While brothers Eric and Lyle Menendez are pushing for their freedom, a man investigating their double murder believes their life sentences should be upheld.
“If he were brought to trial again today, he would be found guilty,” Clark Fogg, a retired senior forensic specialist for the Beverly Hills Police Department, told Fox News Digital.
Joseph Menendez, known by his middle name Lyle, and Eric were convicted of shooting and killing their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez. Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, The mansion in 1989.
He was ordered to serve life in prison in 1996, but has recently been seeking a reduced sentence.
Eric and Lyle Menendez listen during their trial in the 1990s. (Ted Socqui/Sigma)
Fogg said, “You know, the jury ruled that he’s going to be in prison for the rest of his life. … We have the best judicial system anywhere in the world.” “And we have to follow that and follow what the jury feels and what the judge feels is appropriate not only based on this case, but based on other cases as well.”
New one netflix true crime drama, “Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story” has generated a variety of opinions over the accuracy and portrayal of the actual story from decades ago.
Fogg believes the show is “completely inaccurate” and “based on facts that didn’t happen.”
Menendez brother who shot parents criticizes new show for ‘dishonest depiction’
Eric Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez on the stairs of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989. (Ronald L. Soble/Los Angeles Times)
Eric Menendez published his statement on
“It is sad for me to note that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of our crime-related tragedies has taken painful truths several steps backward – back through time to an era when prosecutors built a narrative on a belief system that were not men sexually abused And men experience rape trauma differently than women,” Eric said in his statement shared by Tammy.
Believes in the Fogg brothers’ motive murders It had to do with “greed and money”.
“Why did he have to kill his mother in the first place?” Fogg said. “If you killed Mr. Menendez separately from him, he would get the inheritance, right? So to get the inheritance he would have to kill both of them.”
Follow the Fox True Crime team on X
An undated photo of the Menendez family, as shown during a panel at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville on June 2. Brothers Lyle and Eric were convicted of fatally shooting both their parents in 1989. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
Fogg investigated the case of the Menendez brothers in 1989. He took photographs and preserved evidence at the crime scene, participated in autopsies, and took the stand during both trials. While speaking to Fox News Digital, he presented a horrifying picture of Crime scene.
“One of the detectives actually had to hold a golf umbrella over my head when I was taking pictures because, sometimes, things would fall off the roof,” Fogg said. “This boils down to one thing. The reason he is in jail is that he brutally killed his mother and father, not by poisoning them, but by shooting them to such an extent that they fell completely off the roof. Went. … TeaI don’t know how brutally he was murdered.”
Fogg, who has spent 40 years working law enforcement And he has examined over 30,000 crime scenes, stating that 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 her shoe soles. … Even at that time, they kept hitting her with bullets, you know, one after the other. “
Sign up to receive the True Crime newsletter
This 1992 file photo shows double murder defendants Eric, 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 cousin Andy Cano eight months before the murder, in which he described in detail the ongoing abuse by their father.
“I’m trying to avoid Dad,” Eric wrote in the letter. The brothers claim the letter supports their original testimony alleging abuse during the first trial.
Fogg questioned the authenticity of the letter.
“We’re talking about her cousin’s death two decades ago and then this letter mysteriously turns up,” Fogg said. “So, my question is, is this letter legitimate? Have they done a paper analysis on it? Have they done an ink analysis to determine if the ink is actually from the 1980s?”
Get real time updates directly true crime center
Lil, left, and Eric, right, are featured in recent mugshots from 2023. After years apart, they were moved to the same housing unit at the 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 literally the entire extended family of Eric and Lyle Menendez. We are 24 strong and today we want the world to know that we support Eric and Lyle,” family members wrote in a statement, which was shared with Tammy Menendez. Posted X in response to new. Netflix series. “After 35 years in prison we pray individually and collectively for their release. We know them, love them and want them to come home with us.”
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of the Netflix series, told the Los Angeles Times, “I think it’s fake outrage. I think this story, this Netflix series, is the best thing that happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years because it “It’s about getting people to talk about it, and it’s about getting people to ask the questions that are important.”
A separate documentary about the brothers, “The Menendez Brothers,” is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on October 7. According to a press release, the film will “offer another perspective – that of the brothers themselves, provided in all-new audio interviews.” release.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Fogg believes the brothers are behind bars for good reasons.
“They’re in prison, and they’re in prison for life without the possibility of parole for one thing and one thing only,” Fogg said. “Not you Kill your parents. You don’t murder anyone, period.”
