If you want a comprehensive book on the Menendez murders, your wait is over! I just read The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation by Robert Rand (thanks to BenBella Books and NetGalley) and now I know way more about this case than I did before, even though I watched every episode of NBC’s series Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.
Jose and Kitty Menendez were a classic “new money” Southern California couple in the 1980s, where Jose was a very successful businessman in the entertainment industry married to a former beauty queen, living the life of a multimillionaire family in Bel Air with their two sons. In 1989 they were murdered in what looked to police initially like a burglary gone wrong. Months later, they had no solid leads, but several theories were swirling around (including possibly a mafia hit or a revenge killing by a businessperson who felt wronged).
The case exploded into the national news when Lyle and Erik, the 21 and 18 year old sons were arrested. As the story unfolded, it was covered in depth by many journalists including Robert Rand, who covered the case from the beginning. He interviewed Lyle and Erik many times, both before and after they were arrested. Initially seen as classic “golden boys” who had been tragically orphaned, they were later viewed as confessed killers who were tried in one courtroom with two separate juries. Erik’s attorney, Lesley Abramson, was a flashy woman whose personality magnified the attention to the trial(s), which resulted in hung juries…it just went on and on. So, once the defense presented their justification of years of abuse and sexual abuse, the addition of sex crimes to wealth and murder results in a true crime trifecta!
Rand’s work was the primary source for the NBC series, and this book gives possibly more than a reader may want or need to know about this case. It has everything (even an appearance by O.J.Simpson!) and seems to now be the definitive work on this fascinating case. It is highly recommended for fans of true crime, and I give it five stars for being an incredibly entertaining and well-written true crime book (Rand is a true journalist).