If the Menendez Brothers Really Killed Their Parents for Money, How Much Did They Inherit?
"I did express some concern about how he would tell them ... He said he already had."
Published Sept. 20 2024, 1:02 p.m. ET
After Erik and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents in August 1989, the brothers went on quite the spending spree. At the time of his death, José Menendez was the CEO of LIVE Entertainment, Inc., an extremely successful video distribution company. The Menendez family lived in a stunning Beverly Hills mansion that Jose bought in 1988 for $4 million ($10 million in 2024). The boys had enough money at their disposal to reportedly spend $700,000 in the weeks after their parents' death.
During the Menendez brothers' trials, the prosecution focused on what Erik and Lyle stood to gain in the event their father died. The state argued that money was the motive behind the murder of José and Kitty Menendez, and built their case around that theory. How much did the Menendez brothers inherit?
How much did the Menendez brothers inherit?
According to an April 1994 piece in the Los Angeles Times, the Menendez estate was valued at $14.5 million at the time of José and Kitty Menendez's deaths. The Menendez brothers' separate trials began in July 1993 and ended six months later in mistrials. The brothers were then tried together in October 1995. This time they were found guilty. All this to say that by April 1994, Erik and Lyle Menendez still had one more trial to go.
The bulk of the money they had from José's estate had mostly been eaten up by taxes and legal fees. Between trials, the Menendez brothers still had a house in Calabasas, Calif., a home in New Jersey, furniture, jewelry, and $651,948 in cash which probably went toward the final trial. Even if they had been acquitted the first time, Erik and Lyle wouldn't have a single cent to their name. The total amount spent in criminal defense fees before the third trial was $1,495,000.
José Menendez threatened to write his sons out of his will.
The question of what was in José Menendez's will at the time of the murders was of great interest to both Erik and Lyle, as well as police. Before Erik and Lyle were arrested in March 1990, the Los Angeles Times looked into the status of José's will as of December 1989. It was filed in 1980 and stated that Erik and Lyle were the sole beneficiaries of the estate.
(L-R): Lyle Menendez, Erik Menendez, Kitty Menendez, and José Menendez
One thing that concerned police is that the mention of a will was deleted from the Menendez's home computer after the murders. Investigators thought this was done intentionally, possibly to hide the existence of a second, more recent will. When asked about another will, the probate attorney for the Menendez brothers had little to say about it. "I don’t know anything about that and we’ve got a will and I don’t want any problems with it," said Stephen B. Goldberg of Redondo Beach.
Four years later, the Los Angeles Times reported on the testimony of Carlos Baralt, the executor of José's estate and his brother-in-law. Baralt was a defense witness who was called to support the claim that Erik and Lyle knew they had been written out of the will and had not killed their parents for financial gain.
Baralt testified about a conversation he had with José in June or July of 1989. José "wanted to leave Erik and Lyle off the will," he explained. "I did express some concern about how he would tell them ... He said he already had." He also said that four family members had tried to break into the Menendez's computer days after José and Kitty were killed.