August 3, 2025 • 17 mins
After 35 years in prison, the Menendez brothers are suddenly eligible for parole - and Erik is fighting for his life in a hospital. Reid Carter reveals how explosive new evidence, including allegations that Jose Menendez raped a Menudo band member, transformed America's most hated killers into TikTok heroes. The shocking May 2025 resentencing, Netflix's controversial dramatization, and the cultural revolution that changed everything. With their parole hearing just days away and Erik hospitalized with a serious condition, Reid exposes how two admitted murderers became Gen Z martyrs. Will society's changing views on male sexual abuse finally free the brothers who killed their parents?
Become a premium subscriber! (no ads and no feed drops). For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app which says UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING. You also get 25+ other series from comedy to paranormal, royals, romance, trivia, politics, movies, music, murder, sports, travel, religion, spirituality, celebrity gossip and feuds, consisting of THOUSANDS OF SHOWS AD-FREE! (it’s only $4.99 a month with a free-trial month) PLUS, subscribers get offers like early show releases and subscriber-only shows. Go to Caloroga.com for all our shows!
Become a premium subscriber! (no ads and no feed drops). For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app which says UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING. You also get 25+ other series from comedy to paranormal, royals, romance, trivia, politics, movies, music, murder, sports, travel, religion, spirituality, celebrity gossip and feuds, consisting of THOUSANDS OF SHOWS AD-FREE! (it’s only $4.99 a month with a free-trial month) PLUS, subscribers get offers like early show releases and subscriber-only shows. Go to Caloroga.com for all our shows!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter, and welcome
back to Celebrity Trials. Yesterday we explored how two privileged
brothers from Beverly Hills became convicted killers. Today we're diving
into something even stranger, how those same killers became TikTok heroes,
(00:26):
Netflix stars, and possibly future free men. Because here's what's
wild about the Menendez case. It won't stay in the past.
Every generation rediscovers it and sees something different. In nineteen
ninety six, when Lyle and Eric were sentenced to life
without parole, that seemed like the end of the story.
(00:47):
Two rich kids had murdered their parents for money, tried
to blame it on abuse, and justice was served. Case closed.
Except the case never really closed. It just waited for
America to change its mind about male sexual abuse, waited
for social media to turn true crime into entertainment, waited
(01:07):
for new evidence to surface, and waited for a Los
Angeles District attorney willing to take another look. On May thirteenth,
twenty twenty five, just two months ago, Los Angeles County
Superior Court Judge Michael Jessich did something that would have
been unthinkable in nineteen ninety six, he resentenced the Menendez
(01:29):
brothers to fifty years to life, making them immediately eligible
for parole. After thirty five years behind bars, Lyle and
Eric Menendez suddenly had what they'd given up on hope.
But as I record this on Sunday, August third, twenty
twenty five, Eric Menendez isn't preparing for his parole hearing
(01:50):
in eighteen days. He's in a hospital bed with what
his family describes as a serious medical condition. His attorney,
Mark Geragos is pushing for an emergency medical furlough, and
America is once again debating whether two admitted killers deserve freedom.
Let me tell you how we got here, How two
(02:11):
of America's most hated criminals became causes celebris, how Netflix
and TikTok succeeded, where million dollar defense lawyers failed, and
why the Menendez brothers might actually walk free before the
year is out. After their convictions in nineteen ninety six,
Lyle and Eric Menendez disappeared into the California prison system.
(02:33):
They were sent to separate facilities, the California Department of
Correction's way of preventing them from coordinating stories or causing
trouble together for years, the brothers who'd done everything together,
including murder, couldn't even speak to each other. But here's
what's interesting about their time inside. By all accounts, they
were model prisoners, not just well behaved, actually productive. Both
(02:56):
earned college degrees, Both became peer counselors. Both got married,
because yes, even convicted parent killers can find love through
prison pen pal programs. Eric married Tammy Sackerman in nineteen
ninety nine. She'd started writing him after watching the trials,
and she's been his most vocal advocate ever since. Lyle
married twice, first to Anna Erikson in nineteen ninety six,
(03:18):
though she divorced him when she found out he was
writing to other women. He married Rebecca Snead in two
thousand and three, and before you ask, no, California doesn't
allow conjugal visits for life without parole inmates, these marriages
are about as physical as a zoom relationship. In twenty eighteen,
after more than twenty years apart, the brothers were reunited
(03:41):
at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Witnesses
say they burst into tears when they saw each other.
