Things Found At The Menendez Brothers Crime Scene
The Beverly Hills Police officers warily crept into the Beverly Hills mansion of the Menedez family. They believed the perpetrators who had broken into the home that night — August 20, 1989 — and murdered two people, Jose and Kitty Menedez, might still be inside, according to "The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family." They had no reason to initially suspect that the victim's children, Lyle, 21, and 18-year-old Erik, who had called 911 to report the crime, had anything to do with the murders.
As the investigators entered the foyer, they saw gym bags and jackets on the marble floor. They moved further into the home and in the family room discovered a scene out of a horror movie. The television was still on but the couple who had been watching it were obviously dead (via the menendeztrials YouTube channel). The officers didn't even need to check for a pulse. Jose, still on the couch, had a massive head and chest wound as well as damage to his arm and elbow. Kitty, sprawled out on the floor, had wounds to her face and body. The investigators could tell the killers had used shotguns to murder the couple.
Blood everywhere
Blood spatter covered the couch, walls, and floors, and buckshot had peppered the room, according to "Bad Blood: The Shocking True Story Behind the Menendez Killings." But what the investigators didn't find were the spent shells from the pump action shotguns used in the murders. The killers had picked them all up before leaving. The police did recover one piece of wadding from a shotgun shell at the scene, per The Los Angeles Times.
Police Sgt. Mo Angel recalled the crime scene as "horrific." When he entered the room, he saw Kitty "on all fours between the couch and the coffee table with her hair slung over in front of her," he told CNBC. "I saw the father, sitting on the couch, slumped back," he said. "It looked like they had been repeatedly shot with a shotgun. I'd never seen anything like that before ... It was a horrible scene." The killers had pumped 10 rounds into Kitty and five into Jose, per the Associated Press.
What police didn't find was just as telling
Besides the carnage, the room where Kitty and Jose Menedez had been brutally murdered contained more mundane items. High up on the bookcase sat 30 tennis trophies won by Erik and Lyle, per Vanity Fair. On the coffee table, investigators found papers from UCLA, where Erik was set to attend that fall, according to The Los Angeles Times. They also found a glass, a Michael Jackson cassette, a lighter, and a bowl with a spoon. The couple had apparently enjoyed a snack of berries and ice cream before they were murdered.
The police didn't find that anything had been stolen or any signs of forced entry, according to Oxygen. The search of the house also failed to turn up bloody footprints, bloody clothes, or the murder weapons. At first, investigators believed it may have been a mob hit, but eventually, they honed in on Erik and Lyle Menedez. After the killings, the two men went on a wild spending spree buying a Porsche, a restaurant, and hiring a private tennis coach, among other high-ticket purchases, per Oxygen True Crime. Other evidence eventually emerged that led to the Menedez brothers changing their story and admitting they killed their parents. They alleged that years of sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of their father pushed them to do it. In 1996, jurors convicted both Erik and Lyle Menedez of first-degree murder, per The New York Times. They are both currently serving life sentences.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.