Menendez brothers' family speaks out: Lyle and Erik were 'failed' by the very people who should have protected them
Menendez brothers’ family members discuss the years since their conviction as many push for their release.
While Erik and Lyle Menendez push for their freedom, a recent series about their case has sparked an uptick in unwanted attention and 911 calls concerning the notorious Beverly Hills, Los Angeles mansion where the brothers brutally murdered their parents in 1989.
In the few weeks following last month's release of the Netflix true crime drama, "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," authorities received 12 calls about the mansion, Beverly Hills Police Capt. Max Subin told Fox News Digital.
"That house has been there since the murders, you know, so there's always been people driving by, you know, looking at that house from all the stars…when they get the map of the stars and when they get the tour buses," Subin said.
Public fascination with the case has brought many flocking to the property, in what is normally a quiet neighborhood in the Beverly Hills Flats.
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Exteriors of the front of the Menendez family's former mansion in 1989. (Clark Fogg, retired Beverly Hills Police Department forensic specialist)
"It has raised, obviously, a lot more traffic," Subin said. "I went by there, and it was a lot more lookie-loos or people sightseeing and taking photos."
"A lot of them are parking calls," Subin said about 911 calls related to the home. "I don't know of any criminal…like, this person is vandalizing or this person's breaking into it. I don't think of that nature. I think more along the line of traffic issues and suspicious ‘circs’ and all that kind of stuff, people around the house."
The new owners of the infamous home, who purchased it for $17 million 28 years to the day after the brothers were convicted, have been revealed as the wealthy Iranian American Lahijani family, according to Realtor.com.
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The side yard of the Menendez brothers' former mansion in 1989. (Clark Fogg, retired Beverly Hill)
The mansion was originally purchased by Jose Menendez for $4 million in 1988. The following year, his two sons would fatally shoot him and his wife.
Joseph Menendez, who goes by his middle name Lyle, and Erik fired so many shots, they had to go back to the car to reload before firing the shot that killed their mother, who had tried to escape after being wounded, according to authorities.
The brothers were convicted of shooting their parents, Jose and Mary "Kitty" Menendez, to death in 1989. They were ordered to serve life in prison in 1996, but they have been seeking reduced sentences, citing accusations that their father sexually abused them.
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The Menendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle, sit on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989. (Ronald L. Soble / Los Angeles Times)
After the murders, the Menendez mansion sat on the market for several years, despite its grandeur and prime location in Beverly Hills.
Clark Fogg, a retired senior forensic specialist with the Beverly Hills Police Department who investigated the Menendez brothers' case in 1989 and lived just a few doors down from their mansion at the time, told Fox News Digital that he remembers hearing the Hollywood tour bus drive by the house daily shortly after the murders took place.
"The house had a gate at one point, and now it doesn't," Clark noted.
A previous listing on Zillow for the house shows that it has seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms and that it "boasts high ceilings, a grand entry with a dramatic circular staircase, imported Italian limestone flooring, a gourmet kitchen complete with high-end appliances, and a walk-in pantry."
The listing also says the house includes a pool "surrounded by park-like grounds and a two-story guest house."
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Exteriors of the Menendez brothers' former mansion in 1989, showing the expansive pool.
Along with the release of the popular television series causing the increase in calls to the police department, Subin said "the recent developments at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's investigation has led to more people looking at the house and more calls for service on our end."
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 wrote in the letter. The brothers claim this letter supports their original testimony during the first trial, alleging abuse.
Lawyers for the brothers argue they should have been convicted of manslaughter, not murder, and if they had, they would have already been released from prison.
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Erik and Lyle Menendez listen during their trial in the 1990s. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said his office will review new evidence in the brothers' murder case. (Ted Soqui/Sygma)
The brothers' family members rallied in Los Angeles this week to advocate for their freedom, saying the brothers were "failed" by the very people who should have protected them.
"The whole world was not ready to believe boys could be raped or that young men could be victims of sexual violence. Today, we know better," Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Mary Menendez's sister, said. "We know that abuse has long-lasting effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand."
This follows the recent announcement by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón that his office is reviewing the Menendez brothers' case.
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The former Menendez family home in Beverly Hills, California. (Google Street View)
Fogg, author of "Beverly Hills Confidential: A Century of Stars, Scandals and Murders," previously told Fox News Digital that he 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."
A separate documentary about the brothers, "The Menendez Brothers," premiered on Netflix on Oct. 7.
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Despite all the attention the house-turned-tourist-attraction seems to be getting, Subin said Beverly Hills police will continue doing their job and responding to all calls they receive.
"Nothing has changed in our deployment or our operating, but if we do receive a call there, we will respond like anywhere else in the city," Subin said. "If someone calls up, we will respond no matter what…no call too small."
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