Here were two men in their late forties who'd spent
more than half their lives in prison, hugging like the
boys they'd been when they decided to kill their parents,
and that image tu middle aged men who'd been boys
(04:01):
when they committed their crime is crucial to understanding how
public perception began to shift. In May twenty twenty three,
something happened that would have seemed impossible during the original trials.
New evidence supporting the brother's abuse claims surfaced, and it
came from the most unexpected source. Roy Rosello, a former
member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, came forward
(04:24):
in the Peacock docuseries Menudo plus Menendez Boys betrayed his
allegation that Jose Menendez had drugged and raped him in
the nineteen eighties when he was a teenager. Let me
put this in context for you. Menudo was the bts
of the nineteen eighties Latin music world. They were massive,
and Jose Menendez, as an executive at RCA Records, had
(04:47):
power over their careers. Rossello claims that Jose assaulted him
in a New York hotel room, and that this wasn't
an isolated incident with the band. Now one allegation from
decades ago doesn't prove the Menendez brother were abused, but
it does something crucial. It establishes that Hose Menendez may
have been exactly the predator his sons claimed he was.
(05:09):
It provides independent corroboration that the successful executive had a
pattern of abusing young boys. But wait, there's more, because
attorney Robert Rand, who's been investigating this case for decades,
found something in twenty eighteen that could have changed everything
if it had surfaced earlier. A letter allegedly written by
(05:29):
Eric Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano months before the murders.
The letter, which Rand says he found an addresser in
Cano's bedroom, appears to show Eric discussing the abuse. The
exact contents haven't been made fully public, but court documents
indicate Eric wrote about the abuse getting worse than his
fear of his father. Think about what this means. The
(05:50):
prosecution's whole case rested partly on the idea that the
abuse allegations were fabricated after the murders as a legal strategy.
But if Eric was writing about abuse use months before
he killed his parents, that destroys that narrative. It suggests
The abuse claims weren't made up for trial, they were
the ongoing reality the brothers were living with. Of Course,
(06:12):
former DA Nathan Hawkman, who took office after these developments,
isn't buying it. He's compiled a list of what he
calls sixteen unacknowledged lies the brothers have told over the years.
He points out that self defense claims don't work when
you buy guns in advance and ambush your parents while
they're watching TV. He's got a point, But here's what
(06:33):
Hawkman is up against. Public opinion has shifted dramatically, and
a lot of that shift has to do with how
we consume true crime in twenty twenty five, back in
a Moment. In September twenty twenty four, Ryan Murphy, the
(06:59):
guy behind American Horror Story and Glee, released Monsters the
Lyle and Eric Menendez Story on Netflix. It was the
second season of his true crime anthology following the Jeffrey
Dahmer series, and just like with Dahmer, Murphy's show turned
a decade's old case into water cooler conversation. But Eric
(07:19):
Menendez wasn't happy about it. In a statement released through
his wife, he called out the show's horrible and blatant
lies and accused Murphy of taking the case back to
an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a
belief system that males were not sexually abused. Here's what's fascinating.
Eric's criticism of the show might have done more for
(07:40):
his cause than the show itself. It reminded people that
these weren't just characters in Ryan Murphy production. They were
real people, still alive, still in prison, still maintaining their
abuse claims after thirty five years. Then, in October twenty
twenty four, Netflix doubled down with a documentary simply titled
(08:00):
The Menendez Brothers. This one featured actual prison interviews with
Lyle and Eric, no actors, no dramatization, just two middle
aged men in prison uniforms telling their story. The timing
couldn't have been better for the brothers or worse, depending
on your perspective, because suddenly everyone was talking about the
(08:21):
Menendez case again, and this time the conversation was very
different than it had been in nineteen ninety six. TikTok
exploded with Menendez content gen Z creators, most of whom
weren't even born when the murders happened, started making videos
defending the brothers. The hashtag Menendez brothers has billions of views.
