Now that the Menendez brothers’ Netflix documentary has dropped, an ex-prosecutor of their trial issued a stark warning to TikTok users following an increase in support for the pair.
The murders of Kitty and José Menendez in 1989 was something that shocked the world for decades, and while many people sympathise with Lyle and Erik due to their claims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of their parents, Pamela Bozanich doesn’t feel the same way.
Bozanich was a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles County when she was asked to take on the case of the boys who were being accused of shooting their wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills home.
At the time, she controversially argued that 'men could not be raped because they lack the necessary equipment to be raped'.
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Of course, now as a society we know that's incredibly untrue.
In the new Netflix doc, titled The Menendez Brothers - which aired on October 7 - the ex-prosecutor explained: "The day that we did opening statements, I was coming into the courthouse and people were filming me, and I just thought, what the hell have I gotten myself into?
"I went in the bathroom and threw up. The only time I've ever thrown up during a trial or before a trial or anything. Having the media, there was a nightmare. You don't have to do that in a normal murder trial."
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The brothers’ main defence was that they were sexually abused for years by their music exec father, and that their stay-at-home mother knew about it and did nothing to protect them.
However, Bozanich doesn’t want to hear about the newfound movement created by ‘TikTok’ fans who want the pair to be freed and appears to have some serious words for people who disagree with her beliefs about the case.
“The only reason we're doing this special is because of the TikTok movement to free the ‘Menendi,’” she says in the doc.
“If that's how we're going to try cases now, why don't we just like, have a poll?”
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It was at this moment that the documentary took a turn, as that’s when she looked straight into the camera and warned anyone who wanted to ‘mess with’ her.
She said: “Your beliefs are not facts. They're just beliefs. And by the way, all you TikTok people, I'm armed. We got guns all over the house, so don't mess with me.”
This is because members of the TikTok community have been rallying together and calling for the convictions to be overturned.
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Speaking about the TikTok movement, Lyle - who has been serving his sentence for 35 years and is now 56 - said in the documentary: “Young people have taken the time to figure out what happened, and they understand it in ways that older people don't.
“I feel more hope when society seems to be understanding sex abuse even better.”
Hazel Thornton, a juror in the first trial of the case, added: “The Menendez case preceded the #MeToo movement. Society's understanding more about abuse makes more people believe them.
“If they were tried today, I think the most they would get is manslaughter.”
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That first trial included more than 50 defence witnesses, with many who provided testimonies to Jose’s abuse of the boys.
This resulted in a deadlocked vote, which meant that the pair would be re-tried.
However, when they were tried again in 1996, the judge limited the number of defence witnesses that supported the brothers’ abuse allegations, and the pair were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Topics: Crime, True Crime, Netflix, Menendez Brothers, TikTok
Britt Jones