menendez, sexually abused them for years.

(00:58):
The evidence included a late nineteen eighty eight or early
nineteen eighty nine letter written by Eric Menendez to his
cousin Andy Cono, vaguely describing the abuse. The attorneys also
mentioned allegations from Roy Rosello, a former member of the
boy band Menudo, that Jose Menendez molested him as a teenager.
The attorneys claimed this proved that Jose Menendez was a violent,

(01:20):
brutal man that was still abusing his children just months
before his death. Prosecutors argued the new evidence is not new,
but a thirty five year old letter that Andy Cono
never mentioned despite testifying in both trials. Prosecutors said in
a habeas motion, new evidence must be submitted in a
timely manner, typically within five years, for the motion to stand.

(01:41):
They also claimed the letter likely would not have swayed
a jury to provide a different outcome, and ultimately, Judge
William Ryan agreed this decision on the heels of unsuccessful
parole hearings for both brothers, the separate boards both citing
anti social personality traits as reasons the brothers still pose
a threat to the public. Lyle Menendez expressed his frustration

(02:02):
with the decision in a Facebook post, calling the judge's
disregard of Rossello's allegations an exercise in mental gymnastics. Menendez
says their fight for freedom continues. Both Eric and Lyle
Menendez are eligible to be reconsidered for parole. In twenty
twenty eight, a sixteen year old North Carolina boy was
shot in the face by one of a group of

(02:22):
friends of a sleepover in Charlotte on Sunday. His family
said in a GoFundMe that they were told by doctors
Jeremiah Gonzalez would not survive his injuries. The crowdfunding page
reads quote on the night of September twenty first, sixteen
year old Jeremiah Gonzalez was doing what any teenager should
be able to do, spending time at a sleepover playing
video games with friends. Jeremiah was a bright, kind and

(02:45):
loving young man with his whole future ahead of him.
Yosu Ramos, twenty, has been charged with assault with a
deadly weapon with intent to kill in possession of a
stolen firearm. An arrest affidavit says that Gonzalez and Ramos
were at the home of friends twenty one year old
man and his seventeen year old brother. The seventeen year
old witness to the shooting told investigators that Ramos brought

(03:06):
two guns into the house, a smith and wesson. In
an ar style pistol. Ramos picked up the Smith and Wesson,
pointed it at Gonzales and pulled the trigger, the teen said,
adding that he had a habit of pointing unloaded weapons
at them and pulling the trigger. After the shooting, the
twenty one year old tried to offer aid while the
seventeen year old called police. Ramos grabbed the ar pistol

(03:27):
and fled. Police tracked his vehicle and arrested him. Investigators
found the gun used to shoot Gonzales on the bed
near the boy. Its serial number showed that it was stolen.
Court records show a pending charge of carrying a concealed
weapon against Ramos from twenty twenty four. He is being
held in the Mecklenburg County Jail on a one hundred
thousand dollars bond. He is due back in court in

(03:47):
October and charges are likely to be upgraded by that time.
More crime and justice news after this. A South Carolina
man has been arrested for keeping four people captive in
his basement, some allegedly for years. Police began investigating thirty
five year old Donnie Ray Birchfield Junior in August after
one of the people he was holding died. The warrants

(04:10):
for Birchfield's arrest accuse him of holding the four people
against their will, denying them food, medical treatment, and a
means to communicate with the outside world. The warrants say
one of the victims died, but her death was not
reported until the following day. They also say that Birchfield
kept a girlfriend prisoner and routinely choked her, telling her
he knows how to dispose of a body because of

(04:31):
past experience. He's also accused of stealing money from the
victims and using it to pay his credit card bills
and shop at Walmart. He was arrested on August first
and charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult, false imprisonment,
and domestic violence, but the charges were not made public
until last week. He has also been charged with fraud
and exploitation as well. Warrants say the woman who died

(04:53):
on July twenty fourth and her husband, who was also
kept in the basement, were vulnerable adults in Birchfield was
their caregiver. The other two victims were women in romantic
relationships with Birchfield. According to the court documents, one had
been at the home since September twenty twenty four, and
the other had lived there since twenty fifteen. The document
say Birchfield controlled every aspect of the victims' lives, when

(05:16):
they ate and used the bathroom, when they could leave
the basement, and when they could access their cell phones,
which he kept to prevent them from calling for help.
Teresa Henson said that the man found in the basement
was her developmentally disabled brother who was living independently until
he disappeared a few years ago. His wife was the
woman who died in July.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Hey really didn't say anything because I think he was
still like trauma and a shock. Now walked down the
room and just busted out crime because it was just
so heartbreaking.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Birchfield, who maintains his innocence according to his attorney, is
being held on a one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
bond and more charges are possible. For the latest crime
and justice breaking news, be sure to follow the Crime
Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this
Crime Alert. I'm Sydney Sumner, Engian