The Menendez Brothers Claim a Fight About Lyle's Toupee Was the Catalyst for the Murders
"He was kind of joking because he was amazed that Lyle all this time had the hairpiece."
Published Sept. 10 2024, 9:52 p.m. ET
(L-R): Lyle Menendez; Erik Menendez
There were so many incredible revelations during the Menendez brothers trial. It really solidified its place in the pantheon of unhinged legal proceedings.
People might not be aware of the fact that this occurred a full four years before O.J. Simpson stood trial, which gave birth to the poetic antics of lawyer Johnnie Cochran.
Perhaps the Dream Team that was Simpson's legal defense was inspired by the performance of attorney Leslie Abramson, who defended Erik Menendez.
When Erik testified during his trial, he told a story that felt as if it was ripped from the pages of the National Enquirer. It centered around the fact that Erik claimed he had no idea his brother Lyle was bald.
Evidently, he began losing his hair at a young age and quickly began wearing toupees. According to Erik, Lyle Menendez's hairpiece was the catalyst behind the brothers' decision to murder their parents. Here's what we know.
Lyle Menendez's hair piece was something he was deeply embarrassed by.
During their separate trials, Erik and Lyle testified that Erik didn't know about Lyle's hair piece until Aug. 15, 1989, per the Los Angeles Times. It was on that day that an argument between Lyle and his mother Kitty Menendez ended with Kitty ripping the toupee off her son's head.
Erik later said that watching the shame pass over his brother's face is what prompted him to reveal a secret of his own.
This secret would become the backbone of the Menendez brothers' defense. Erik told his brother that their father, Jose Menendez, had been sexually abusing him for 12 years.
They eventually said this "triggered a series of confrontations that led them to kill their parents five nights later." The state managed to find someone who contradicted what Erik and Lyle were saying about the older sibling's hairpiece.
Lyle's ex-girlfriend, Jamie Pisarcik, testified that Erik told her he knew about the toupee while they were chatting at the Menendez Beverly Hills home in 1989.
"He was kind of joking because he was amazed that Lyle all this time had the hairpiece," she said. "He was amazed because Lyle’s hair always looked so perfect." During cross-examination, Pisarcik was questioned about the timing of this conversation. She thought it happened in April, but the defense proved she was in New Jersey then.
Lyle Mendendez's toupee was very expensive.
Investigative journalist Dominick Dunne covered the Menendez brothers' trial for Vanity Fair. In March 1994, he wrote about Lyle's infamous hairpiece, saying it was state-of-the-art and incredibly expensive. It was also a "constant prop in the trial, almost as important as the two missing Mossberg 12-gauge shotguns the brothers used to blow away their parents."
Although Dunne was very nearly fooled by it, he questioned Erik's lack of knowledge surrounding the toupee.
Marzie Eisenberg was Jose's secretary for eight years and she told Dunne that he frequently spoke about Lyle's hair loss with her. She also said Lyle was constantly worried about his hair, which would be a difficult thing to hide from one's brother.
Attaching it to his head also required a lot of time and effort, which Erik would probably take note of.
Lyle purchased his toupees from the Hair Replacement Center on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and insisted they were made of 100 percent human hair. The last model he purchased cost him $1,450, but he owned three more very nice toupees.
When he went in there for adjustments, Lyle always knew what he wanted. He was clearly a pro. Again this begs the question, how could Erik not have known his brother was wearing a hairpiece?
