How were the Menendez brothers caught? Details on Erik's therapy confession

After Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle killed his parents, he confessed to his therapist L. Jerome Oziel. Five months later, he and Lyle were arrested.

The Menendez brothers, who were 21 and 18 years old at the time, murdered their parents Kitty and José Menendez on August 20, 1989. Lyle was the first to be arrested on March 8, 1990, followed by his brother, who turned himself in three days later after flying back from Israel.

Authorities were already suspicious of the brothers after they spent a total of about $700,000 after their parents died, including on purchases such as a $60,000 Porsche, a $50,000 tennis trainer for Erik and a $550,000 cafe in Princeton, New Jersey, for Lyle. Vanity Fair.

But it was Erik's confession to Oziel in October 1989 that enabled authorities to arrest him and Lyle. Oziel told his lover Judalon Smyth about the confession and she finally went to the police in March 1990 after the two had separated.

Within a week, Lyle and Erik were arrested. Smyth testified at the 1993 trial that Oziel said he had to get them to say incriminating things on tape so that we would have the tape for our protection, the Los Angeles Times.

Now, 30 years later, her story is back on screen in Netflix’s Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.

From the events after the crime to Oziel's current whereabouts, here's everything you need to know about the confession and arrest of Erik and Lyle Menendez.

What did Erik and Lyle Menendez do in the months following their parents' murder?

After murdering their parents in August 1989, Erik and Lyle told police they had nothing to do with the crime and that they found their parents murdered after returning home from a meeting. Batmanper ^ “Vanity Fair – The Wonderful World of Vanity”.

In the months that followed, Erik and Lyle went on a spending spree. Lyle bought Chuck's Spring Street Café, a restaurant in Princeton, as well as a Rolex, a Porsche and $40,000 worth of clothing, according to the outlet. Meanwhile, Erik devoted himself to his dream of becoming a tennis player, paying $50,000 for a coach and spending money on other purchases, like a Jeep Wrangler and a $40,000 rock concert that turned out to be a scam. Vanity Fair was reported at the time.

Police initially suspected the murders were mob-related, so Erik and Lyle moved from hotel to hotel to avoid them, they said. But police soon became suspicious and relied on the help of one of Erik's best friends, Craig Cignarelli.

Erik had confessed to Cignarelli that he had killed his parents twelve days after the murder, Vanity Fairso in November, after the August murders, police asked him to wear a listening device to get a recorded confession. However, when Cignarelli next met with Erik, he recanted his statement and said he had lied and had not killed his parents.

Who was the Menendez brothers' therapist??

Dr. L. Jerome Oziel was a psychologist in Beverly Hills at the time of the Menendez brothers murders. According to Vanity FairHe was first hired by Kitty and José after the brothers were caught breaking into two homes. At the time, his license was on probation after he was caught in an inappropriate “double relationship” in which he traded his services for construction work on his home.

Oziel was married to his wife Laurel Oziel at the time and had an extramarital affair with Smyth, who sued him in 1990, accusing him of assaulting, raping, kidnapping and drugging her.

According to the Los Angeles TimesSmyth testified at the Menendez brothers' trial that a week after Oziel recorded her confession on tape in December 1989, she moved into his house with his wife and two children, where she allegedly was “harassed” and “beaten,” she told jurors.

“I wouldn't call it romantic. But there was sex,” Smyth said. Oziel testified that Smyth did indeed move into his house and they continued their affair there, but denied any wrongdoing she alleged.

The case was eventually settled between the two.

What did Erik say in his confession to his therapist?

Erik confessed for the first time in October 1989, two months after he and Lyle killed their parents. Oziel taped his numerous confessions on October 31, November 2, and December 11.

On October 31, Erik reportedly requested that he and Oziel take a walk instead of meeting at his office because he was feeling extremely agitated and depressed. During the walk, Erik told Oziel that his father was a great man and he wanted to write a book about him. They went back to the office, and before they went in, Erik told Oziel, “We did it.”

He further described that the plan to kill their parents came about after they saw a BBC programme in which someone killed their father and they felt it was necessary because José was so “tyrannical, dominant and controlling”, according to ^ “Vanity Fair – The Wonderful World of Vanity”. He allegedly said that Kitty also had to die because she could not live without her husband.

Lyle soon began attending the sessions and the two confessed on the December tape that they had killed their mother to “put her out of her misery” and that their father deserved to die because he had been involved in the infidelity that had led to the misery, according to the Los Angeles Times.

During their trial, the brothers argued that they had been sexually abused to justify the murder of their parents. However, their confession did not mention abuse.

How were Erik and Lyle Menendez caught and arrested?

Oziel wasn't the only person who heard Erik and Lyle's confessions. Smyth claimed she was in his office on October 31, when Erik made his first confession, and she stood outside the door and listened as they spoke with the therapist.

However, Oziel denied that Smyth was there that day, stating that she was near the office and not inside. She did testify, however, that Smyth was present two days later when the brothers again discussed the murders.

After those two sessions, Smyth testified, Oziel felt he had to tape their confessions “for our protection” and because he was allegedly afraid they might kill him now that he knew their secret.

Oziel achieved his goal on December 11, when he taped the brothers' entire confession. “He said he got what he needed,” Smyth testified.

After Oziel and Smyth separated in March 1990, Smyth went to the police on March 4 and told them everything she knew. Four days later, Lyle was arrested, followed by Erik.

Why did it take so long for Erik and Lyle Menendez to be brought to justice?

Although the arrests took place in March 1990, the trial did not take place until 1993 because the prosecution had difficulties in admitting the tape recordings as evidence.

In August 1990, a judge ruled that the tapes were admissible as evidence because Oziel had said Lyle had threatened him, thereby violating doctor-patient confidentiality. The ruling was appealed and the trial was postponed for two years.

Two years later, in August 1992, the California Supreme Court ruled that most of the tapes were admissible, except for the one in which Erik discussed the murders. Erik and Lyle were indicted soon after.

Where is the therapist Oziel now?

The Menendez brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1996, but Oziel's problems did not end there. While the therapist lived a very comfortable lifestyle before the ordeal – including a 550-square-foot home and a waiting list for sessions that cost $150 an hour, according to Los Angeles Times – he lost much of his career and reputation after the trial.

According to the Los Angeles TimesOziel lost his California license in 1997, gave up practicing therapy, and moved to another state.

“It just didn't make sense to come back to California and spend many thousands of dollars defending a driver's license that he doesn't use in a state where he doesn't reside,” his attorney told the outlet at the time.

In 2017, Oziel pushed back against the notion that he had “surrendered” his license due to an ongoing lawsuit, telling Bustle that he had not “defend” the lawsuit because he had already moved out of California a year earlier.

“I did not surrender my license based on the allegation, which means I gave up my practice because I did things that were alleged in the original allegation,” he told the outlet. “That is simply false.”

At the time, Oziel was working in Portland, Oregon, where he hosted seminars on marriage, relationships and sex aimed at women. As of 2024, he lives in Albuquerque, NM, at the Marital Mediation Center, which, according to its website, focuses on “improving marriages through mediation as an alternative to divorce.”