Brothers in Arms

Here we take a look at a famous crime that took place almost twenty years ago that captivated America

Two boys, heading towards manhood, perhaps already men, yet without the maturity to behold such a notion, are under constant pressure from their father.

 

 

 

Their dad wants them to lead esteemed lives. Since they were children he has been strict, overbearing, tough. He will only be happy if his sons live the life he wants them to live.

 

 

The brothers think differently. Stuck between wanting to please their father so they can finally receive the love they’d always wanted and living the life they wanted to live.

 

They feel trapped. Each day seems to be another day that their living for their father. It isn’t their life. They have no where to go – nothing to do. They feel suffocated.

 

Worst yet, they have to sit back and watch their father’s poor treatment of their mother. Their father had no intention on being faithful to his wife – affair after affair and yet he wouldn’t allow his wife to leave him, either.

 

The older brother was unfortunate enough to have had the ‘pleasure’ of working with his father. While there he saw that his father treated his employees just as he treated his family. He could sense everyone around him stiffen up as soon as his dad walked into the room. His father was unreasonable with his staff, he yelled at them, and humiliated them in front of their colleagues.

 

The brothers didn’t see a way out. All they saw was their life before them: everything laid out before them by their father. There was no other alternative, no possibility of doing what they wanted to.

 

They brothers had had enough. Thinking that they were making the only rational decision they had before them, they purchased shot guns and made the decision to kill both their father, and their mother.

 

They had decided that their mother – who was severely depressed and suicidal – would not cope with life without her husband – so the brothers planned to kill her as well.

 

As their parents sat watching a James Bond film, the brothers entered the house, shooting their parents. They had to reload before finally killing their mother.

 

The brother names were Lyle and Erik Menendez. Their parents: Jose and Kitty.

 

Lyle and Erik initially weren’t suspects in their parents’ murders. But after hearing about the brothers’ excessive spending, police soon began to be suspect the brothers.

 

You see, they were free. Finally able to do what they wanted. The bought items to make them feel good. Erik got a tennis coach, Lyle bought a restaurant. Finally they were living their own lives, yet Erik’s conscious got the better of him. He needed to speak to someone about what they had done, and as his brother was away, Erik sought solace in his therapist.

 

Soon it all unraveled. The therapist and a friend he had listen in to the confessions, went to the police, and the brothers were arrested.

 

For the trial, their lawyer removed them from their dark, intimidating suits, and placed them in pastel sweaters and shirts, making them seem more wholesome, more boyish, and more naive.

 

It was revealed at the trial that the Menendez brothers suffered sexual abuse from their father on top of the emotional abuse. Some thought it a story to get a lighter prison sentence.

 

Does it make a difference? Is it okay to kill someone who sexually abused you? Is that any different to simply killing someone who had you shackled to their life?

 

I think the whole way the Menendez brothers’ trial played out was extraordinary. Here were two young, good-looking men from a good family, and they had just been found guilty of murdering their parents. The reports of abuse were dismissed by many as a chance to get a lesser sentence. The truth is we’ll probably never know what went on in their minds. Then of course there’s the fact that both Erik and Lyle have married since being in jail – it seems women have viewed them as heart throbs.

 

Do you remember the Menendez Murders? What is your opinion on it? Do you believe the brothers when they say they were being abused by their father, and is that an excuse for murder?

Reviews

[Anne Hill]

Thats hard, I can't say my true feelings without having been in the shoes of someone who was sexually abused.

[Dave Lounsbury]

Interesting read. I was only a kid when it happened but I remember following the trial. I remember knowing (even as a child) that the parents must have done something terrible to drive their children to that.
This was neat because I haven't thought about the case in awhile.
Good stuff.
Dave