(08:43):
Young people who've grown up in an era of hashtag
me too and greater awareness of male sexual abuse victims
saw the case through completely different eyes than the nineteen
nineties jury. The TikTok argument goes something like this, the
brothers were abused children who killed their abusers. They've served
thirty five years. Actual child molesters often get less time
(09:07):
free them. It's simplified. Sure, it ignores the premeditation, the brutality,
the lies, but it resonates with a generation that's more
willing to see victims as complex and violence as sometimes understandable,
if not justifiable. October twenty fourth, twenty twenty four, Los
Angeles District Attorney George Gascon dropped a bombshell. After reviewing
(09:30):
the new evidence, the shifting cultural understanding of male sexual abuse,
and the brother's exemplary behavior in prison, he was recommending resentencing.
Gascon's reasoning was careful and political. He said, I don't
believe that manslaughter would have been the appropriate charge given
the premeditation that was involved, but he also added, I
(09:52):
do believe that the brothers were subjected to a tremendous
amount of dysfunction in the home and molestation. Translation, they're
guilty of murder, but maybe not the kind of murder
that requires life without parole. The reaction was immediate and predictable.
Victims' rights advocates were furious. How could the DA recommend
(10:12):
leniency for two men who'd admitted to shotgunning their parents,
but supporters, including more than twenty Menendez family members, were ecstatic.
Joan Vandermuhlen Kitty Menendez, his own sister, held a press
conference saying, if Lyle and Eric's case was heard today,
with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD,
(10:32):
there is no doubt in my mind, their sentencing would
have been very different. Think about that the murder victim's
own sister was advocating for her killer's release. That's how
much the narrative had shifted. But then came a plot
twist worthy of Murphy's Show. In November twenty twenty four,
Gascon lost his re election bid to Nathan Hakman, a
(10:52):
former federal prosecutor who ran on a tough on crime platform.
Hawkman made it clear he opposed the resentencing, calling the
abuse claims fabricated and the brother's various explanations over the
years lies. For a moment, it looked like the brother's
hopes had died with Gascon's political career, but the legal
process had already been set in motion, and on April eleventh,
(11:15):
twenty twenty five, Judge Michael Jessex ruled that the resentencing
could proceed despite Hawkman's objections. Then came May thirteenth, twenty
twenty five, Judge Jesich resentenced to the brothers to fifty
years to life. Because they committed their crimes when they
were under twenty six, they immediately became eligible for parole
(11:39):
after thirty five years. The Menendez brothers finally had a
realistic path to freedom, but freedom isn't guaranteed. They still
need to convince a parole board that they're no longer
a threat to society, and that's where things get complicated.
Back in a moment. As I speak to you on
(12:10):
August third, twenty twenty five, Lyle and Eric Menendez are
just eighteen days away from the most important hearings of
their lives. On August twenty first and twenty second, they'll
face the California parole Board. If they can convince the
board they're rehabilitated, they could be free by fall. But
Eric might not make it to that hearing. He's currently
(12:30):
hospitalized with what his family describes as a serious medical condition.
His attorney, Mark Geragos, the same guy who defended Michael
Jackson and Chris Brown, is pushing for an emergency medical furlough.
He wants Eric released immediately for medical treatment and to
prepare for the parole hearing. It's a dramatic turn that
even Ryan Murphy couldn't have scripted. After thirty five years
(12:52):
in prison, Eric Menendez might get out not because of
changing attitudes about abuse, not because of TikTok campaigns, but
because he's too sick to stay inside. Meanwhile, Nathan Hashman
isn't giving up. He's submitted a recent psychological evaluation that
found the brothers at moderate risk of committing violence if released.
(13:14):
He's compiled his list of sixteen lies to present to
the parole board. He's fighting this release with everything he's got.
