Erik Menendez seen prior to the murders of his parents. He had a bright future, accepted to UCLA, and his brother Lyle wasa Princeton student when they shot and killed their parents Jose and Kitty inside their Beverly Hills mansion on Aug. 20, 1989. Initially the two were not suspected, as they convincingly played griving sons.
The brothers went on to spend money wildly after their parents murders, blowing through nearly a million dollars on everything from cars and jewelry to purchasing restaurants. Police then believed the had a financial motive in the murders and the brothers were eventually arrested in 1990. They were tried separately, but claimed that they killed their parents after years of sexual and emotional abuse. The first trial ended up with the jury deadlocked. A second jury ended up convicting both Lyle and Erik after the judge limited testimony about their abuse claims and took the manslaughter option off the table. The brothers were convicted of first-degree murder, and of conspiracy to commit murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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