“I am the kid that did kill his parents,” Lyle Menendez, 48, told ABC News while being interviewed for the two-hour special, Truth And Lies: The Menendez Brothers. “And no river of tears has changed that and no amount of regret has changed it.”
“I accept that,” Lyle said, reflecting on how he and Erik Menendez, 46, murdered their parents in 1989. “You are often defined by a few moments of your life, but that’s not who you are in your life, you know. Your life is your totality of it…You can’t change it. You just, you’re stuck with the decisions you made.”
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It’s been nearly three decades that Lyle, then 21, and his 18-year-old-brother used shotguns to murder their father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Mary “Kitty” Menendez, in their family’s Beverley Hills mansion. On Aug. 20, 1989, the Menendez brothers shot Jose point-blank, in the head before moving on to kill their mother. Kitty was completely unrecognizable after being shot several times in the face and torso.
The Menendez brothers were arrested in 1990 and their murder trial was one of the most outrageous and publicized cases of the decade. While prosecutors accused the boys of murdering their parents to get ahold of the family fortune, Erik testified that their father sexually abused him. They feared their father would kill them to keep that secret safe.
“I’m the older brother so I find myself trying to protect Erik quite a bit through childhood, but pretty much trying to survive,” Lyle told ABC News. “It was pretty crushing to in the end to realize that I had not been able to protect to or save him from such horrible abuse as I thought.”
The initial trial ended on Jan. 13, 1994 in a mistrial, as jurors couldn’t decide if the brothers should be convicted of manslaughter (due to the alleged abuse) or of first-degree murder. However, a second trial in 1995 – one where TV cameras were banned from the courtroom – resulted in a first-degree murder conviction. Both Lyle and Erik were sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms with no parole.
Since then, the boys have reflected on their actions. Erik told Barbara Walters, 87, in 1996 that he feels “tremendous remorse” over the killings and that he “wish(es) I could take that moment back.” As for his brother, Lyle says he’s “more at peace” in prison, knowing that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Truth And Lies: The Menendez Brothers airs Jan. 5 at 9 P.M. on ABC.
What do you think about Lyle “regretting” killing his parents, HollywoodLifers?