News October 28, 2024
Dr. Ann Burgess Reacts to Menendez Brothers Resentencing Recommendation (Exclusive)
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Erik and Lyle Menendez could be out of prison soon after DA George Gascon’s resentencing recommendation.
“Extra” spoke with Dr. Ann Burgess, an expert witness for the defense during the brothers’ first trial, which ended in a hung jury.
Ann weighed in on the recommendation, saying, “I think that is all good news.”
In 1996, Erik and Lyle were convicted of killing their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989. In the first trial, the brothers argued that they killed their parents after being subjected to years of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at the hands of their father. During the second trial, much of the sexual abuse evidence that the defense wanted to submit was excluded.
Burgess, who was recently featured in “The Menendez Brothers,” a doc currently streaming on Netflix, had spent 50 hours with Erik using art therapy to communicate, and that’s when the story of abuse came to light on paper.
Ann reflected, “He did a lot of the drawings in the bedroom. When Jose would take Erik to the back bedroom to his bedroom… no one was to interrupt them. Pretty soon, the family secrets were able to come out, and then it made sense to me.”
