Bombshell twist in horror case of 'trust fund brat' brothers who murdered own parents
A Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, will air on Netflix from this Thursday on the infamous case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents
Robert Rand was uneasy as he knocked on the door on 722 North Elm Drive. Four weeks earlier, owners Jose and Kitty Menendez had been brutally murdered inside. Robert was there to speak to grieving sons Lyle, 21, and Erik, 18. The interview had been arranged by their aunt. He thought it strange the boys were still living there but things felt even more surreal when he stepped inside the Beverly Hills mansion.
He tells the Mirror: "I walked past the room where Kitty and Jose were killed. A chill went down my spine. I remember thinking if my parents had been brutally murdered in this house, I'd never live anywhere near it." It was then Erik and Lyle, the now infamous Menendez brothers, showed up in their tennis whites, tanned and laughing after just playing a game. It was hardly a picture of grief.
Robert didn't know then but the pair would soon become notorious as the Beverly Hills trust fund brats, the sons who butchered their parents, shooting their mother in the face, before going on a shopping spree. What Robert also didn't know was that their story would become his life's work, that he would become their friend, or that the boys would come to be seen as victims, driven to slaughter by their dad's sex abuse and their mum's ambivalence.
READ MORE: Woman speaks out on alleged sexual abuse by nuns at religious order school
Robert, now 70, has found new evidence that could potentially reopen their case a letter from Erik claiming they were the victims of abuse. The story has captured the attention of a new generation with millions of views for TikTok videos calling for the case to be re-examined. And from Thursday, Netflix begins a new drama, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, starring Chloe Sevigny and Javier Bardem as the brothers' victims.
But for Robert, it all started in September 1989. He says: "When I saw them in their whites they were happy. It was strange. I remember thinking 'People grieve differently'. I never thought I'd be linked to their story 35 years on. That I would still be writing about them, finding new evidence and being friends with them."
In March 1990, within a year of that first meeting, the brothers would be arrested. Erik had confessed to his therapist that they burst into the room while Kitty and Jose were watching TV. Jose was shot five times, including once with a shotgun aimed at the back of his head. Kitty survived eight bullets and was trying to crawl away when Lyle shot her in the face with a shotgun. The brothers then began a £500,000 spree, buying Rolex watches, holidays and a Porsche. It didn't look good.
Days after their arrest Robert visited the brothers in jail. He says: "They told me 'Don't make up your mind yet. Wait for the story to come out'." That story emerged in court. The defence claimed music mogul Jose was an overbearing tyrant who had abused the boys for years. Family members testified that they were aware of abuse and that Erik had told them it was happening. But this was the 1990s and the world still had a way to go in understanding the mental impact of such trauma.
The first trial jury couldn't agree a verdict. At the re-trial the judge disallowed many abuse allegations. The pair were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. Robert says: "What became known as the 'battered wife defence' had only been in California for around a decade. The 'abuse defence' became the 'abuse excuse', ridiculed by commentators. One prosecutor even argued that 'men could not be raped because they lack the necessary equipment'."
Robert says: "I remember sitting in the court in shock. Can you imagine that being said now? In the first trial there were juries for each brother. All the women voted for manslaughter and all the men went for murder. Afterwards, all the men said the same thing: a father would never do that to sons."
The brothers always maintained they killed their mother because she failed to help them. Says Robert: "She told them she knew what was happening. Her marriage meant more to her than her sons." In the Netflix trailer, Kitty tells her sons she wishes she "never had them". Says Robert: "That's based on what she told a family member."
The second trial did not end until 1996, months after the LA District Attorney had lost the OJ Simpson case. Robert says this was the reason the judge ruled out much of the sex abuse evidence. He adds: "It was bad timing. I believe Lyle and Erik paid the price for OJ's acquittal. The District Attorney's Office was determined to win at all costs."
Now, 30 years on, it's hoped a new hearing will finally get to consider the abuse claims. The brothers' lawyers have launched a habeas corpus action challenging the legality of their imprisonment. It has the support of more than two dozen Menendez family members who say Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, have served enough time. It's been backed by new evidence unveiled by Robert.
This includes a letter said to be from 17-year-old Erik to his cousin, Andy Cano, 15. Andy died from an accidental overdose in 2003. But in 2018, his mother invited Robert to look through his possessions and see if there was anything to help to the brothers.
The letter he found reads: "I've been trying to avoid Dad. It's still happening, Andy, but it's worse for me now. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I'm afraid. He's crazy. He's warned me a hundred times about telling anyone." Robert also spoke to Roy Rossello, a member of '80s Latino boyband Menudo, for a 2023 documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. In it, Rossello claimed Jose abused him. The habeas corpus petition, including Rosello's affidavit about alleged abuse, was launched a day after the film aired.
The new details are included in an updated version of Robert's 2018 book, The Menendez Murders, out this week. He says: "The boys should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. They would have still served time but would be out now. But they spoke about abuse at a time when it was taboo. It was before the Catholic Church abuse scandal."
Both Jose's sister Marta and Kitty's sister Joan Vandermolen have always supported their nephews. Speaking in 2017 Joan, now in her 90s, said: "My sister could have protected her kids. That was her job." There's also been an explosion of videos by Gen Z TikTokers dubbed New Menendez Defenders. Robert says: "My son alerted me to the videos. I couldn't believe it! I went down a rabbit hole for a few hours. I hope these and the Netflix drama will further highlight the case."
Lyle and Erik, played in the Netflix series by Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch, were at first in separate jails. But in 2018, they were reunited at San Diego Donovan Correction Facility. Robert saw them in February in neighbouring cells. He says: "We were all emotional as we hugged and laughed. The brothers see each other throughout the day and are so grateful to be finally together. They know about the Netflix drama but won't see it because they are only allowed to watch broadcast channels. What matters to them right now, above all, is the court outcome of the petition."
Of course, not everyone wants the pair freed. Kitty's brothers Milton and Brian Andersen testified for the prosecution. Brian has since died but Milton has always said he doesn't believe there was any sexual abuse. Last year he spoke out again, saying it was his dearest wish his nephews should never be released.
What they did was monstrous. But many of their growing band of supporters are hoping for the court to rule that monsters are made - not born.
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