PAMELA Bozanich was the prosecutor during the infamous Menendez brothers’ first trial.
The brothers were accused of murdering their parents, Kitty and José, in a crime dramatised in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monsters.
After the series hit Netflix, Pamela appeared in the 2024 Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers despite keeping a low profile for years.
In the interview, she recounted the experience which made her and her clients famous.
The Menendez Trial
Pamela was a deputy district attorney in LA County in 1989, when she was assigned to be the prosecutor in the Menendez brothers’ trial.
In the courtroom, she was in opposition to Leslie Abramson who was defending Erik and Lyle.
The trial was aired on Court TV and soon millions of Americans were checking the news for updates on the story.
In one shocking moment, the Brothers alleged that their father, José, had been sexually abusive towards them and claimed that this was part of the reason that they committed the crime.
Ultimately, the trial led to a hung jury and a second trial with restrictions was ordered.
Eventually, the brothers were sentenced to life in prison without parole, leaving their lawyer Leslie furious that they were not offered the lower charge of manslaughter.
The Menendez brother’s crime
Erik and Lyle murdered their parents on August 20, 1989, and lived a lavish lifestyle with the inheritance handed down to them.
The brutality of the murder, which had been carried out with shotguns, led police to initially suspect that Kitty and Jose had been murdered in a gang killing.
The brothers later claimed that an argument over Lyle’s toupee led them to opening up about the alleged sexual abuse they both suffered at the hands of their father
The brothers claim this event, which took place just five days before they killed their parents, led them to planning the murder.
Life after the trial
Since the trial, Pamela has kept a low profile but Ryan Murphy’s Monsters has renewed public interest in the case.
When interviewed for the Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers, Pamela commented on the calls to free the brothers which have been supported by celebrities like Kim Kardashian.
She said: “The only reason we’re doing this special is because of the TikTok movement to free the ‘Menendi’ (Menendez brothers).
“If that’s how we’re going to try cases now, why don’t we just, like, have a poll? You present the faces, everybody gets to vote on TikTok, and then we decide who gets to go home.
“Your beliefs are not facts. They’re just beliefs. And by the way, all you TikTok people, I’m armed. We’ve got guns all over the house. So don’t mess with me.”
She also commented on her former courtroom rival Leslie Abramson.
Pamela said: “If I told you what I really thought of Leslie Abramson, I would be sued. Because she, I think, has lost all her money, and I’m not giving up my house.”
