{"id":130664,"date":"2024-10-11T19:14:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T19:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/11\/the-menendez-brothers-aunt-joan-on-why-they-must-be-freed-they-were-used-and-abused-and-there-seems-to-be-no-end-to-it\/"},"modified":"2024-10-11T19:14:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T19:14:21","slug":"the-menendez-brothers-aunt-joan-on-why-they-must-be-freed-they-were-used-and-abused-and-there-seems-to-be-no-end-to-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/11\/the-menendez-brothers-aunt-joan-on-why-they-must-be-freed-they-were-used-and-abused-and-there-seems-to-be-no-end-to-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The Menendez Brothers\u2019 Aunt Joan on Why They Must Be Freed: \u201cThey Were Used and Abused, and There Seems to Be No End to It\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Joan VanderMolen,<\/strong> Kitty Menendez\u2019s older sister, might be 92, but she doesn\u2019t pull punches. The white-haired matriarch of the Menendez family has been a staunch and outspoken supporter of Erik<\/strong> and Lyle<\/strong>\u2019s since 1990, when they were charged with murdering their parents with shotguns in the den of their Beverly Hills home. Now she hopes that they could be released from prison thanks to last week\u2019s announcement by the Los Angeles district attorney, George Gasc\u00f3n,<\/strong> that he\u2019s considering new evidence in the case.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair,<\/em> VanderMolen reveals intimate details of how she and her sister grew up, and while one can never truly know what goes on in another person\u2019s mind, her revelations about their father offer the closest we may ever come to understanding why Kitty didn\u2019t leave Jose Menendez, even though Erik and Lyle testified to years of sexual and physical abuse. The case, of course, has been the subject of renewed interest because of two Netflix releases: Ryan Murphy<\/strong>‘s scripted series and a new documentary, directed by Alejandro Hartmann.<\/strong> Excerpts from VF<\/em>‘s conversation with VanderMolen\u2026<\/p>\n

Vanity Fair:<\/em> Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. I know that you\u2019ve been through a lot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joan VanderMolen:<\/strong> You might say that. It\u2019s always difficult [to talk about Erik and Lyle]. I care so much about them. I\u2019m shook up right now thinking about it.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t mind my asking, can you say more about what makes you so upset?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fact that they\u2019re in the situation they are in. They didn\u2019t deserve any of this. They were used and abused and there seems to be no end to it.<\/p>\n

The DA says that he\u2019s looking at the writ of habeas corpus that was submitted by Erik and Lyle\u2019s attorneys. Are you hopeful that maybe there is some kind of end in sight?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course. I have for a long time. Since day one.<\/p>\n

They were arrested 34 years ago. That\u2019s a long time to hold out hope.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. It\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n

I looked back at some of the footage from the trial, and after all these years it\u2019s still shocking.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t even say how I<\/em> felt when the second trial came along and there was no defense whatsoever that would be allowed. There was no trial at all. Everything their lawyer said was shut dry down. [Leslie Abramson]<\/strong> couldn\u2019t get anything [admitted into evidence]. It was like the abuse never happened. It wasn\u2019t fair at all. I don\u2019t know how the jury reached a verdict after a trial so nuts.<\/p>\n

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