Reporter Who Covered Menendez Brothers' First Trial Thinks They Should Stay in Jail
Alan Abrahamson is one of the journalists who covered the 1993 trial of Erik and Lyle Menendez for the murder of their parents, José and Kitty. Now a journalism professor, Abrahamson believes that the brothers should stay in jail.
His comments come amidst the possibility that the brothers may be released after submitting new evidence.
According to a report by RadarOnline, Abrahamson said, "My take is... uh.. pretty direct and pretty simple, the brothers are stone cold killers, and they deserve to be in prison for the rest of their lives."
Abrahamson also pointed out that the abuse evidence, which has been central to the current effort to free the brothers from jail, was presented in the second trial.
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"The abuse evidence was allowed in the second trial," the journalism professor said."
"Lyle Menendez did not take the stand, but Erik Menendez did testify," he explained. "But as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court that reviewed this case in 2005 – and it's a huge mystery to me why almost no one, except for me, seems to pay attention to this ruling – said that abuse evidence – and none of it has ever been corroborated, none of it – that abuse evidence is, to use their word, misplaced."
"Because it doesn't go to whether the brothers were in 'imminent fear for their lives' at the moment they burst into the den, which they were not," Abrahamson added.
The brothers' second trial found them guilty of the murder of their parents. The first trial, which was conducted separately, resulted in hung juries.