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Do Menendez brothers stand a chance at freedom? Former investigator predicts odds for greedy rich kids
While brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez are pushing for their freedom, one man who investigated their double murder case believes their life sentences should be upheld.
“If they were brought to trial again today, they would be found guilty,” Clark Fogg, a retired senior forensic specialist with the Beverly Hills Police Department, told Fox News Digital.
Joseph Menendez, who goes by his middle name Lyle, and Erik were convicted of shooting their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, to death in their Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, mansion in 1989.
They were ordered to serve life in prison in 1996, but they have recently been seeking reduced sentences.
LYLE MENENDEZ, WHO SHOTGUNNED PARENTS TO DEATH WITH BROTHER, PLANS FOR LIFE AFTER PRISON AMID NEW APPEAL
Erik and Lyle Menendez listen during their trial in the 1990s. (Ted Soqui/Sygma)
“The jury’s, you know, the judgment came down that they are to remain in prison for the rest of their life. … We have the best judicial system, you know, anywhere in the world,” Fogg said. “And we have to abide by that and abide by what a jury feels and what the judge feels is appropriate based upon not only this case, but other cases.”
A new Netflix true crime drama, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” has sparked a range of opinions on its accuracy and portrayal of the real story from decades ago.
Fogg believes the show is “totally inaccurate” and “based on facts that did not happen.”
MENENDEZ BROTHER, WHO GUNNED DOWN PARENTS, SLAMS NEW SHOW FOR ‘DISHONEST PORTRAYAL’
Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989. (Ronald L. Soble/Los Angeles Times)
Erik Menendez published his own statement through his wife Tammi Menendez on X, saying the show creates “a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show.”
“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women,” Erik said in his statement shared by Tammi.
Fogg believes the brothers’ motive for the murders had to do with “greed and money.”
“Why did they even have to kill their mom in the first place?” Fogg said. “If you killed Mr. Menendez separately from her, she would end up getting the inheritance, right? So they had to eliminate both of them in order to have the inheritance.”
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Fogg investigated the Menendez brothers’ case in 1989. He took photos and preserved evidence at the crime scene, attended the autopsies and took the stand during both trials. When speaking with Fox News Digital, he painted a horrific picture of the crime scene.
“One of the detectives had to actually hold a golf umbrella over my head as I was taking photos because, every so often, things would be falling from the ceiling,” Fogg said. “It comes down to one thing. The reason why they’re in jail is that they killed their mother and father brutally, not poison them, but shotgun them to death to a point that they were all over the ceiling. … That’s how brutally they were murdered.”
Fogg, who has spent 40 years working in law enforcement and has conducted over 30,000 crime scene investigations, said he had 44 rolls of film from the Menendez crime scene.
“It looked like Mrs. Menendez was trying to get away because there was blood on the bottom of the soles of her shoe. … Even at that point, they kept on killing her with, you know, gunshot blasts, one after another.”
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This 1992 file photo shows double murder defendants Erik, right, and Lyle Menendez, left, during a court appearance in Los Angeles. (Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2023, lawyers for the Menendez brothers announced the discovery of a letter written by Erik Menendez to a cousin, Andy Cano, eight months before the murders, in which he goes into detail about the ongoing abuse by their father.
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad,” Erik writes in the letter. The brothers claim this letter supports their original testimony during the first trial, alleging the abuse.
Fogg questioned the authenticity of the letter.
“We’re talking about his cousin dying, you know, two decades ago and then this letter mysteriously popping up,” Fogg said. “So, my questions are, is this letter valid? Have they done a paper analysis on it? Have they done an ink analysis to determine whether or not the ink is actually dating from the 1980s?”
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Lyle, left, and Erik, right, are pictured in recent mugshots from 2023. After years apart, they were moved into the same housing unit at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego in 2018, according to the New York Daily News. (California Department of Corrections)
Relatives of the brothers have recently spoken out in support of their freedom.
“We are virtually the entire extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez. We are 24 strong and today we want the world to know we support Erik and Lyle,” family members wrote in a statement that Tammi Menendez posted to X in response to the new Netflix series. “We individually and collectively pray for their release after being imprisoned for 35 years. We know them, love them, and want them home with us.”
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of the Netflix series, told the Los Angeles Times, “I think it’s faux outrage. I think that this story, this Netflix series, is the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years because it’s getting people to talk about it, and it’s getting people to ask the questions that are important.”
A separate documentary about the brothers, “The Menendez Brothers,” is scheduled to premiere on Netflix Oct. 7. The film will “offer another perspective — that of the brothers themselves, provided in all-new audio interviews,” according to a press release.
Fogg believes the brothers remain behind bars for good reason.
“They’re in jail, and they’re in jail for life without possibility of parole for one thing and one thing only,” Fogg said. “You don’t murder your parents. You don’t murder anybody, period.”
