CA - Court upholds Menendez brothers' convictions

[Ray_of_hope]

I just watched Menudo and Menendez on Peacock. Roy from Menudo reports that he was repeatedly raped by Edgardo Diaz, the manager of the boy group. The 'genius' manager would retire the boys from the group when they were 16 years old and rotate new young boys, around 13 years old, into the group as the existing Menudo members aged out. They were signed in the USA for $30 million dollars by Jose Menendez when he was at RCA records. Roy reports that Menudo's manager told him that he was to meet with Jose Menendez on a certain date. Roy was picked up by a limo and brought to the Menendez home in New Jersey where he was served a large glass of wine at 13 years old. Roy was then brought up to a bedroom to audition, where he doesn't remember much blacking out, but he had rectal bleeding and pain for one week after. He reports another rape by Jose Menendez some time later.
This is the first time I've heard of an outside source claiming that JM was a pedophile. The interview was compelling IMO.
Mark Geragos has received this info and is taking it to the courts to see if he can get them a new trial.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

I haven't heard that Kitty was sexually abusive and I'm in the middle of looking for verification of that, but I've read that she was verbally abusive and cold with the boys, jealous of the time JM spent with them at their sports events, etc.

Update: I did find an article that stated that Jose and Kitty sexually abused the boys according to the boys.

 

[theonewithallthequestions]

Perhaps I am misreading portions of this. IANAL. RSBMFF:

“He wanted to leave Erik and Lyle off the will,” Baralt said. “I did express some concern about how he would tell them. . . . He said he already had.””

IIUC, if EM and LM believed they were written out of the will, then that might well appear to satisfy a key element of motive for why as others noted up thread that JM and KM were both slain. That would then remove or eliminate either potential owner(s) or designee(s). MOO

How? If they both believed they had already been written out of the will, killing their parents wouldn’t do anything to help them get back into the will. It would just ensure that they would get nothing

 

[gitana1]

How? If they both believed they had already been written out of the will, killing their parents wouldn’t do anything to help them get back into the will. It would just ensure that they would get nothing

But it would be revenge.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

I read about the trial at the time, and at no time did I believe the stories from the brothers that their parents were abusive. It seemed obvious at the time that the brothers were unhappy with the high expectations set by their father, and they wanted their parents' money without the work.

Easy way out - kill their parents, forget about studying and working, and enjoy the easy life.

Their lawyer was creative in terms of concocting a defence, but neither brother played the victim role well.

I agree with you and that was always my feeling. Now I saw another documentary where a boy group member has claimed that Jose Menendez raped him twice and it's got me thinking because this is the first independent person to make similar claims. I've been reading Robert Rand's book and all kinds of pro and con material.
Most importantly though, I think the fact that two people, in their 40's, murdered while asleep on a couch means that there has to be some really compelling evidence for Lyle and Erik to deserve another trial or freedom.

 

[theonewithallthequestions]

MOO - I believe some time in prison was deserved, but definitely not life without parole. The extensive emotional, physical, sexual abuse they suffered is horrific

 

[Seattle1]

“Police sources told the Los Angeles Times that a gun barrel was thrust into José’s mouth after he’d already been shot four times, and a final blast blew off the back of his head.”

Twisted truth behind Menendez brothers' story may free them after 35 years

Nearly 35 years into their incarceration, new evidence has been uncovered that could prove the brothers were victims of vile sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

www.1news.co.nz

It’s also in a 1989 LA Times article but that’s behind a paywall.

Thank you @gitana1.

I don't think it's disputed that the victims died of multiple gunshot wounds or the location of the wounds but I think there was a dispute during trial as to the number of shots that were fired. That said, it doesn't follow that police detectives, the confessed killer, and ME wouldn't testify accurately to the nature of the wounds at trial so I think I'll trust the trial transcript from witness testimony versus what a police source told the Times 35 years later! But makes for a good headline to promote the new Netflix series!

Also, we know from Jose's autopsy that evidence indicates the gun had literally been placed against the back of Jose's head (i.e., soot found on the wound).

JOSE MENENDEZ:

Dr. Irwin Golden of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office conducted their autopsies. Jose's autopsy took place first. The first wound that Dr. Golden examined was the shotgun wound to Jose's head. Golden described the wound as a "gaping laceration," that was five inches by four inches, large enough for an adult to thrust his fist through the wound. The brain had been pulverized. There was also a "deformity of the face" caused by multiple fractures of the facial and jawbones. Soot was also found in the wound, indicating that when the fatal shot was fired, the gun had literally been placed against the back of Jose's head.

The remainder of Jose's wounds would not have been immediately fatal, although all resulted in much loss of blood. There were two shots to the right arm, one below the shoulder that fractured the humerus and the other to the right forearm. There was a shot to the left elbow. The trajectory of the shot was from back to front, indicating that this shot could have been one of the first shots fired at Jose as the killer walked around to the front of the couch to face him. Jose was shot in the lower left knee, creating a three-inch wound that fractured left femur. Golden discovered that there was bleeding into Jose's body tissues along all of the wound paths. This meant that Jose's heart had been pumping blood and that the wound at the back of his head, which investigators initially thought was the first shot fired at Jose, was not. Golden said he could not determine the order of the shots fired at Jose.

KITTY MENENDEZ

Kitty's autopsy revealed that she had been shot in the left cheek which caused a one-inch hole in her face that had fractured her upper jaw and dislodged four of her upper teeth. There were additional wounds to Kitty's skull, fractures to her lower jaw, and pellet wounds to her tongue. A shot had also lacerated her brain. Dr. Golden found birdshot in Kitty's wounds which confirmed the investigator's suspicions that Kitty's killers had reloaded their weapons. None of Jose's wounds contained birdshot. Kitty had three wounds to her face. The most damaging was four inches and extended from Kitty's right cheek across her nose to her left cheek. Golden also discovered that Kitty's right thumb was almost severed. Investigators theorized that Kitty had extended her hand to block the shotgun blast that caused the four-inch wound in her face as a last effort at self-preservation. The only problem with this theory was that the wound to Kitty's hand was on the palm side, not the back of her hand. Most people extend their hands palms out when attempting to defend themselves. Kitty's wound indicated she extended either her blocking hand in a strange position, or she did not want to see who was shooting at her. Kitty also had shotgun wounds to her right forearm and left breast and three wounds to her left leg. The final wound was to her left knee. The shot was from front to back and that was odd because it came from a different angle than the other shots fired at her leg. Investigators theorized that this might have been the last shot fired at Kitty and an attempt to make the murder appear to be a mob hit.
MENENDEZ CRIME LIBRARY

17-CA v. Menendez: Dr. Irwin Golden

Deputy medical examiner Dr. Irwin Golden, who performed the autopsies on Jose and Kitty, takes the stand in the Menendez brothers' trial.

www.courttv.com

At about 23 min mark, parties agree to stipulate that per the ME Dr Golden, there are two contact wounds --Jose (back of head), and Kitty (left cheek), which dismisses the latest notion that Jose was shot from inside his mouth.