But here's what Hawkman is really fighting, a cultural shift
that's bigger than any one case. In nineteen ninety six,
male sexual abuse victims were punchlines not sympathetic figures. The
idea that boys could be raped by their fathers was
(13:36):
something people didn't want to believe. The Menendez brothers were
rich kids who killed for money. End of story. In
twenty twenty five, we live in a different world. We've
seen powerful men exposed as predators. We've learned that abuse
victims don't always act the way we expect. We've recognized
that trauma can make people do terrible things. The Menendez
(13:57):
brothers haven't changed we have. Does that mean they should
go free. That's for the parole board to decide. But
I'll tell you this, if Eric and Lyle Menendez walk
out of prison this year, it won't just be because
of new evidence or good behavior. It'll be because America
itself has changed its mind about who deserves sympathy and
who deserves a second chance. You know what strikes me
(14:22):
most about revisiting this case, It's not how much has changed,
it's how the fundamental question remains the same. Do abuse
victims who kill their abusers deserve mercy? And if so,
how much. The Menendez brothers have now spent more time
in prison than they spent free. They went in as
young men and might come out as grandfathers. They've earned degrees,
(14:44):
counseled other inmates, maintained marriages without physical contact by any
measure except the one that matters most, bringing their parents back.
They've been rehabilitated, But Jose and Kitty Menendez are still dead,
still shot multiple times at close range by their own children.
No amount of TikTok videos or Netflix documentaries changes that
(15:05):
fundamental fact. What has changed is our capacity for nuance.
In nineteen ninety six, you are either team prosecution their
greedy killers or team defense their abuse victims. In twenty
twenty five, most people acknowledge it can be both. They
can be killers and victims. They can deserve punishment and mercy.
(15:25):
They can be guilty and sympathetic. The parole board will
have to weigh all of this, the exemplary prison records
versus the brutal murders, the new evidence of Jose's predatory
behavior versus the premeditated nature of the killings, the brother's
youth at the time versus the decades they've already served.
And they'll have to do it while one of the
(15:46):
brothers fights for his life in a hospital bed, adding
another layer of drama to a case that's never lacked
for it. Here's my prediction. They're getting out. Not because
they deserve it. That's a moral question I'm not qualified
to answer, but because the zeitgeist has shifted and parole
boards don't operate in a vacuum. The same society that
(16:06):
condemned them in nineteen ninety six is ready to forgive
them in twenty twenty five. The Menendez brothers went to
prison as villains. If they leave, they'll leave as victims.
Same crime, same facts, different America. I'm read Carter with
celebrity trials. Tomorrow we'll be back to covering breaking legal
news as it happens, but this weekend we wanted to
(16:29):
remind you that sometimes the most important trials happen long
after the verdict. Sometimes justice isn't about what happened, it's
about how we choose to remember it. The Menendez brothers
killed their parents thirty six years ago. In eighteen days,
they'll find out if that's all they'll ever be, or
if America is ready to let them be something more.
(16:50):
Remember you don't have to be a celebrity going in,
but you will be one when the verdict comes down.
And Lyle and Eric Menendez. They've been celebrities, lawnger than
some of you have been alive. The only question now
is whether they'll die that way, or whether they'll get
what their parents never did, a second chance at life.
Justice isn't always fast, but it's always riveting, and sometimes
(17:13):
the most riveting part is watching society decide what justice
even means. See you tomorrow,
Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter, and welcome
back to Celebrity Trials. Yesterday we explored how two privileged
brothers from Beverly Hills became convicted killers. Today we're diving
into something even stranger, how those same killers became TikTok heroes,
(00:26):
Netflix stars, and possibly future free men. Because here's what's
wild about the Menendez case. It won't stay in the past.
Every generation rediscovers it and sees something different. In nineteen
ninety six, when Lyle and Eric were sentenced to life
without parole, that seemed like the end of the story.
(00:47):
Two rich kids had murdered their parents for money, tried
to blame it on abuse, and justice was served. Case closed.
Except the case never really closed. It just waited for
America to change its mind about male sexual abuse, waited
for social media to turn true crime into entertainment, waited
(01:07):
for new evidence to surface, and waited for a Los
Angeles District attorney willing to take another look. On May thirteenth,
twenty twenty five, just two months ago, Los Angeles County
Superior Court Judge Michael Jessich did something that would have
been unthinkable in nineteen ninety six, he resentenced the Menendez
(01:29):
brothers to fifty years to life, making them immediately eligible
for parole. After thirty five years behind bars, Lyle and
Eric Menendez suddenly had what they'd given up on hope.
