Former prosecutor Pamela Bozanich had a surprising message for the people showing support for Erik and Lyle Menéndez.
During Netflix’s The Menéndez Brothers, which started streaming Monday, October 7, Bozanich reacted to the renewed support for freeing Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56.
“The only reason we are doing this special is because of the TikTok movement to free the Menendi. If that is how we are going to try cases now, why don’t we just have a poll? You present the facts and everybody gets to vote on TikTok,” Bozanich, who was a lead prosecutor in their first murder trial, shared. “Your beliefs are not facts. They are just beliefs.”
Bozanich issued a warning to those criticizing her, adding, “And by the way, all of you TikTok people, I am armed. We got guns all over the house. So don’t mess with me.”
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Lyle and Erik are both currently serving out their sentences of life without parole in California’s Donovan Correctional Facility after being arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder. The brothers admitted to killing their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
After two trials, they were ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in 1996. They continue to appeal the decision, and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office recently granted them a new hearing based on new evidence indicating that their father allegedly molested them.
Bozanich, for her part, has stood by her professional opinion that Erik and Lyle deserve to pay for their crime.
“I had no reaction to the Menéndez brothers. There was no visceral reaction. I didn’t feel like I was in the presence of pure evil,” she recalled in the documentary. “They were like potted plants to me. They were like poisonous, potted plants, but there was nothing about them that I found fascinating. They were just these dumb jock killers.”
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The attorney also took a dig at her opposing counsel, Leslie Abramson.
“If I told you what I really thought of Leslie Abramson, I would be sued,” Bozanich claimed. “Because she, I think, has lost all her money. And I’m not giving up my house.”
Abramson, who represented Erik throughout both trials, chose not to participate in the documentary. She did send a statement, which read, “Thirty years is a long time. I would like to leave the past in the past. No amount of media, nor teenage petitions, will alter the fate of these clients. Only the courts can do that and they have ruled.”
While reflecting on their crime, Erik and Lyle expressed remorse multiple times.
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“I do worry and I think it is important that the seriousness of my crime not be minimized or diminished,” Erik said in the doc before admitting he still felt guilty. “I went to the only person that had ever helped me and that had ever protected me. Then ultimately this happened because of me. Because I went to him. Then afterwards, he was arrested because of me. Because I told Dr. Oziel. Because I couldn’t live with what I did, I couldn’t. I wanted to die. In a way, I did not protect Lyle. I got him into every aspect of this tragedy. Every aspect of this tragedy is my fault.”
Lyle admitted he blamed himself, adding, “For me, I never could escape that night. That night just floods back into your mind a lot. I never found understanding. I sometimes feel like I rescued Erik. But did I? Look at his life now. It feels impossible that I couldn’t do better. I couldn’t rescue all of us.”
The Menéndez Brothers is currently streaming on Netflix.
