How did the Menendez brothers get caught in real life? Arrest explained

The release date for the Menendez brothers Netflix documentary has arrived, shedding further light on exactly how Erik and Lyle were caught and arrested. 

The new true crime doc comes less than a month after Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which dramatized the 1989 murders of the brothers’ parents Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” at their Beverly Hills mansion, and the subsequent trial of the century. 

Much like Murphy’s Dahmer series, Monster Season 2 drew controversy, with many believing it painted the brothers in a bad light. Most salacious of all was the implication Erik and Lyle had a somewhat incestuous relationship, which the Menendez family slammed as “pure evil”.

The new documentary, simply titled The Menendez Brothers, explores the case in a different light, featuring input from family members, jurors of the original trial, and the brothers themselves, who reflect back on the moments leading up to their arrest. Warning: some may find this content distressing.

How the Menendez brothers got caught 

Ultimately, Lyle and Erik Menendez were caught and arrested after their therapist Dr Jerome Oziel’s mistress Judalon Smyth told the police there were taped confessions from the brothers. 

However, detectives had already started looking into the brothers as possible suspects in Jose and Kitty’s murders after their spending spree. Initially, Lyle and Erik provided police with an alibi, claiming they were at the movie theater on the night of August 20, 1989.

During the weeks that followed, Lyle and Erik spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury items such as a Porsche Carrera, a Jeep Wrangler, and Rolex watches. 

Erik dropped plans to enter UCLA and hired a $50K a year tennis coach, while Lyle bought a restaurant near the family’s former home in Princeton, New Jersey. 

Los Angeles Times journalist Alan Abrahamson says in the Netflix documentary, “Contrary to the way some people think, the police are not stupid. And when the brothers started spending money, the police were like, ‘Hmm. Wonder if that would be a motive?’”

However, while reflecting back on this period of time, Erik says, “The idea that I was having a good time is absurd. Everything was to cover up this horrible pain of not wanting to be alive. 

“One of the things that kept me from killing myself was that I felt like I would be a complete failure to my dad at that point.”

Lyle adds, “I was not enjoying myself as a playboy… I was actually sobbing a lot at night, sleeping poorly, very distraught at times, and kind of adrift throughout all those months.”

Lead prosecutor Pamela Bozanich also appears in the doc, describing how detectives were looking into the brothers even when they suggested the murders were likely a mob hit. 

She claims to have told the police they needed to find the murder weapon “or something major like that” in order to build a case for an arrest. 

“Finally, the investigators ended up in San Diego,” she says. “They found the place where they bought the guns using Lyle Menendez’s roommate’s stolen ID card. And when that happened the case was ready to go.”

According to reports at the time, the gun shop discovery was announced in May 1990 – two months after the brothers’ initial arrest. Smyth was the catalyst for this event, having gone to detectives to claim her former lover and therapist, Oziel, had recorded a confession. 

She gave the tip-off on March 5, 1990. After officers searched Dr Jerome Oziel’s home under a warrant, they seized the recordings and Lyle was arrested on March 8. Erik was in Israel for a tennis tournament at the time. When he returned home a couple of days later, he turned himself in.

Speaking in the documentary about the arrest, Lyle says, “They could’ve just called me and told me to come to the police station. It was a staged arrest for a media circus. They had called the media to be ready. 

“They arrested me with a SWAT team cornering the car on the road like I was a fugitive drug dealer or something. The secret of why this happened, the secret that you’re responsible – it’s a huge weight. So, there was a feeling of some relief, being arrested.”

“From that moment when I got off the plane and the detectives put handcuffs on me everything changed,” adds Erik. “It was an ending of my life at that point. I was a teenager and I had no idea of what was going to come.”

Following their arrest, the story went from being of local interest to an international sensation, making headlines across the globe. 

Menendez brothers are now advocates as they fight their case

Netflix’s The Menendez Brothers goes on to detail everything that’s happened since their arrest, including how Erik and Lyle have continued to raise awareness and advocate for male sexual abuse survivors. 

They are also fighting for freedom and, in May 2023, Erik and Lyle filed a habeas petition seeking to vacate their murder convictions, with new evidence corroborating their allegations of abuse. 

As is revealed in the doc, “The judge asked the District Attorney to respond and they await a decision.”

One of the most contentious aspects of the verdict is the fact that, following the first trials, the judge wouldn’t allow expert testimony on the lifetime of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse the brothers allegedly suffered at the hands of Jose and Kitty. 

It’s widely argued that the LA County District Attorney’s office needed a win after OJ Simpson was acquitted, and so made it difficult for Erik and Lyle to share their story. 

The brothers describe how different the perceptions of male sexual abuse survivors were at the time of their trials. Erik says that after sharing his story, “nobody wanted to believe me.” 

“It was a culture of silence,” he adds. “And that culture of silence existed up until the ‘90s, and I think it finally got broken in the ‘00s.”

Lyle says he found a weight lifted after talking openly about the alleged abuse, and he began receiving letters from other survivors sharing their experiences. 

Prisoners also share their stories with Lyle as they see him as a “safe place” to discuss what happened to them. 

The “60 day decision” explained

Following the release of Monster Season 2, Talia Menendez – Erik’s daughter through his marriage to Tammi – shared an update on Instagram saying they’re expecting an update about the habeas petition soon. 

Instagram: @seterikmenendezfree

“Within 60 days we will hear back from the LA County District Attorney office regarding their decision for Erik’s and Lyle’s appeal for freedom filed in May last year,” she wrote. 

“As everyone knows, there was new evidence proving the abuse endured after decades of not being believed and that evidence had been excluded from the retrial.”

Talia added, “I’m praying the DA / judge has compassion not only for what my dad and uncle endured but also the fact that all of us family wants them home. 

“Almost 35 years is enough time locked away. They have spent more time incarcerated than alive in the real world. Let that sink in. Set them free!”

A follower of the case asked the Menendez family members who run Lyle’s Facebook account if the 60 day claim is true, to which they replied, “Not true… I am so sorry for all you have been through but please do not believe random people on the internet.”

It’s worth noting that there is likely some confusion here. The follower asked if we will find out if the brothers will be freed in 60 days, whereas Tammi simply said they’re expecting to hear back from the DA office. 

Netflix

As explained by one Redditor last week, “What’s going on here is that the only thing that we will know about in 60 days is if the habeas corpus is approved by the DA. There will be no indication of release yet.

“The legal process is very long. If the DA says yes to the HC, then it will be passed onto the magistrate judge. If the judge approves it, then there will be hearings, most likely more than one. 

“The process will take time, it could take years. And any part of the court can kill the HC at any time.”

The Menendez Brothers is streaming on Netflix now. You can read more about the petition to set the brothers free, the Monster Season 2 ending explained, and what legal experts say about their current situation.