Menendez Brothers Timeline of Events: A Complete Timeline of the Entire Menendez Brothers Murder Case From Lyle and Erik’s August 20, 1989 murder of their parents through their March 1996 conviction.
The newest season of Netflix’s true crime series, Monsters, dives into the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers who were found guilty of killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Lyle and Erik said they committed the crime out of fear. The boys testified that they’d been sexually abused.
Instead of following a straight timeline, the nine episodes bounce around different points in their story. To help clear up any confusion about the order of events in Monsters: the Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, here’s a the full timeline of the Menendez murders, starting from their burglaries in 1988, the actual murders in 1989, their arrests in 1990, the two trials, and wrapping up with Lyle and Erik’s sentencing in 1996.
1988: Before the murders took place
Erik and Craig Cignarelli write a screenplay called ‘Friends’.
Erik and his best buddy from high school, Craig, came up with a movie idea about a rich kid who offed his parents for cash. Kitty is said to have typed up the screenplay. Although it didn’t make it into evidence during the trials that followed, it’s still an important piece of the puzzle.
Burglaries: The brothers burglarized the homes owned by parents of their friends.
Lyle got kicked out of Princeton for plagiarism and found himself back in California. While he was home, he and his brother pulled off two big burglaries. As Dominick Dunne mentioned in Vanity Fair, “These burglaries were significant; they involved cash, valuables, and some serious bling, totaling around $100,000, taken from neighbors’ safes. One of Erik’s buddies, who figured out the combo to his friend’s dad’s safe, was in on the first job.
That same friend got left out of the second heist and ended up snitching on them.” He went on to say, “Jose decided that Erik, who was still a minor, would take the blame for both of them. Thanks to a deal their lawyer worked out, Erik ended up with probation and mandatory counseling.” Erik then started seeing Dr. Jerome Oziel, and he signed a confidentiality waiver so Oziel could share anything he learned with Jose and Kitty.
Lyle starts at Princeton.
In 1987, Princeton accepted Lyle’s second application. He was accepted to the college more because of his background and tennis ability, over his actual academic successes. Lyle had pretty average high school grades. Lyle is accused of plagiarizing an assignment in his Psychology class, and then suspended for a year.
1989: The murders and confessions to Dr. Jerome Oziel
July 30, 1989: Erik and Lyle watch ‘Billionaires Boys Club’.
Billionaire Boys Club is a two-part television film that aired on NBC in 1987. It told the story of the Billionaire Boys Club, and its founder, Joe Hunt, who was convicted in 1987 of murdering con-man Ron Levin. This drama, inspired by real events, tells the story of Joe Hunt, a cutthroat investor who will stop at nothing to build his wealth through shady tactics. When con artist Ron Levin (Ron Silver) gets tangled up with Hunt’s dubious operations, their partnership takes a dark turn. Before long, Levin ends up dead, and Hunt believes he’s escaped the consequences of his actions. However, Hunt’s relentless ambition and greed may ultimately lead to his downfall.
Prosecutor Lester Kuriyama later claimed that the film’s storyline mirrors what the brothers did to their parents, and they had seen it just before the events unfolded.
August 19, 1989: The Menendez family shark hunting boat trip.
In episode four of Monsters, it’s revealed that the day before the murders, the family hired a charter boat named Motion Picture Marine for a shark fishing trip. The captain later mentioned that the brothers mostly hung out at the front of the boat, keeping their distance from Jose and Kitty.
August 20, 1989: The Murders – Lyle and Erik kill their parents.
Lyle, who was 18, and Erik, at 21, tragically took the lives of their parents, Jose and Kitty, on Sunday, August 20, 1989. They used 12-gauge shotguns and shot their parents a total of 14 times.
September 1, 1989: Erik confesses to Craig.
Erik’s confesses about the murders to best friend to Craig Cignarelli 12 days after the bloody shootings.
October 31, 1989: Erik confesses to Dr. Jerome Oziel.
Erik reached out to Dr. Oziel on the day of Halloween 1989. He later shared with journalist Robert Rand, “I struggled to explain why I was feeling suicidal because I hadn’t told him I killed my parents, so he wasn’t really understanding.” Erik felt the need to confide in someone, and he chose that moment to open up. “I really wanted him to reassure me that I wasn’t a bad person, but he couldn’t do that without knowing the truth about my parents.” After that, Oziel suggested they call Lyle to come to the office. Judalon Smyth mentioned she was in the waiting room during all of this.
November 17, 1989: Craig Cignarelli goes to the police.
At first, the police thought the murders were linked to the mob, which led Erik and Lyle to hop from one hotel to another to stay under the radar. But soon enough, the cops started to eye the brothers suspiciously and turned to Erik’s close friend, Craig Cignarelli, for assistance. According to Vanity Fair, Erik admitted to Cignarelli that he had killed his parents just 12 days after the crime. So, in November, a few months after the August murders, the police asked Craig to wear a wire to catch a confession on tape. But when Craig met up with Erik again, he backtracked on his earlier claim, saying he had lied and hadn’t actually killed his parents. On cross-examination, Cignarelli said he had initially told police on Nov. 17, 1989, that he remembered the confession occurring the month before, in October.
