“Getting to Know Judalon Smyth: 5 Facts About the Key Witness in the Menendez Case – Hollywood Life”
Thirty-five years later, Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story—now streaming on Netflix since September 19—rekindled interest in the Menendez brothers, who were initially not seen as prime suspects. This changed when Judalon Smyth, the mistress of the brothers’ psychologist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, reported to police that Erik had confessed to the murders during therapy.
Here are 5 things to know about the person who led to the arrest of Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53, respectively.
Smyth Had an Affair with the Menendez Brothers’ Therapist
Smyth met married Oziel in June 1989 while running a tape-duplicating business, and proposed they sell tapes of him discussing psychology. They began an affair, and Judalon even moved in with Jerome and his wife, Laurel, for a few months during their relationship, according to the Los Angeles Times. Laurel claimed that Jerome was honest with her about the affair, but also stated that they felt “held hostage by this woman in our own home.”
Smyth Is Responsible for the Menendez Brothers’ Arrest
Erik confessed to his psychiatrist, Dr. Oziel, who then shared the information with Smyth. However, it wasn’t until Oziel ended his extramarital affair with Smyth a few months later that she went to the police and revealed what she knew about the confession. When she informed the police, she disclosed that Erik had admitted to the murders during therapy and that there were audiotaped recordings of the confession. The brothers were arrested in March 1990, leading to a multi-year legal battle over the admissibility of Oziel’s recordings.
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