But as I record this on Sunday, August third, twenty
twenty five, Eric Menendez isn't preparing for his parole hearing
(01:50):
in eighteen days. He's in a hospital bed with what
his family describes as a serious medical condition. His attorney,
Mark Geragos is pushing for an emergency medical furlough, and
America is once again debating whether two admitted killers deserve freedom.
Let me tell you how we got here, How two
(02:11):
of America's most hated criminals became causes celebris, how Netflix
and TikTok succeeded, where million dollar defense lawyers failed, and
why the Menendez brothers might actually walk free before the
year is out. After their convictions in nineteen ninety six,
Lyle and Eric Menendez disappeared into the California prison system.
(02:33):
They were sent to separate facilities, the California Department of
Correction's way of preventing them from coordinating stories or causing
trouble together for years, the brothers who'd done everything together,
including murder, couldn't even speak to each other. But here's
what's interesting about their time inside. By all accounts, they
were model prisoners, not just well behaved, actually productive. Both
(02:56):
earned college degrees, Both became peer counselors. Both got married,
because yes, even convicted parent killers can find love through
prison pen pal programs. Eric married Tammy Sackerman in nineteen
ninety nine. She'd started writing him after watching the trials,
and she's been his most vocal advocate ever since. Lyle
married twice, first to Anna Erikson in nineteen ninety six,
(03:18):
though she divorced him when she found out he was
writing to other women. He married Rebecca Snead in two
thousand and three, and before you ask, no, California doesn't
allow conjugal visits for life without parole inmates, these marriages
are about as physical as a zoom relationship. In twenty eighteen,
after more than twenty years apart, the brothers were reunited
(03:41):
at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Witnesses
say they burst into tears when they saw each other.
Here were two men in their late forties who'd spent
more than half their lives in prison, hugging like the
boys they'd been when they decided to kill their parents,
and that image tu middle aged men who'd been boys
(04:01):
when they committed their crime is crucial to understanding how
public perception began to shift. In May twenty twenty three,
something happened that would have seemed impossible during the original trials.
New evidence supporting the brother's abuse claims surfaced, and it
came from the most unexpected source. Roy Rosello, a former
member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, came forward
(04:24):
in the Peacock docuseries Menudo plus Menendez Boys betrayed his
allegation that Jose Menendez had drugged and raped him in
the nineteen eighties when he was a teenager. Let me
put this in context for you. Menudo was the bts
of the nineteen eighties Latin music world. They were massive,
and Jose Menendez, as an executive at RCA Records, had
(04:47):
power over their careers. Rossello claims that Jose assaulted him
in a New York hotel room, and that this wasn't
an isolated incident with the band. Now one allegation from
decades ago doesn't prove the Menendez brother were abused, but
it does something crucial. It establishes that Hose Menendez may
have been exactly the predator his sons claimed he was.
(05:09):
It provides independent corroboration that the successful executive had a
pattern of abusing young boys. But wait, there's more, because
attorney Robert Rand, who's been investigating this case for decades,
found something in twenty eighteen that could have changed everything
if it had surfaced earlier. A letter allegedly written by
(05:29):
Eric Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano months before the murders.
The letter, which Rand says he found an addresser in
Cano's bedroom, appears to show Eric discussing the abuse. The
exact contents haven't been made fully public, but court documents
indicate Eric wrote about the abuse getting worse than his
fear of his father. Think about what this means. The
(05:50):
prosecution's whole case rested partly on the idea that the
abuse allegations were fabricated after the murders as a legal strategy.
But if Eric was writing about abuse use months before
he killed his parents, that destroys that narrative. It suggests
The abuse claims weren't made up for trial, they were
the ongoing reality the brothers were living with. Of Course,
(06:12):
former DA Nathan Hawkman, who took office after these developments,
isn't buying it. He's compiled a list of what he
calls sixteen unacknowledged lies the brothers have told over the years.
He points out that self defense claims don't work when
you buy guns in advance and ambush your parents while
they're watching TV. He's got a point, But here's what
(06:33):
Hawkman is up against. Public opinion has shifted dramatically, and
a lot of that shift has to do with how
we consume true crime in twenty twenty five, back in
a Moment. In September twenty twenty four, Ryan Murphy, the
(06:59):
guy behind American Horror Story and Glee, released Monsters the
Lyle and Eric Menendez Story on Netflix. It was the
second season of his true crime anthology following the Jeffrey
Dahmer series, and just like with Dahmer, Murphy's show turned
a decade's old case into water cooler conversation. But Eric
(07:19):
Menendez wasn't happy about it. In a statement released through
his wife, he called out the show's horrible and blatant
lies and accused Murphy of taking the case back to
an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a
belief system that males were not sexually abused. Here's what's fascinating.
