They have been the lads who ignited two of essentially the most infamous authorized trials of the 1990s.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers who seemingly loved a privileged upbringing, shocked the nation by turning a shotgun on their parents of their Beverly Hills dwelling in August 1989. And O.J. Simpson, a soccer Hall of Famer turned actor and TV persona, grew to become the highest suspect within the June 1994 slaying of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her pal Ron Goldman in close by Brentwood, his apprehension marked by an epic car chase by means of the sprawling freeways of Los Angeles.
But whereas they have been linked within the public consciousness by means of their affiliation with the ugly murders, in addition they cast a good bond behind bars as they waited out the high-profile jury deliberations that may determine their freedom.
READ MORE: Why the Menendez Brothers Killed Their Parents – a Look Inside Their Murder Case
The younger Menendez boys first met Simpson on the top of his fame
Simpson and the Menendez brothers had beforehand met within the mid-1970s, when the previous was a record-setting operating again with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the latter two have been the younger sons of the Hertz rental automobile government who helped ink the famed athlete to an endorsement deal.
The enterprise ties led to a extra private connection, as Simpson grew to become a visitor on the Menendez dwelling. Lyle, the older brother, later recalled to People the yard catches loved with the larger-than-life sporting hero and the signed footballs he gave the boys.
More than a decade later, Lyle bumped into Simpson in an L.A. restaurant alongside his Princeton University tennis teammates, just a few months earlier than his life was upended by the shotgun blasts fired at Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Erik Menendez’s mug pictures, 2000 and 2002
Photo: Kypros/Getty Images
Erik grew to become Simpson’s neighboring cellmate
When all of them met once more at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, it was the Menendez brothers, already incarcerated for greater than 4 years and getting ready for a retrial after the primary one’s hung jury, who have been ready to supply steerage.
As instructed in Robert Rand’s The Menendez Murders (2018), Simpson wound up within the cell subsequent to Erik following the conclusion of his notorious automobile chase. While the previous NFL star was handled “like royalty” by the awed guards, he additionally was in shock from the abrupt change to his life-style and despondent about his tarnished repute.
Erik warned his neighbor concerning the relentless media scrutiny to come back and suggested him to keep away from discussing his case with fellow inmates or guards. He additionally earned Simpson’s gratitude for penning a letter that urged him to begin pondering extra about his life and future. “When you cry – remember those tears,” Erik wrote. “Hold them because you’re crying for your children, you’re crying for everything you’re losing.”
Additionally, as revealed within the A&E docuseries The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All (2018), it was the youthful brother who used his connections to hook the athlete up with Johnnie Cochran, the lawyer who would have an outsize affect on the soon-to-come Simpson trial.
O.J. Simpson’s mug shot, 1994
Photo: Los Angeles Police through Ron Galella Collection through Getty Images
Lyle suggested Simpson to confess guilt
Lyle had his personal frequent interactions with Simpson, the 2 sharing greater than 100 conversations as they awaited conferences with authorized illustration within the jail’s legal professional room.
Believing Simpson to be responsible of the killings, Lyle advised he settle for a plea discount and provided tips on the distinction between homicide and manslaughter prices, although Simpson once more appeared a bit too preoccupied together with his repute to contemplate admitting guilt.
Lyle additionally wrote Simpson a letter by which he urged him to come back clear with the complete story. “I told him I thought the public would understand,” the older brother relayed to Rand for The Menendez Murders. “I expressed my concern that [lawyer] Robert Shapiro would not let him inform the reality. I mentioned I knew it clearly wasn’t deliberate, and that he had snapped within the warmth of ardour.”
Lyle Menendez mug shot, 2003
Photo: Kypros/Getty Images
Erik believes the Simpson verdict affected his possibilities of success
While Simpson and the Menendez brothers grew shut throughout their shared time in jail, their paths quickly diverged with the outcomes of their contentious and exhaustively lined trials.
On October 3, 1995, Simpson was discovered not guilty of double murder. The retrial of Lyle and Erik started simply eight days later, ultimately ending with their conviction on first-degree homicide prices and double life sentences.
While the brothers have largely shied away from publicly discussing their previous jailhouse confidant, it is clear there stays some lingering resentment over the notion that Simpson’s victory spelled dangerous information for his or her possibilities of acquittal.
“O.J.’s verdict had a very negative effect on our case,” the youthful brother opined in The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All, suggesting that the L.A. County District Attorney’s workplace wanted to bounce again from letting a Simpson indictment slip by means of their grasp.
“Because this verdict was so shocking, there was this sense an extreme injustice had happened and now we’re gonna have to right it with every defendant that comes up,” mentioned Erik, including, “We were the next defendant.”
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