The Menendez Brother’s case tells the complicated, tragic story of Erik, Lyle, Kitty, and José Menendez. Between the attention gained from the media and deadlocked juries, the case became a sporting event, tearing the country in half. Unlike a typical true crime case, the question was not who committed the crime but rather why was it committed. Was it for money or did the catastrophic home lives of Erik and Lyle justify the murders of Mary Louise “Kitty” and José Menendez? Unfortunately, this question still lingers in the air, 34 years later. Between their disturbing childhood, family secrets, a 14-million-dollar inheritance, a convoluted narrative spun by various witnesses, and multiple years of trials, Erik and Lyle Menendez both received …show more content…
Whether Erik and Lyle were being truthful about the molestation that their father instilled, these images and memories only reside within themselves. Despite the contention of their reasoning, the brothers maintain the assertion that they did not murder their parents for money or greed, it was the result of abuse. On the night of August 20th, 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents, Kitty and José, in the living room of their Beverly Hills mansion. Busting through the double doors of the foyer, the brothers began firing bullets from two 12-gauge Mossberg shotguns. One of the brothers walked around the backside of the couch where their father sat, put the gun to the back of his head, and fired the fatal shot that killed José Menendez. The other brother found his mother trying to flee the horror show she was witnessing, put the gun to her mouth, and fired a bullet that passed through her hand, into her face, killing Kitty Menendez. Blood splatter covered the couch, walls, shutters, coffee table, and …show more content…
Kirk West quickly performed a visual check of the bodies lying mangled in the living room, not touching them but observing that the bullet wounds were those of a shotgun, although no shells were found on the scene. Although these small details seem insignificant, all authorized units are required to follow crime scene protocol. Observing and not handling evidence keeps cross-contamination and tampering low. With no shells found at the scene, investigators were unable to trace the striation marks left by the firing pin and the base of the shotgun. Red flags started waving as it was realized that the average person discovering two barbarously murdered bodies would have run out of the house to safety. However, it was noted that Erik and Lyle’s anguish seemed genuine, which caused monumental mistakes made by officers on the scene. According to Rand, 2018 out of pity for the brothers, “.detectives decided to forego routine chemical tests that would have determined if either of the young men had fired a gun that night.” This mistake would cost police months of further investigation as they failed to follow proper crime scene protocol. Despite a major misstep, investigators were able to rule out murder/suicide by conducting gunshot residue tests on José and Kitty (Rand,
The knife that served as the murder weapon was sourced from the kitchen. Their bodies, which were burnt quite badly, were found in their bedroom, which was upstairs. This crime scene was uncovered by fire officers who responded to a 000 call by a neighbor at approximately 3:34am, after Jeffrey had told him his parents and his brother were dead. At this point, Jeffrey creates his alibi that his brother Christopher is responsible for the murder of their parents and setting the bodies on fire, but it was he who murdered
These are not the only reasons for urgency to find a killer; the Solicitor General of Atlanta’s circuit, Hugh M. Dorsey, desperately needed a successful conviction because he had recently failed to convict two accused murderers. He was concerned about putting together a case that would hold up in court; no matter what lengths he had to go to in order to accomplish this. Overtime, it became obvious that Dorsey did not necessarily believe that Frank was guilty, but recognized that the political values of his position were uncertain.
While he fits the mold of serial killers such as David Berkowitz and the Boston Strangler, Resendez killed more meditatively for something he needed: alcohol, drugs, a place to hide out, though usually money. He raped, but "sex seemed almost secondary," according to former FBI profiler John Douglas. Douglas calls Resendez "just a bungling crook …very disorganized," but one whose own disorganization worked well for him. Because his trail was haphazard, because he himself didn’t know where he was heading next, this directionless, drifting form of operation kept Resendez inadvertently ever-the-more elusive. FBI special agent Don K. Clark says that the manhunt was complicated by the fact that Resendez had "no permanent address" while continuing to travel unchecked "throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Pilkington, Ed. "The Wrong Carlos: How Texas Sent an Innocent Man to His Death." TheGuardian. Guardian News and Media, 16 May 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Carlos Deluna was an American man who was convicted of first degree murder. Carlos was executed by the state of Texas for the killing of a 24 year old woman at the Shamrock gas station. The victim Wanda Lopez was stabbed multiple times apparently from a buck knife. Wanda Lopez was the attendant of the gas station and the police was senseless and oblivious to the tape at the gas station and only saw when she was giving the murderer the money yelling “You want it? I’ll give it to you. I’m not going to do nothing to you. Please!!!” There were only four eyewitnesses that was nearby when Wanda Lopez was murdered.
The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders makes a persuasive argument for DeSalvo being innocent of the strangling murders. She cites a number of reasons why she and others still believed that DeSalvo was innocent. One of the strongest of these reasons is that there was "not one shred of physical
A great deal of people viewed Simpson as a role model and someone they desired to be. Not for one second did any of those people even think about the thought of a man that “has it all” being on trial for murder. When most people view celebrities like Simpson, they imagine them with no flaws, but they only observe a glimpse of the person’s life. Some would say a majority of Americans prefer watching someone else’s life than pursuing their own, some Americans would even say that they have an infatuation with celebrities.
