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Pamela Bozanich, who prosecuted the Menendez brothers' first trial in 1993, has left Netflix viewers stunned by her fiery comments in a new documentary about the case.
The Menendez Brothers comes hot on the heels of Ryan Murphy’s recent dramatization of the murders of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons Erik and Lyle in 1989.
The new documentary features phone interviews with Erik and Lyle, who have long contended they were victims of sexual abuse from their father, as well as conversations with Kitty Menendez’s family relatives, journalist Robert Rand and Bozanich.
After a former member of the boy band Menudo claimed in 2023 that he was sexually assaulted by José as a child, Erik and Lyle’s case became the subject of countless videos on social media with users calling for a retrial. Murphy has previously admitted that the TikTok and Instagram attention on the case had inspired his series.
“Millions of young people are looking back online and they’re reexamining old news stories from the 90s and 2000s particularly, and looking at them with a fresh set of eyes,” New York Times technology reporter Taylor Lorenz says in the documentary.
Lyle, who has spent the last 34 years in prison, says: “Young people have taken the time to figure out what happened, and they understand it in ways that older people don’t,” he says. “I feel more hope when society seems to be understanding sex abuse even better.”
Bozanich, however, issues a firm rebuttal in the documentary, saying: “The only reason we’re doing this special is because of the TikTok movement to free the ‘Menendi.’
“If that’s how we’re gonna try cases now, why don’t we just, like, have a poll? You present the faces, everybody gets to vote on TikTok, and then we decide who gets to go home.
“Your beliefs are not facts. They’re just beliefs. And by the way, all you TikTok people, I’m armed. We got guns all over the house. So don’t mess with me.”
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On X/Twitter, viewers criticized Bozanich’s threatening language. “Pamela Bozanich is a horrible person,” one wrote.
“She got her 15 minutes of fame on this documentary she didn’t have to do that interview and then to tell TikTokers to not come after her and she had guns! Disgusting behavior!”
Another wrote: “Just finished the menendez brothers documentary… firstly, i loved hearing from the brothers themselves. i cannot express how much they deserved better. second, f*** pamela bozanich. she pissed me off so badly.”
“Pamela bozanich still taking digs at leslie abramson after 35 years is insane behavior actually,” a third added, referencing the Menendez brothers’ defense attorney.
Erik and Lyle’s first trials ended with two deadlocked juries as they were both tried separately. In the second trial, both brothers were convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder, and sentenced to life in prison.
Now, in 2024, new evidence has emerged that has the potential to set them free.
Last week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office is reviewing possible evidence included in petitions filed by the brothers last year. The new information will be discussed at a hearing scheduled for November 26.
The Menendez Brothers is streaming now on Netflix.