Eric's criticism of the show might have done more for
(07:40):
his cause than the show itself. It reminded people that
these weren't just characters in Ryan Murphy production. They were
real people, still alive, still in prison, still maintaining their
abuse claims after thirty five years. Then, in October twenty
twenty four, Netflix doubled down with a documentary simply titled
(08:00):
The Menendez Brothers. This one featured actual prison interviews with
Lyle and Eric, no actors, no dramatization, just two middle
aged men in prison uniforms telling their story. The timing
couldn't have been better for the brothers or worse, depending
on your perspective, because suddenly everyone was talking about the
(08:21):
Menendez case again, and this time the conversation was very
different than it had been in nineteen ninety six. TikTok
exploded with Menendez content gen Z creators, most of whom
weren't even born when the murders happened, started making videos
defending the brothers. The hashtag Menendez brothers has billions of views.
(08:43):
Young people who've grown up in an era of hashtag
me too and greater awareness of male sexual abuse victims
saw the case through completely different eyes than the nineteen
nineties jury. The TikTok argument goes something like this, the
brothers were abused children who killed their abusers. They've served
thirty five years. Actual child molesters often get less time
(09:07):
free them. It's simplified. Sure, it ignores the premeditation, the brutality,
the lies, but it resonates with a generation that's more
willing to see victims as complex and violence as sometimes understandable,
if not justifiable. October twenty fourth, twenty twenty four, Los
Angeles District Attorney George Gascon dropped a bombshell. After reviewing
(09:30):
the new evidence, the shifting cultural understanding of male sexual abuse,
and the brother's exemplary behavior in prison, he was recommending resentencing.
Gascon's reasoning was careful and political. He said, I don't
believe that manslaughter would have been the appropriate charge given
the premeditation that was involved, but he also added, I
(09:52):
do believe that the brothers were subjected to a tremendous
amount of dysfunction in the home and molestation. Translation, they're
guilty of murder, but maybe not the kind of murder
that requires life without parole. The reaction was immediate and predictable.
Victims' rights advocates were furious. How could the DA recommend
(10:12):
leniency for two men who'd admitted to shotgunning their parents,
but supporters, including more than twenty Menendez family members, were ecstatic.
Joan Vandermuhlen Kitty Menendez, his own sister, held a press
conference saying, if Lyle and Eric's case was heard today,
with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD,
(10:32):
there is no doubt in my mind, their sentencing would
have been very different. Think about that the murder victim's
own sister was advocating for her killer's release. That's how
much the narrative had shifted. But then came a plot
twist worthy of Murphy's Show. In November twenty twenty four,
Gascon lost his re election bid to Nathan Hakman, a
(10:52):
former federal prosecutor who ran on a tough on crime platform.
Hawkman made it clear he opposed the resentencing, calling the
abuse claims fabricated and the brother's various explanations over the
years lies. For a moment, it looked like the brother's
hopes had died with Gascon's political career, but the legal
process had already been set in motion, and on April eleventh,
(11:15):
twenty twenty five, Judge Michael Jessex ruled that the resentencing
could proceed despite Hawkman's objections. Then came May thirteenth, twenty
twenty five, Judge Jesich resentenced to the brothers to fifty
years to life. Because they committed their crimes when they
were under twenty six, they immediately became eligible for parole
(11:39):
after thirty five years. The Menendez brothers finally had a
realistic path to freedom, but freedom isn't guaranteed. They still
need to convince a parole board that they're no longer
a threat to society, and that's where things get complicated.
Back in a moment. As I speak to you on
(12:10):
August third, twenty twenty five, Lyle and Eric Menendez are
just eighteen days away from the most important hearings of
their lives. On August twenty first and twenty second, they'll
face the California parole Board. If they can convince the
board they're rehabilitated, they could be free by fall. But
Eric might not make it to that hearing. He's currently
(12:30):
hospitalized with what his family describes as a serious medical condition.
