The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation

Written by Robert Rand

Narrated by Eric Jason Martin

Discover the definitive book on the Menendez case—and the source material for NBC's Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.



A successful entertainment executive making $2 million a year. His former beauty queen wife. Their two sons on the fast track to success. Until tragedy struck.



Married for twenty-six years, José and Kitty Menendez appeared to be a happy couple and proud parents. Twenty-one-year-old Lyle Menendez was enrolled at Princeton, where he was a star on the tennis team. Eighteen-year-old Erik Menendez had just graduated from Beverly Hills High and was about to start college at UCLA. The Menendezes appeared to be living the American dream. But it was all a façade.



The Menendez saga has captivated and fascinated people since 1989. The killing of José and Kitty Menendez on a quiet Sunday evening in Beverly Hills didn't make the cover of People magazine until the arrest of their sons seven months after the murders, and the case developed an intense cult following. When the first Menendez trial began in July 1993, the public was convinced that Lyle and Erik—"the boys," as they would become known—were a pair of greedy rich kids who had killed loving, devoted parents. But the real story remained buried beneath years of dark secrets—until now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Sep 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781684416332

Robert Rand

Robert Rand is married to his best friend and love of his life, Angel. He is a father, stepfather, grandfather, son, brother and uncle. Raised in Orange County, California, he now lives on a desolate desert ranch with his wife and their two dogs. He serves as the Founding partner and creative Designer for the e-commerce store Sarcastic-Pig - Opinionated clothing and more His writing style has been declared very visual and leaving the readers feeling as if they were witnesses to the fast-paced action, rather than an after the fact reader of the retelling of a story. many twists and gruesome violence!

Reviews for The Menendez Murders

[Raul Gonzalez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a great read. However, the last words or possibly even sentences of each chapter kept being cut short.

[Frank B · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Same problem as the previous reviewer and I don’t see a way to report a problem. There’s a break about 5 minutes into each chapter.

[AJ · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book for anyone looking for a more accurate an in-depth look at the Menendez Trial.

[Susan yount · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written. Background of family investigated. Gave a completely new aspect of case. I remember the case well. Most of the details and investigations of family was never brought out. I enjoyed this book.

[Lynn Anne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

On August 20, 1989, Erik and Lyle shot and killed their parents José and Mary “Kitty” Menendez in their Beverly Hills home and I think the parents deserved it.
Erik and Lyle existed in a hell of a home. They were sexually molested by both parents from the age of 6 and this went on for over a decade. They were exposed to sadistic forms of parenting, sexual assault, emotional and physical abuse. The fact that the two siblings told some relatives that this was happening to them and no one did anything about it appalls me. On that fateful night, a few days after Lyle asked his father to stop molesting his younger brother, the two brothers feared for their lives, bought guns and went on murdering their rapists. Now, I may be biased but I think that as child molesters they deserved death.
This is an account of all that. The author tries to remain unbiased but they also keep going round and round in circles so that gets a little frustrating but they also shed light to a lot of new information.
The biggest miscarriage of justice is that these two men are still serving their prison sentence to date. I think that, if the circumstances were different e.g if they came from a less wealthy background or they were girls, then the jury's verdict would have been different. The reason I say this is because they brought up homosexuality and greed to control their parents money and properties as part of the defense against the brothers. I'm heartbroken that this case was tried along the Oj one and we all know how that went. I'm angry because these children deserved better. I'm angry that people didn't believe them. And I'm angry that they continue to sit in prison paying for a crime they committed out of sheer desperation. Free the Menendez brothers, they have been through enough!