As harrowing as the stories can be, true crime content on Netflix always manages to get people talking. The streamer’s latest buzzworthy release is the second installment of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters anthology series. After chronicling the cannibalistic antics and capture of Jeffrey Dahmer in 2022, this year the TV mogul is exploring how the infamous Menendez brothers – Lyle and Erik – attempted to get away with the murder of their parents, Kitty and Jose. The California-based family was incredibly affluent, but behind their picture-perfect façade were dark secrets and allegations of sexual abuse.
In August of 1989, Jose and Kitty were found dead in their Beverly Hills home after being shot more than 14 times. At first, the boys (18 and 21 at the time) appeared innocent thanks to their alibi. They used previously purchased shotguns to commit the murders and then quickly fled the scene, “which was gruesome enough that it looked like the mafia was involved,” as per StyleCaster. To keep police off their trail, Lyle and Erik made a distraught call to 911 claiming they had been at the movies and came home to a horrific tragedy.
Who Was the Therapist in the Menendez Case?
While they played the part of grieving sons, the Menendez brothers accrued over $700K ($1.8M today) in luxuries following Kitty and Jose’s death. They bought a restaurant, Porches and stepped up their tennis skills with an expensive instructor, causing eyebrows to rise around their community. According to Cosmopolitan, police wired up one of Erik’s friends in hopes of recording a murder confession, but it was actually a therapist named Jerome Oziel and his mistress who helped solve the puzzle.
Did Lyle and Erik Menendez Confess?
Two months after killing his parents, Erik left Dr. Oziel a concerning voice message that led to an in-person session on Oct. 31. During their chat, the 18-year-old spoke about experiencing nightmares and feelings of depression. He also confessed to the killings on tape, which the therapist later told his mistress, Judalon Smyth, about. After that relationship ended, Smyth went to authorities about the Menendez confession, suggesting she overheard one of the boys talking about shooting Kitty’s eye out of its socket.
Lyle was arrested on Mar. 8, 1990, outside the Menendez family home, meanwhile, Erik was taken into custody days later at Los Angeles International Airport; the latter was on his way home from a tennis tournament in Israel. Because the brothers violated doctor-patient privilege by threatening Oziel’s life, the audio confession was used in trial – though it took over two years for the evidence to be admissible.
Defense lawyers argued that Erik and Lyle acted in self-defense, but the prosecution stuck to the theory about the boys wanting their parents’ money. Besides the motive, it was also noted that the Menendez brothers bought their weapons days before the murder, indicating pre-meditation. While they did come from wealth, the killers testified that Jose sexually and emotionally abused them throughout their childhood and teen years. Their cousin, Andy Cano, verified that Erik told him about “genital massages” from Jose that were “beginning to hurt.”
Is. Dr. Oziel Still Practicing?
During the murder trial, defense attorney Leslie Abramson sought to discredit Oziel through accusations of “inappropriate relationships with patients,” which Smyth backed up but the doctor refuted. In 1997, Oziel was stripped of his psychologist license, the Los Angeles Times reports. His lawyer spoke with the outlet about the situation, explaining, “It just made no sense to come back to California and spend many thousands of dollars defending a license he doesn’t use in a state he doesn’t reside in.”
Dr. Oziel himself also reached out to Bustle about his work to clear up any misconceptions. “I did not surrender my license due to the accusation, which implies I gave up my practice because I did things alleged in the original accusation. That is flatly and completely false,” he declared. “I had phased out my practice because I had a major business offer that was highly lucrative and moved to be the CEO of a large business in another state a year and a half prior to the surrender… No agency ever found I did a thing that was improper or wrong.” According to Hollywood Life, these days Dr. Oziel resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico and works at the Marital Mediation Center.
