Menendez Brothers Convicted Sons Could Face Death Penalty For Killing Millionaire Parents

Six years after they burst into their Beverly Hills home and shotgunned their millionaire parents to death as they were watching television, Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder, a verdict that could lead to their executions.

The end of the 20-week trial, the second for the two brothers, came swiftly as the final jury panel took less than four days to decide that the two had committed premeditated murder.

Jurors rejected defense arguments that the brothers had been driven to kill their parents because they feared for their own lives after years of physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

Instead, the panel of eight men and four women apparently accepted the prosecution’s view that the brothers had been driven by greed and the desire to gain control of the $14 million estate of their Cuban immigrant father, Jose, 45, and their mother, Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, 47.

In the first trial, two juries separately considered the case against each brother and both panels deadlocked, unable to decide if they were guilty of first-degree murder or manslaughter.

Judge Stanley Weisberg, who declared a mistrial in January 1994, barred cameras from the courtroom for the second round and did not permit the jury to consider the manslaughter option because he decided there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the two acted in simple self-defense.

The judge also excluded so-called “imperfect self-defense,” the argument that the brothers were driven to kill because of years of abuse. That decision prohibited defense attorneys from calling 40 witnesses to the stand to support the brothers’ abuse claims.

The brothers looked pale but showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. Menendez family members, including their grandmother, also sat impassively. Later Erik, 25, turned toward his grandmother and mouthed the words, “It’s OK.” Lyle, 28, later sat quietly, holding his head in his hands.

After the verdicts were read, Weisberg barred the jurors and all of the lawyers involved in the case from speaking about it publicly. He then ordered the jury to return on Monday to consider the sentence.

Having found the brothers guilty of a double, premeditated homicide, the jury can recommend that they be executed for the crimes. The minimum sentence that can be imposed under California law is 25 years with the possibility of parole.

Legal experts said it could take weeks or even months for the penalty phase of the trial to be completed. The defense was expected to call dozens of witnesses to support the brothers’ contention that they were the victims of a tyrannical father who was impossible to please and of a weak, alcoholic mother who once locked baby Lyle in a closet so she could go shopping.

As the juries learned during both trials, the brothers hatched an elaborate plot to cover up their involvement in the Aug. 20, 1989, murders.

The 911 call reporting the murders came from the brothers, who told police they were at the movies when their parents were killed and returned home to a scene of carnage. During the call, the brothers could be heard wailing in what then appeared to be hysterical grief.

They later suggested that the Mafia might have been responsible for the murders.

The prosecution showed that the brothers had purchased two shotguns the day before the slayings and that they had tried to buy tickets for a movie they never attended in order to have stubs to support their alibi.

It was also revealed that Lyle had tried to convince several of his friends to lie under oath to help him.

The conviction was a significant one for Los Angeles District Atty. Gil Garcetti, who faces re-election next week.

Garcetti has been criticized for losing several high-profile cases, including the first Menendez trial and the O.J. Simpson prosecution.

After the first Menendez trial ended with hung juries, Garcetti refused to consider a plea bargain.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CHRONOLOGY OF MURDER A look at key events that shaped the murder trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez:

1989 Aug. 20: Jose and Kitty Menendez are shot to death in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle Menendez, in a 911 call, sobs: “Somebody killed my parents.” 1990 March: Lyle, 22, and Erik, 19, are arrested on suspicion of murder. 1992 August: The California Supreme Court rules that prosecutors may seek to admit as evidence the brothers’ taped confession to their psychotherapist. December: The Los Angeles County grand jury indicts the brothers, who plead not guilty. 1993 January: Prosecutors will seek the death penalty. May: Lawyers file court papers shedding light on the brothers’ defense: that they were victims of child abuse. June: Two juries are impaneled to consider evidence separately against the brothers. July: Opening statements. September: Lyle and Erik testify about sexual abuse by their parents. December: The juries begin deliberations. 1994 January: Juries deadlock and mistrials are declared. 1995 August: Jury selection starts for second trial. One jury impaneled. October: Opening statements. New prosecutors, David P. Conn and Carol J. Najera, emphasize the carnage of the crime scene. Defense claims Erik suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of a lifetime of abuse. December: Erik begins 15 days of testimony, insisting he didn’t know what he was doing when he killed his parents. 1996 January: Weisberg bars much negative testimony against parents. February: Weisberg throws out the brothers’ self-defense argument, and limits heat-of-passion defense to father’s slaying, effectively limiting verdicts in mother’s slaying to murder or acquittal. March 1: Case goes to the jury. March 14: Two jurors are dismissed for illnesses and the jury begins deliberations anew. March 20: Jurors convict the brothers of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their parents. The trial’s penalty phase, to determine if Lyle and Erik will go to prison for life or face the death penalty, begins Monday. - Los Angeles Daily News