November 19, 1989: Craig wears a wire to dinner with Erik.
Craig, following the police’s request, brought a tape recorder to a two-hour dinner at Gladstones with his buddy. Later, when they talked about that night again, Erik switched up his story.
December 11, 1989: Dr. Oziel records Lyle and Erik on tape.
The therapist managed to persuade Lyle and Erik to allow him to record their sessions.
1990: The brothers are arrested
March 5, 1990: Judalon Smyth goes to the police.
Judalon Smyth plays a crucial role in the Menendez brothers’ case because of her connection with Dr. Jerome Oziel. She first crossed paths with Oziel in June 1989 when she was running a tape-duplicating business and suggested they market tapes of him discussing psychology. She told police that not only had Lyle and Erik confessed, but Oziel had tapes of their confessions. After, officers searched Dr. Oziel’s home under a warrant, seizing records and tape recordings.
March 8, 1990: Lyle is arrested.
Beverly Hills Police arrested Lyle outside his parents’ mansion.
March 11, 1990: Erik turns himself in.
When Lyle was arrested, Erik was in Israel for a tennis tournament. Erik flew from Israel to London, England, London to Miami and Miami to Los Angeles. On his departure at LAX International, Erik was met by the police. He surrendered at Los Angeles International Airport upon his retrial.
1991-1992 – Pre-Trial: Admissibility of Dr. Oziel’s Tapes
After the brothers were arrested, there was a heated debate between the state and their defense lawyers about whether the recordings made by Oziel could be used in court.
“Before the trial began, both sides argued over the admissibility of certain tapes recorded by the brothers’ psychologist during therapy sessions,” the American Psychological Association notes about the situation.
“The defendants claimed that these recordings were protected as confidential patient-therapist communications. However, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the recordings were not protected. Some of the content was considered outside the privilege due to California’s Evidence Code, specifically the dangerous patient exception. Additionally, other parts were ruled not privileged because the court found that the discussions between the psychologist and the brothers took place in sessions that weren’t intended for therapy.”
In August 1992, the California Supreme Court decided that two of Oziel’s recordings could be used in court due to the “dangerous patient” exception, but the other two couldn’t, including one where Erik confesses to the murders, because they were considered privileged communication.
Erik and Lyle Menendez in Court
1993: Trial – #1
July 20, 1993: The first trial beings.
Defense Lawyer Robert Shapiro worked with the Menendez brothers very briefly before the brothers switched to Jill Lansing (Lyle’s attorney) and Leslie Abramson (Erik;s attorney). Robert Shapiro was a top L.A. defense lawyer and represented former NFL star O.J Simpson in his 1995 murder trial of which Simpson was found Not guilty of the murders of former partner, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman.
They were put on trial together, but each had their own jury since some evidence could only be used against one brother and not the other, as reported by the Washington Post. Both brothers shared their experiences of the sexual abuse they faced. Interestingly, the trial was shown on CourtTV. According to John D. Rogers law office, the Menendez brothers’ trial stood out for a few reasons. One big factor was the extensive media attention it got.
It was broadcasted on national TV and captured the interest of the American public. Another key point was the introduction of the ‘extreme emotional disturbance’ defense, which was pretty new back then and hadn’t been seen in many previous cases. Plus, it was the first time the abuse defense was brought up in a murder trial.
1994: Mistrial
January 28, 1994: They were first tried separately with one jury for each brother. However, both juries deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial.
The jury informed the judge that they were completely stuck, according to the Washington Post. The New York Times mentioned that the jurors said the main issue causing their confusion was figuring out how badly the brothers had been mistreated and whether that mistreatment was enough to justify what they did.
1995: Trial #2
During their second, joint trial, the judge excluded evidences of abuse from their defence case. A jury found them guilty and the pair were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in 1996.
1996: Conviction and sentencing
On July 2, 1996, Erik and Lyle were both sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
As the trial wrapped up, Judge Stanley M. Weisberg decided that the ‘abuse excuse’ defense was off the table. This meant the jurors had to choose between completely acquitting the brothers or finding them guilty of murder, according to the New York Times. At that time, Time noted that the jury sided with the prosecution, believing the brothers killed their parents to access the family wealth, and dismissed the defense’s claim that the murders were a reaction to abuse.
Where are the Menendez brothers now?
The brothers have been fighting their conviction since they were sentenced. They were locked up in different prisons until February 2018, when Lyle got transferred from Mule Creek State Prison to the same place Erik was at, the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. They finally got to see each other again in April 2018. While serving their time, both brothers got married. Lyle has been married twice: first to Anna Eriksson in 1996, but they split in 2001, and then to Rebecca Sneed in 2003. Erik tied the knot with Tammi Saccoman in 1999. Tammi shared with NBC in 2005, “I wrote him a letter, he replied, and then I went to visit him in prison, and that’s how we started our relationship.”
In 2023, they went ahead and filed for a new hearing, citing new evidence: Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, claimed that Jose Menendez had assaulted him during his teenage years. Lyle is currently 56, while Erik is 53.
Menendez brothers 2023