July 15, 1999, was an ordinary night for Kristopher Lohrmeyer as he left work at the Colorado City Creamer, a popular ice cream parlor. Kristopher had no idea that his life was about to end. When Michael Brown, 17, Derrick Miller and Andrew (Andy) Medina, 15, approached Kristopher and demanded his money and his car keys. Before the boys knew it shots had been fired and Kristopher was dead. About an hour after the fatal shooting of Kristopher Lohrmeyer, all three men were in custody and telling their version of the night’s events. Michael and Derrick who had run away after the shooting confessed to police and named Andy as the shooter. According to the three boy’s testimony, they had only recently met and needed away to get some quick cash, so they developed a carjacking scheme and headed to Andy’s house to pick up 2 stolen handguns. The three boys were uneducated and had spent most of their time on the streets in search of drugs. The judge ruled that they would be held without bail and there was probable cause to charge them all with first-degree murder (Thrown Away, 2005).
When the first responder got to the scene he adimatately meet the 911 caller, who lead him to a car in an apartment parking lot. The car doors were closed and all of the windows were fogged. The police officer used his flashlight to see inside of the car before opening the door. He found a young African American woman who had been shot several times. The officers quickly called for backup, investigators and medical personnel. While awaiting for their arrival he secured the crime scene with caution tape, creating an initial perimeter setup as discussed in lecture two. Once everyone arrived he left it to them to search the car while he talked to the 911 caller, witnesses and others who had information on who had been present in the car. The investigators were able to collect physical evidence of bullets and cartage casings that were found outside the vehicle and inside the vehicle on the floorboard of the driver’s side. The team determined the bullets came from a 40 caliber. Other types of physical evidence that were found on the scene were the bloody clothing on the victim, the victim’s cell phone and fibers in the car from the driver’s side. personnel at the scene crime took several photographs, powered test for finger prints and did a blood spatter analysis. Stewart’s autopsy revealed that she had been shot at close range in the left hand once and in the
On June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown, ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, was found murdered alongside Ronald Goldman (Dershowitz 19). Chapter one of Reasonable Doubts describes how many people jumped to the conclusion that O.J. carried out the murders. Incriminating evidence emerged that more than pointed to Simpson’s guilt (Dershowitz 21). Soon enough, media reports claimed that Simpson would be charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Simpson’s reluctance to be peacefully taken into custody was illustrated by his famous Los Angeles free-way chase that ended in his eventual surrender (Dershowitz 23). Dershowitz chose to join the defense team when offered the opportunity, claiming that the case could greatly educate people, especially his Harvard law students, on...
On August 20th, 1989 Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their parents inside their Beverly Hills home with fifteen shot gun blasts after years of alleged “sexual, psychological, and corporal abuse” (Berns 25). According to the author of “Murder as Therapy”, “The defense has done a marvelous job of assisting the brothers in playing up their victim roles” (Goldman 1). Because there was so much evidence piled up against the brothers, the defense team was forced to play to the jurors’ emotions if they wanted a chance at an acquittal. Prosecutor Pamela Bozanich was forced to concede that “Jose and Kitty obviously had terrific flaws-most people do in the course of reminding jurors that the case was about murder, not child abuse” (Adler 103). Bozanich “cast the details of abuse as cool, calculated lies” (Smolowe 48)...
"Know the Cases." Innocence Project. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, n.d. Web. 1 Mar 2011. .
Ted Bundy was an American born rapist, a necrophile, a serial killer and a kidnapper who assaulted and murdered several young women during the 1970’s. The criminal kept on denying the charges for more than ten years and later confessed to having committed the thirty homicide crimes in seven different states before his execution (Rule, 2009). Bundy’s handsome and charismatic appearance made it possible for him to easily win the confidence of young women who were always his targets. He broke into the dwellings of his victims at night and bludgeoned them as they slept. He also approached young women in public places where he impersonated an authority figure or feigned injury on his victim before empowering and assaulting them in a more secluded area where he left them dead (Rule, 2009).
The reinterpretation of the Leopold and Loeb case illustrates that it significantly altered America’s perception of childhood experience, mental health, and the media’s role in criminal cases. At the time, society struggled to comprehend how two young teenagers were put on trial as murderers – children were given sympathy for being targeted as victims. However, today journalists and reporters blame the way children are raised for committing crimes. The environment they grow up in and the values that are instilled within them are what influence their every action. While Nathan and Richard were raised in upper-class families, both endured difficult childhoods.
The O. J. Simpson Trial 1995 Professor Shea Criminology CCJ1001 July 26, 2017. It was the night of June 12, 1994, a woman and her long-time male friend were murdered in cold blood. The victims, Nicole Brown Simpson, her neck cut so savagely it almost severed from her body and Ronald Goldman, stabbed repeatedly, nearly 30 times. The accused, her ex-husband and football star, Orenthan James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson. During the trial, a trial that consisted of 150 witnesses, lasted 133 days and cost in the ball park of 15 million dollars, there were many questions asked and even more questions left unanswered (Douglas).