His attorney, Mark Geragos, the same guy who defended Michael
Jackson and Chris Brown, is pushing for an emergency medical furlough.
He wants Eric released immediately for medical treatment and to
prepare for the parole hearing. It's a dramatic turn that
even Ryan Murphy couldn't have scripted. After thirty five years
(12:52):
in prison, Eric Menendez might get out not because of
changing attitudes about abuse, not because of TikTok campaigns, but
because he's too sick to stay inside. Meanwhile, Nathan Hashman
isn't giving up. He's submitted a recent psychological evaluation that
found the brothers at moderate risk of committing violence if released.
(13:14):
He's compiled his list of sixteen lies to present to
the parole board. He's fighting this release with everything he's got.
But here's what Hawkman is really fighting, a cultural shift
that's bigger than any one case. In nineteen ninety six,
male sexual abuse victims were punchlines not sympathetic figures. The
idea that boys could be raped by their fathers was
(13:36):
something people didn't want to believe. The Menendez brothers were
rich kids who killed for money. End of story. In
twenty twenty five, we live in a different world. We've
seen powerful men exposed as predators. We've learned that abuse
victims don't always act the way we expect. We've recognized
that trauma can make people do terrible things. The Menendez
(13:57):
brothers haven't changed we have. Does that mean they should
go free. That's for the parole board to decide. But
I'll tell you this, if Eric and Lyle Menendez walk
out of prison this year, it won't just be because
of new evidence or good behavior. It'll be because America
itself has changed its mind about who deserves sympathy and
who deserves a second chance. You know what strikes me
(14:22):
most about revisiting this case, It's not how much has changed,
it's how the fundamental question remains the same. Do abuse
victims who kill their abusers deserve mercy? And if so,
how much. The Menendez brothers have now spent more time
in prison than they spent free. They went in as
young men and might come out as grandfathers. They've earned degrees,
(14:44):
counseled other inmates, maintained marriages without physical contact by any
measure except the one that matters most, bringing their parents back.
They've been rehabilitated, But Jose and Kitty Menendez are still dead,
still shot multiple times at close range by their own children.
No amount of TikTok videos or Netflix documentaries changes that
(15:05):
fundamental fact. What has changed is our capacity for nuance.
In nineteen ninety six, you are either team prosecution their
greedy killers or team defense their abuse victims. In twenty
twenty five, most people acknowledge it can be both. They
can be killers and victims. They can deserve punishment and mercy.
(15:25):
They can be guilty and sympathetic. The parole board will
have to weigh all of this, the exemplary prison records
versus the brutal murders, the new evidence of Jose's predatory
behavior versus the premeditated nature of the killings, the brother's
youth at the time versus the decades they've already served.
And they'll have to do it while one of the
(15:46):
brothers fights for his life in a hospital bed, adding
another layer of drama to a case that's never lacked
for it. Here's my prediction. They're getting out. Not because
they deserve it. That's a moral question I'm not qualified
to answer, but because the zeitgeist has shifted and parole
boards don't operate in a vacuum. The same society that
(16:06):
condemned them in nineteen ninety six is ready to forgive
them in twenty twenty five. The Menendez brothers went to
prison as villains. If they leave, they'll leave as victims.
Same crime, same facts, different America. I'm read Carter with
celebrity trials. Tomorrow we'll be back to covering breaking legal
news as it happens, but this weekend we wanted to
(16:29):
remind you that sometimes the most important trials happen long
after the verdict. Sometimes justice isn't about what happened, it's
about how we choose to remember it. The Menendez brothers
killed their parents thirty six years ago. In eighteen days,
they'll find out if that's all they'll ever be, or
if America is ready to let them be something more.
(16:50):
Remember you don't have to be a celebrity going in,
but you will be one when the verdict comes down.
And Lyle and Eric Menendez. They've been celebrities, lawnger than
some of you have been alive. The only question now
is whether they'll die that way, or whether they'll get
what their parents never did, a second chance at life.
Justice isn't always fast, but it's always riveting, and sometimes
(17:13):
the most riveting part is watching society decide what justice
even means. See you tomorrow,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!