Opposing opinions on the Menendez brothers murder case

Menendez Brothers Case

The Menendez murder case happened more than a quarter century ago but it is still one of the more notorious murder cases in the United States. It was the case of two men that were barely adults and how they shot and killed their parents. There are so many themes that could be looked at when assessing this case including affluence, child abuse, murder motives and the proper way to do a jury or judge-ran trial when so many of these factors exist. While there are many other notorious trials out there, the Menendez case is probably only eclipsed by the O.J. Simpson case in terms of how notorious and theme-laden it was (Blacno, J, 2015; CBS News, 2015; Time, 2015).

The case was a curious one. Indeed, Erik and Lyle Menendez had returned home around the same time that their parents had returned home from going on a yacht trip to fish for sharks. The parents of Erik and Lyle were watching a movie. Neighbors hear some large bangs but did not think much of it. When the couple was discovered, it was also found that the Menendez brothers were the likely culprit and they had been engaging in a lot of behavior that only a knowingly guilty duo would engage in. For example, they dumped the shotguns on a nearby street and they also bought tickets to movie to serve as an alibi. However, that did not last long as the alibi was an afterthought when the trial came to pass. The told a story of sexual abuse, mental abuse and so forth. The first set of trials for the brothers came up with a hung jury in both instances. The boys were tried at the same time but different juries weighed their guilt or innocence (Blacno, J, 2015; CBS News, 2015; Time, 2015).

The second trial happened almost immediately after the first one but was a lot different. First of all, cameras were banned from the courtroom. Second of all, the amount of media kerfuffle was a lot less with the second trial. The second trial was much more successful for the prosecution as both the boys were convicted of first degree murder as it was clear they pre-planned the murders, their getaway and their supposed rock-hard alibi. This case would seem to be an example of two brothers smelling riches and freedom as a result of an inheritance from their parents. Their initial plan was not terrible or bumbling, at least as far as "getting away with it" is concerned, but they were clearly putting on a facade so they could get rich off their parents death and ride off into the sunset (Blacno, J, 2015; CBS News, 2015; Time, 2015).

One interesting thing is that the trial is still heavily looked into and talked about. Indeed, CBS recently did a "twenty-five years later" approach to the trial and there is a litany of "wiki" and "pedia" pages about the murders. Lyle ended up actually marrying a pen-pal that he met through letters in prison. A woman by the name of Anna Eriksson married Lyle Mendendez but later divorced him for becoming a pen-pal with another woman. The two men are not held in the same prison but both are in California. Lyle is in Mule Creek State Prison and Erik is in Pleasant Valley State Prison (Blacno, J, 2015; CBS News, 2015; Time, 2015).

To play devil's advocate for a bit, it is clear that the brothers may indeed have been abused and mistreated by their parents. Perhaps they were treated as an afterthought while the parents accumulated and enjoyed their wealth. However, they clearly did not just "snap" as they bought the movie ticket and then they sure acted as if they were lucid and "together" in their minds. As such, the conviction of the brothers was surely the right thing and any appeals from the brothers should be upheld. It is unfortunate that they perpetuated the idea that they were justified in the murder of their parents. Unless they were being directly threatened by their parents and their lives were in imminent danger, the action of killing their parents was clearly not the right one. Indeed, there have been instances that could be considered second-degree murder to some and a crime of passion or temporary insanity for others that have still ended up in convictions. For example, there was a man that came home to see that his wife had seemingly killed two of their children, although one of them actually ended up surviving. In any event, the man promptly took a Mag-Lite flashlight and beat his wife to death. Rather than try to ply a story like the Menendez Brothers did, the man not only did not lie about what he had done (like the Menendez brothers did), he actually copped to what he did and pled to second degree murder with no argument or accusations as a means to offset what he had done (Blacno, J, 2015; CBS News, 2015; Time, 2015).