CARLOS Baralt was José Menendez’s brother-in-law and childhood friend before José and his wife were murdered by their sons Erik and Lyle.
The two brothers’ crime was dramatized in Netflix’s crime series Monsters, which also depicted how Carlos acted as the executor of José’s estate. Here’s everything you need to know about José’s brother-in-law.
Friend from Cuba
José was born on May 6, 1944, and grew up in Havana, Cuba, where he met Carlos.
The pair were close from a young age and remained close after José moved to the United States, as Carlos eventually married José’s older sister Teresita.
Carlos would later testify in court, after his childhood friend was murdered by his own sons.
He also acted as the executor of José’s estate, after the murder.
He claimed that José wanted to “leave Erik and Lyle off the will”, but Carlos said he had “some concern” about the situation.
According to Carlos, José had already told the two brothers.
His wife, known as Terry by friends, told People in 1990:
“We thought murder was bad enough,”
“You grieve and life goes on. We felt 1990 had to be a better year. Now this. This is even worse than the murders.”
She felt that giving Erik and Lyle the death penalty would result in the “destruction of that side of my family: Jose, Kitty and the two kids”.
The Menendez brothers
On August 20, 1989, the Menendez brothers murdered their parents Kitty and José in their family home.
After murdering their parents, they told the police that they had just come home to find their parents dead.
The police began to suspect that the murder may have been at the hands of the Mob.
Erik and Lyle went on to live a lavish lifestyle using their inheritance, with Erik hiring a private tennis coach and Lyle buying a buffalo wing shop.
They were later arrested for their crime after Erik confessed to Dr Jerome Oziel, his therapist, whose mistress, Judalon Smyth, informed the police of what had happened.
Their first trial became the subject of much public interest as it was broadcast to homes across America by Court TV.
The brothers alleged in court that they had been victims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father and said that fear for their own safety motivated their killing.
A hung jury forced the case to go to a retrial and they were handed life sentences without the possibility of parole, despite the efforts of the brothers’ lawyer Leslie Abramson.
Netflix and the Menendez brothers
Interest in the Menendez brothers surged after Ryan Murphy’s Netflix drama Monsters landed on the streaming platform.
The series dramatized the events of the two brothers’ lives, including Carlos’ work as the executor of José’s estate.
In the series, he is played by Enrique Murciano.
This led to a wave of support for the brothers, with celebrities like Kim Kardashian calling for their release.
A letter, that detailed Erik’s alleged abuse by José, was uncovered and will be examined as new evidence.
The letter was found by Erik’s aunt, Marta Cano, and was addressed to her son, Andy.
