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 must be upheld.Â
“In the event that they had been delivered to trial once more immediately, they’d be discovered responsible,” Clark Fogg, a retired senior forensic specialist with the Beverly Hills Police Division, instructed Fox Information Digital.Â
Joseph Menendez, who goes by his center title Lyle, and Erik had been convicted of taking pictures their dad and mom, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, to dying of their Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, mansion in 1989.
They had been ordered to serve life in jail in 1996, however they’ve not too long ago been in search of decreased sentences.
LYLE MENENDEZ, WHO SHOTGUNNED PARENTS TO DEATH WITH BROTHER, PLANS FOR LIFE AFTER PRISON AMID NEW APPEAL
“The jury’s, you realize, the judgment got here down that they’re to stay in jail for the remainder of their life. … We’ve got one of the best judicial system, you realize, wherever on the planet,” Fogg mentioned. “And we’ve got to abide by that and abide by what a jury feels and what the choose feels is suitable based mostly upon not solely this case, however different circumstances.”
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 true story from a long time in the past.Â
Fogg believes the present is “completely inaccurate” and “based mostly on details that didn’t occur.”
MENENDEZ BROTHER, WHO GUNNED DOWN PARENTS, SLAMS NEW SHOW FOR ‘DISHONEST PORTRAYAL’
Erik Menendez printed his personal assertion by means of his spouse Tammi Menendez on X, saying the present creates “a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant within the present.”Â
“It’s unhappy for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths a number of steps backward — again by means of time to an period when the prosecution constructed a story on a perception system that males weren’t sexually abused and that males skilled rape trauma in another way than girls,” Erik mentioned in his assertion shared by Tammi.Â
Fogg believes the brothers’ motive for the murders needed to do with “greed and cash.”
“Why did they even must kill their mother within the first place?” Fogg mentioned. “Should you killed Mr. Menendez individually from her, she would find yourself getting the inheritance, proper? So that they needed to get rid of each of them so as to have the inheritance.”
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Fogg investigated the Menendez brothers’ case in 1989. He took images 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.Â
“One of many detectives needed to truly maintain a golf umbrella over my head as I used to be taking images as a result of, every now and then, issues can be falling from the ceiling,” Fogg mentioned. “It comes down to at least one factor. The explanation why they’re in jail is that they killed their mom and father brutally, not poison them, however shotgun them to dying to a degree that they had been all around the ceiling. … That’s how brutally they had been murdered.”
Fogg, who has spent 40 years working in regulation enforcement and has carried out over 30,000 crime scene investigations, mentioned he had 44 rolls of movie from the Menendez crime scene.
“It regarded like Mrs. Menendez was making an attempt to get away as a result of there was blood on the underside of the soles of her shoe. … Even at that time, they saved on killing her with, you realize, gunshot blasts, one after one other.”
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In 2023, legal professionals 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 have been making an attempt to keep away from dad,” Erik writes within the letter. The brothers declare this letter helps their unique testimony through the first trial, alleging the abuse.Â
Fogg questioned the authenticity of the letter.Â
“We’re speaking about his cousin dying, you realize, twenty years in the past after which this letter mysteriously popping up,” Fogg mentioned. “So, my questions are, is that this letter legitimate? Have they carried out a paper evaluation on it? Have they carried out an ink evaluation to find out whether or not or not the ink is definitely courting from the Nineteen Eighties?”
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Family members of the brothers have not too long ago spoken out in help of their freedom.
“We’re just about your entire prolonged household of Erik and Lyle Menendez. We’re 24 sturdy and immediately we would like the world to know we help Erik and Lyle,” relations wrote in a press release that Tammi Menendez posted to X in response to the brand new Netflix collection. “We individually and collectively pray for his or her launch after being imprisoned for 35 years. We all know them, love them, and wish them dwelling with us.”
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of the Netflix collection, instructed the Los Angeles Instances, “I feel it’s fake outrage. I feel that this story, this Netflix collection, is one of the best factor that has occurred to the Menendez brothers in 30 years as a result of it’s getting folks to speak about it, and it’s getting folks to ask the questions which can be essential.”
A separate documentary concerning the brothers, “The Menendez Brothers,” is scheduled to premiere on Netflix Oct. 7. The movie will “provide one other perspective — that of the brothers themselves, supplied in all-new audio interviews,” in line with a press launch.Â
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Fogg believes the brothers stay behind bars for good purpose.Â
“They’re in jail, they usually’re in jail for all times with out risk of parole for one factor and one factor solely,” Fogg mentioned. “You do not homicide your dad and mom. You do not homicide anyone, interval.”