July 20, 1993

Welcome to the courtroom drama of the decade featuring the infamous Menendez brothers—Lyle and Erik! These guys took “family drama” to a whole new level, firing 15 shotgun blasts at their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, out of self-defense after enduring a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them. I mean, who needs therapy when you can just call it self-defense, right?

So, let’s set the scene: August 20, 1989, Jose and Kitty met their tragic end in their Beverly Hills mansion. Fast forward to March 8, 1990, and Lyle’s getting arrested. Meanwhile, Erik was busy serving up aces in Israel at a tennis tournament—because nothing says “I’m totally fine” like a little international tennis after a family murder.

Now, here we are on July 20, 1993, ready for the first trial. It was a media circus! The brothers recounted years of abuse in such a dramatic fashion that even Hollywood producers were taking notes. The Menendez brothers emotionally described the years of sexual abuse by their parent and argued that they killed their parents in self-defense.

Lyle, a strapping 6’1” at 24 years old, with messy dark brown hair and doe-like brown eyes, looked cute enough to be the star of a rom-com—if only he weren’t in the middle of a murder trial. And then there’s Erik, towering at 6’3” and 27, with his curly hair and icy blue eyes. Seriously, he could have been a model for “Nice Dudes of Beverly Hills” magazine, if not for that little murder detail.

Erik: “Oh my god!!!! IDIOTS!!!!”

He was clearly losing it.

Lawyer: “Erik, calm down, Angel-“

Lyle: “We shot our parents in self-defense!!! I feared they were going to kill us to prevent stories emerging about their alleged abuse of US!”

The judge and policemen were practically sweating bullets. The guards looked like they’d just seen a ghost, jaws dropped to the floor, while the prosecutor and jury were frozen in disbelief, eyes darting back and forth. And Lyle and Erik? They were definitely not in any mood to calm down.