Meet the key player in the Menendez brothers’ horror tale

The second season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series Monsters is out, this time telling the brutal and simultaneously heartbreaking tale of the Menendez brothers.

The brothers, Erik and Lyle Menendez, were convicted in 1996 for murdering their parents José (an executive at RCA Records and CEO of Live Entertainment) and Kitty Menendez in 1989. The brothers were sentenced to a lifetime in prison without the possibility of parole, which they continue to serve to this day. The brothers claim that the murders were an act of self-defense against years of physical, mental, and sexual abuse by their father, in which their mother was allegedly complicit.

A key player in the Menendez brothers’ case is their therapist, L. Jerome Oziel, who became a key witness after Erik Menendez approached him and confessed to killing his parents with Lyle. The doctor recorded his confession on audiotapes and proceeded to reveal this information to a woman named Judalon Smyth, who he was having an affair with at the time.

In the buildup to the session, Erik had left a concerning voice message for the doctor in October 1989, two months after the murders. The voice message led to the infamous Halloween therapy session, where Erik revealed that he was extremely depressed and that he was having nightmares about his dead parents.

After the Menendez couple’s bodies were found in 1989, the police’s gaze didn’t necessarily go in the brothers’ direction, who had successfully convinced them of their innocence after giving a satisfactory alibi. However, a twist in the tale came four months later, when Smyth went to the law enforcement authorities and spilled the beans on Erik’s confessions to get back at Dr. Oziel for breaking off their relationship. As a result, the brothers were arrested.

However, despite submitting the tapes in court, it ended up becoming a long-drawn process due to doctor-patient confidentiality rules. Oziel was finally able to discuss his sessions at length and reveal what Erik had told him after making the revelation that the brothers had threatened to kill him. As a counter, Erik’s defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, proved that the doctor was involved in inappropriate relationships with different clients, which Oziel tried to deny.

In 1997, Dr. Oziel’s license was revoked, and he left Los Angeles, unable to practice in the state of California anymore.

As per Hollywood Life, Oziel currently works at the Marital Mediation Center and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.