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San Francisco, CA
Court document details attack on SF mayor’s bodyguard as Lurie responds to incident
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — For the first time since the attack on San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard, one of the suspects was in court on Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed charges against the man. Those charges include:
- Resisting an executive officer
- Assault with force to cause bodily injury
- Willful disobedience of a court order
- Unlawful lodging at the same location from a previous citation
Mayor Daniel Lurie said the incident won’t deter him from walking the streets of the city doing what he was doing moments before his bodyguard was attacked last week.
PREVIOUS STORY: SF mayor was ‘worried’ about 2 men on street, checked on them before bodyguard attack
Multiple angles covered a dramatic altercation between one of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail and individuals on the street.
“I think I need to be able to see it myself and not just stay cloistered up and not be out of the streets. I walked the streets this morning and had some great interactions and was able to help some people,” said Mayor Lurie.
We obtained the detention motion, which revealed specific details about the incident.
The document said Mayor Lurie was riding in a car northbound on Larking Street with two of his security detail. The mayor asked the driver to stop and got out of the car with one of the officers to approach four people who were blocking the road; “two were sitting on the sidewalk… one was actually sitting in the street.” The document says one of the individuals “was aggressive” and “stepped towards the mayor,” after he asked them to move out of the road a few times. This led the bodyguard to position himself between the mayor and the individual. The document states the individual “got very close” to the officer and threatened him and said, “Bruce Lee I’ll kick your a**!”
The officer, according to the document, proceeded to shove the individual away from him “with both hands to defend himself and to create distance,” causing the individual to fall backwards on the sidewalk.
The individual quickly stood up and “rushed at the officer.”
Multiple people in the area captured the altercation on video.
We asked the mayor if he would do anything different in the future.
INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker
“I’m not going to stop doing it. I will consult with our detail and our chief and make sure we can do this safely,” said Mayor Lurie.
San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said he is glad the mayor sees the crisis on the streets up close.
“A lot of people will cross the street to get away from it hide from it. We don’t want our city hiding from this problem,” said Supervisor Mandelman.
Kevin Benedicto, vice president of the San Francisco police commission, said they will be looking into the incident.
“A number of commissioners are going to want to ask the chief about updates about the incident just to make sure we have all the policies and procedures in place,” said Benedicto.
The Individual who attacked the mayor’s bodyguard has been charged in the past for criminal threats in 2019 and 2020.
One of the arraignments is set for Wednesday at 9 a.m.
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Like sand through the hourglass, so too go the dumplings of the Denver Post’s annual food bracket.
Our competition started with 32 restaurants chosen by editors and readers specializing in dumplings and momos, a Tibetan and Nepali variation, in the Denver area. Two weeks later, only eight restaurants remain.
The next round of matchups in our Elite 8 competition to be decided by reader votes are:
Rocky Mountain Momo (9678 E. Arapahoe Road, Englewood) vs. ChoLon (multiple locations)
LingLon Dumpling House (2456 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver) vs. Star Kitchen (2917 W. Mississippi Ave., Denver)
Nana’s Dim Sum & Dumplings (multiple locations) vs. Dillon’s Dumpling House (3571 S. Tower Road, Unit G, Aurora)
Hop Alley (3500 Larimer St., Denver) vs. Momo Dumplings (caterer; momo-dumplings.com)
The most recent matchups recorded more than 460 entries. Our most popular head-to-head was Rocky Mountain Momo facing off against Yuan Wonton. Rocky Mountain Momo advances with 55% of 260 votes.
MAKfam, a Chinese restaurant with a Michelin nod for its value, faced a tough first-round opponent, The Empress Seafood, and scraped out a win. But this time, it wasn’t as lucky, losing to ChoLon, an upscale Asian fusion restaurant with multiple locations, by only five votes.
Make your picks below for who should advance to the next round. The online voting form will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 15.
Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox.
SEATTLE — Ryan Ufko scored his first NHL goal with 5:35 to play in the second period to put the Nashville Predators ahead to stay in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
The rookie skated in from the right of the goal, dodged between two defenders, and tucked the puck past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord to give the Predators a 3-2 lead and two critical points in their chase for a wild-card playoff spot. Right now, the team is on the outside of the playoff picture.
Tyson Jost and Reid Schaefer also scored second-period goals to erase Seattle’s 2-0 first-period lead, and Steve Stamkos added an empty-netter for his 31st goal of the season.
Jonathan Marchessault had a pair of assists for Nashville, which had lost four of its previous five, and Juuse Saros made 43 saves.
Kaapo Kakko scored just 2:14 into the game, and Matty Beniers scored at 9:46 of the first period to give the Kraken a 2-0 lead. Beniers scored from a tough angle, firing from the bottom of the right circle and over the shoulder of Saros just inside the far post.
Daccord finished with 23 saves.
Seattle’s Shane Wright scored a goal in the second, but it was waved off because of goalie interference when Ryker Evans slid into Saros and took out his feet.
The Kraken were without left wing Jaden Schwartz, who was hit in the face by a skate during Seattle’s 7-4 loss to Ottawa on Saturday.
Kraken, clinging to a wild-card slot, have now lost five of their last seven games.
Up next
Predators: Visit Vancouver on Thursday night.
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