Menendez Brothers Murder House

Author: Jewls Krueger

On the night of August 20, 1989, brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez shot and killed their entertainment executive father Jose and their mother Kitty inside the family's Beverly Hills mansion with a pair of 12 gauge shotguns. The case, and the years of trials that followed, became one of the most publicly consumed criminal proceedings of the 20th century, and thirty five years later the brothers' fate is still being litigated in California's parole system.

The Menendez Family

Jose Menendez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1944 and sent to the United States alone as a teenager after the Cuban Revolution. He met his future wife Mary Louise "Kitty" Andersen at Southern Illinois University, and the two married in 1963. Jose rose through the ranks of the corporate world to become chief operating officer of RCA Records, where he signed artists including Duran Duran, the Eurythmics, and the boy band Menudo, and later chief executive officer of Live Entertainment. Kitty briefly worked as a teacher before quitting to raise their two sons full time.

Joseph Lyle Menendez was born in New York City on January 10, 1968, and Erik Galen Menendez was born in New Jersey on November 27, 1970. Both were raised in Princeton, New Jersey, groomed by their father from a young age for elite tennis careers, and attended the private Princeton Day School. In 1986, the family relocated to Los Angeles after Jose took the Live Entertainment job, and in October 1988 they purchased the Mediterranean style mansion at 722 North Elm Drive in Beverly Hills for roughly $4 million.

The Night of the Murder

During the evening of August 20, 1989, brothers Lyle Menendez (aged 21) and Erik Menendez (aged 18) murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, with a 12 gauge shotgun in their lush Beverly Hills mansion. Jose and Kitty had been on the couch in their den at the time of the attack. Jose was shot point-blank in the back of the head, which startled Kitty who jumped up from the couch. She tried to flee down the hall, but was shot in the leg, causing her to fall. She was then shot multiple times, including being shot once in the face which caused her to be unrecognizable.

After the grisly murders, they went to go see "Batman" starring Michael Keaton, then went to the "Taste of LA" food festival in Santa Monica. Upon returning to the house, Lyle called the police and claimed that someone killed their parents.

In the months following the murders, the brothers bought a Rolex, a Porsche, a full-time tennis coach, and a cafe among other things. By the time they were arrested in March of 1990, it was estimated that the brothers spent around $700,000.

The Arrest and Trials

The case broke through the brothers' own therapist. Erik had begun seeing Beverly Hills psychologist Dr. Jerome Oziel a few months before the murders as part of a plea deal on unrelated burglary charges. On October 31, 1989, Erik confessed the killings to Oziel during a therapy session, and Lyle joined the sessions shortly after. Oziel began recording the sessions and confided the details to his mistress and former patient Judalon Smyth. After Oziel ended their affair in March 1990, Smyth went to the Beverly Hills Police Department and told investigators about the recordings. Lyle was arrested outside the family home on March 8, 1990, and Erik turned himself in on March 11, 1990 after flying back from a tennis tournament in Israel. A subsequent legal battle over the tapes reached the California Supreme Court, which ruled in August 1992 that portions of the recordings were admissible.

The brothers were tried twice. Their first trial began in July 1993 before Judge Stanley Weisberg with two separate juries and was one of the first American criminal trials broadcast gavel to gavel on Court TV. The defense, led by attorney Leslie Abramson, argued that Jose Menendez had physically and sexually abused both brothers throughout their childhood and that they had killed out of fear. In January 1994, both juries deadlocked, and Weisberg declared mistrials. A retrial began in October 1995 in the same courtroom, but with a single joint jury and with the defense's ability to present abuse related testimony significantly limited. On March 20, 1996, the jury convicted both brothers of first degree murder and conspiracy, and on July 2, 1996 both were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Recent Developments

Renewed public interest in the case followed a 2023 habeas corpus petition citing new evidence to support the brothers' claims of childhood sexual abuse, including a 1988 letter Erik had written to his cousin Andy Cano, and allegations by former Menudo band member Roy Rossello that Jose Menendez had sexually assaulted him while at RCA Records. Interest surged further in the fall of 2024 with the release of the Netflix docuseries "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" and the Netflix documentary "The Menendez Brothers."

On May 13, 2025, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic resentenced Lyle and Erik Menendez to 50 years to life in prison, making them immediately eligible for parole under California's youth offender parole law. On August 21, 2025, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for Erik Menendez after a nearly 10 hour virtual hearing. On August 22, the board denied parole for Lyle after a 12 hour hearing. Both brothers are next eligible to reapply for parole in three years, though Lyle could be considered for administrative review within a year. Both are currently incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.

The Menendez Brothers House Today

The Menendez family home is located in an area of Beverly Hills known as "The Flats", about 1 block south of Santa Monica Blvd on N. Elm Dr. The home is located on the east side of the street and is a large, white, Spanish style home with a red tile roof.

The Mediterranean style villa was originally built in 1927 and was substantially redesigned in the 1970s and 1980s. It measures approximately 9,063 square feet, with seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms, a pool, tennis court, and a two story guest house on roughly a half acre lot. Before the Menendez family, the home was owned by television and film director Vincente Minnelli and had been rented at various points by singers Prince and Elton John, and a member of the Saudi royal family.

After the murders, the home was sold in 1991 for about $3.6 million. It was purchased in 1993 by television writer William Link, co creator of "Columbo" and "Murder, She Wrote." Since 2001 the home has been sold several times, most recently in 2024 for $17M. As of August 2026 the home has started extensive renovations, with scaffolding being seen covering the exterior of the home.

This location is a private residence so if you choose to visit, please be respectful of the current occupants and do not attempt to interact with them or any neighbors. Make sure to stay on public streets and walkways and never go on private property.