Lyle Menendez - Definition and Overview

Joseph Lyle (Lyle) Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and brother Erik Galen (Erik) Menendez (born November 27, 1971) were arrested for the murders of their parents in 1989.

The brothers were convicted of shooting their parents Jose and Kitty to death on August 20, 1989. The murder occurred in the den of the family's home in Beverly Hills, California. The brothers then drove off and dumped their shotguns on Mulholland Drive. Finally they bought tickets at a local movie theater to use as an alibi.

When the brothers returned home, Lyle called 9-1-1 and cried, "Somebody killed my parents!" The Menendez brothers and the murder of their parents became a national sensation when the new television network, Court TV, broadcast the trial in 1993.

On July 2, 1996, Judge Stanley M. Weisberg sentenced Lyle and Erik Menendez to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Weisberg sentenced the brothers to consecutive sentences for the murders and the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Lyle is being held at the California Correctional Institution at Tehachapi. Erik is at the California State Prison in Sacramento County. Each brother has married since entering prison, but neither is allowed conjugal visits. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, they are expected to spend the remainder of their natural lives in prison, and will die without consummating their marriages.