Do Menendez brothers stand a chance at freedom? Former investigator predicts odds for greedy rich kids

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Convicted killer Lyle Menendez reveals his plans for freedom in jailhouse call to packed auditorium

Lyle Menendez, who along with his brother Erik infamously massacred their parents in a Los Angeles home in 1989, is appealing his sentence of life without parole and could go free under a new California law. (Courtesy: CrimeCon)

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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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An undated photo of the Menendez family as it appears during a panel at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville June 2. Brothers Lyle and Erik were convicted of fatally shooting both of their parents in 1989.  (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

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. 

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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.”

Mollie Markowitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to mollie.markowitz@fox.com. She joined Fox in 2019 and made her way from producing live news coverage to true-crime documentaries at Fox Nation. She has interviewed Ted Bundy survivors, the children of notorious serial killers, survivor Lisa McVey, members of law enforcement and families impacted by traumatic crime.Currently, she covers national crime stories for Fox News Digital. You can follow Mollie on LinkedIn.