Lyle and Erik Menendez proceed to serve life sentences for the brutal murders of their mother and father on August 20, 1989, when the brothers—then 21 and 18—shot and killed them of their household’s Beverly Hills mansion.
Initially, the Menendez brothers weren’t prime suspects. Nonetheless, seven months after the crime, Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53 respectively, have been arrested after Judalon Smyth reported to police that the youthful sibling had confessed to the murders throughout remedy. Smyth, who was the mistress of the brothers’ psychologist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, realized concerning the confession after Oziel shared the confidential data together with her, together with the existence of audiotapes of the confession.
Now, 35 years later, the Menendez brothers’ case is the newest topic of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan‘s Monster anthology sequence. Titled Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the sequence stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik, with Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny portraying their mother and father, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Right here’s the whole lot it is advisable find out about Oziel, portrayed by Dallas Roberts, together with his present whereabouts.
Is Dr. Oziel Alive?
Sure. As of September 2024, Dr. Oziel—now referred to as Jerry Oziel—resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He’s presently working on the Marital Mediation Middle, the place he helps {couples} enhance their relationships by means of mediation as an “various to getting divorced.”
Is Dr. Oziel Nonetheless a Training Psychologist?
In 1997, Oziel was stripped of his psychology license after being “accused by a state panel of breaking confidentiality guidelines and having intercourse with feminine sufferers,” in keeping with the Los Angeles Instances. By that point, Oziel had already moved out of California and was now not practising. His lawyer defined to the outlet, “It simply made no sense to return again to California and spend many hundreds of {dollars} defending a license he doesn’t use in a state he doesn’t reside in.”
Oziel later addressed the scenario in a press release to Bustle, clarifying, “I didn’t give up my license because of the accusation, which means I gave up my observe as a result of I did issues alleged within the authentic accusation. That’s flatly and fully false.”
He added, with frustration: “I had phased out my observe as a result of I had a serious enterprise supply that was extremely profitable and moved to be the CEO of a giant enterprise in one other state A YEAR AND A HALF PRIOR to the give up… No company ever discovered I did a factor that was improper or mistaken.”
However Smyth, together with revealing the Menendez brothers’ confession, additionally claimed that Oziel “performed thoughts video games together with her and distributed medication to her, which he was not licensed to do,” in keeping with Self-importance Truthful.
What Function Did Dr. Oziel Play within the Menendez Brothers Case?
Oziel performed a pivotal function within the Menendez brothers’ case because the therapist to whom Erik confessed to the murders of his mother and father. In October 1989, two months after the killings, Erik left a frantic message for Dr. Oziel, resulting in a remedy session on Halloween. Through the session, Erik, who was depressed and having nightmares about his mother and father, spoke with Dr. Oziel for about an hour. Later, whereas on a stroll, Erik merely confessed, “We did it.”
It wasn’t till Oziel ended his extramarital affair with Smyth, a couple of months later, that she went to the police and revealed what she knew concerning the confession.
Dr. Oziel’s involvement prolonged past listening to Erik’s confession. His testimony grew to become key within the trial, regardless of challenges attributable to doctor-patient confidentiality. Oziel claimed the brothers had threatened his life, which allowed his testimony to be admissible.
All through the trial, Erik’s protection lawyer, Leslie Abramson, labored to discredit Oziel, accusing him of manipulating and exploiting sufferers. She vowed to reveal him “in each approach identified to man and God,” and accused him of getting an “exploitative, manipulative, sexualized” relationship with sufferers and different girls, in keeping with the Los Angeles Instances.
Smyth initially instructed police that she had overheard the Menendez brothers speaking about how they’d shot their mom’s eye out of its socket, as Oziel had allegedly instructed her to eavesdrop on their dialog. Nonetheless, in the course of the trial, she testified that she had circuitously heard them admit to killing their mother and father. Smyth additionally echoed Abramson’s claims about Oziel’s inappropriate relationships with sufferers, stating that she had been brainwashed by him throughout their affair, which brought about contradictions and inconsistencies in her testimony.