Member Review
Review by
Media/Journalist 157704
Robert Rand, the author of The Menendez Murders, is an Emmy award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in many prestigious publications. According to advance publicity for the book, he has "uncovered extraordinary details that certainly would have changed the fate of the brothers' first-degree murder conviction and sentencing to life without parole."
Rand's book did not convince me that an unjust verdict was reached. According to LA County Deputy District Attorney Pam Bozanich, who was the prosecutor in the first trial, the brothers made up the story of abuse that led them to kill their parents. They were, from all accounts, privileged rich kids who often lied and even stole jewels and cash from neighbors' houses. Their allegations of abuse seemed to surface only when their very lives were at stake. Rand writes several scenes in which their parents, Jose and Kitty, speak to their sons. He wasn't there, so if the reported dialogue came from Erik or Lyle--how do we know it's trustworthy?
At least Rand doesn't refer to these young men, who were 21 and 18 when they committed these cold-blooded killings, as "boys," as their attorney often did. They were not boys--they were men who could've left their home and earned their own livings if they were truly in danger.
The book is well-written and will appeal to true-crime fans, but i didn't find much that was new in it, and I believe the Menendez brothers got the justice they deserved.
Rand's book did not convince me that an unjust verdict was reached. According to LA County Deputy District Attorney Pam Bozanich, who was the prosecutor in the first trial, the brothers made up the story of abuse that led them to kill their parents. They were, from all accounts, privileged rich kids who often lied and even stole jewels and cash from neighbors' houses. Their allegations of abuse seemed to surface only when their very lives were at stake. Rand writes several scenes in which their parents, Jose and Kitty, speak to their sons. He wasn't there, so if the reported dialogue came from Erik or Lyle--how do we know it's trustworthy?
At least Rand doesn't refer to these young men, who were 21 and 18 when they committed these cold-blooded killings, as "boys," as their attorney often did. They were not boys--they were men who could've left their home and earned their own livings if they were truly in danger.
The book is well-written and will appeal to true-crime fans, but i didn't find much that was new in it, and I believe the Menendez brothers got the justice they deserved.
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