Judge orders LA prosecutors to explain why Menendez brothers' conviction shouldn't be re-examined
The July 7 order by LA County Superior Court Judge William Ryan was in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by the Menendez brothers in May 2023 seeking a review of their 1996 convictions for the killings of their parents based on new evidence.
The brothers were convicted of murdering their father, Jose Menendez — a powerful record executive — and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Their first trials resulted in hung juries. At the second trial for both brothers, the judge excluded a substantial amount of evidence, including testimony from several family members who witnessed or heard about the abuse. The brothers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In May, a judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life in response to a resentencing petition, making them eligible for parole. They will appear before the state parole board in August.
The new evidence included a newly discovered letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in which he describes being abused by his father, and a declaration from Menudo boy band member Roy Rossello that he was raped by Jose Menendez in the 1980s.
While prosecutors argued that the evidence was untimely and inadmissible, Ryan sided with the Menendez brothers, saying they had provided sufficient proof of why the evidence could have changed the outcome of their convictions.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office now has 30 days to explain why the brothers should not be granted habeas corpus relief.
There are several possible outcomes if the judge grants relief, including reduced sentences, a new trial, or even release from prison.
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Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Another necrophiliac killer like David Fuller could STILL strike due to 'completely absent' regulation of mortuary care, inquiry finds
The crimes of necrophiliac morgue monster David Fuller - who abused the bodies of more than 100 women and girls - could be repeated elsewhere, an inquiry has found. The twisted father-of-four defiled corpses of dozens of females, aged nine to 100, while employed at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospita l, in Pembury, between 2005 and 2020. Fuller was already serving a whole life sentence for the sexually motivated murders of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987, when police uncovered his systematic sexual abuse in hospital mortuaries. The Government launched an independent inquiry in 2021 to investigate how Fuller was able to carry out his crimes undetected, with the first phase of the probe looking at his employer, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Now, that inquiry has concluded it is 'entirely possible' Fullers' abhorrent crimes could be repeated by another offender elsewhere. The final report of the inquiry sparked by his crimes also found that 'current arrangements for the regulation and oversight of the care of people after death are partial, ineffective and in significant areas completely absent'. Fuller was able to 'offend undetected' amid failures in 'management, governance' and because standard procedures were not followed, the inquiry found, while senior bosses were said to be 'aware of problems in the running of the mortuary from as early as 2008'. There was 'little regard' given to who was accessing the mortuary, with Fuller visiting 444 times in a year - something that went 'unnoticed and unchecked'. The fiend will die in prison after being sentenced to two life orders in 2021. Speaking as the report was published on Tuesday, chairman Sir Jonathan Michael said the inquiry is the first time that the 'security and dignity' of people after death has been reviewed so comprehensively. He said the weaknesses that allowed Fuller to offend for so long were not confined to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust where the killer worked. 'I have found examples in other hospital and non-hospital settings across the country. 'The security and dignity of people after death, do not feature in the governance arrangements of many organisations which are caring for the deceased,' Sir Jonathan said. 'I have therefore come to the conclusion that the current arrangements for the regulation and oversight of the care of people after death are partial, ineffective and, in significant areas, completely absent. 'I have asked myself whether there could be a recurrence of the appalling crimes committed by David Fuller. I have concluded that yes, it is entirely possible that such offences could be repeated, particularly in those sectors that lack any form of statutory regulation.' Previously outlining 17 recommendations made in a bid to prevent similar atrocities, Sir Michael, a former NHS hospital consultant and chief executive, said: 'In identifying such serious failings, it's clear to me that there is the question of who should be held responsible. 'Although the failures took place over many years and during various management and regulatory regimes, I expect the current leadership of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and those outside the trust charged with oversight and regulation, to reflect seriously and carefully on their responsibility for the weaknesses and failings that I have identified in this report and to implement my recommendations.' The inquiry previously concluded the trust should install CCTV cameras in the mortuary and post-mortem room, that maintenance staff should always carry out tasks in those areas in pairs and the 'practice of leaving deceased people out of mortuary fridges overnight' or while maintenance is carried out should end. It also called for a review of governance policies by the trust's board. Wendy Knell (left) and Caroline Pierce (right) were beaten and strangled by Fuller before being sexually assaulted An examination of Fuller's computer hard drive at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse as well as evidence of his 'persistent interest' in rape, abuse and murder of women. Nevres Kemal is the mother of Azra Kemal, 24, one of Fuller's victims. Speaking previously, she said: 'The trust and other organisations have been failing for 15 years. Now we know the truth about how Fuller was able to abuse our loved ones. 'Miles Scott is presently the chief executive. He was there since January 8, 2018, and has also failed. He needs to resign. 'I spoke to him personally one to one and suggested he should resign as a matter integrity. I hope Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, will show him the door as he clearly doesn't know where the door is. 'Unless you have experienced this horror you cannot describe the pain that accompanies you night and day, every day. Something needs to be done now so we have some way of saying that lessons have been learnt and this is in the past. We need justice now.' Fuller filmed himself carrying out the attacks inside the hospitals, where he worked in electrical maintenance roles. He stored records of his serial sex offending on computer folders with titles including 'Necro Lord', 'Register', 'Deadly', 'Deadliest' and 'Best Yet'. Fuller was not linked to the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce until 2020, which led investigators to search his home and uncover almost 900,000 files of him abusing corpses of females aged between nine and 100. The crimes were committed at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, in Pembury, where Fuller had worked in maintenance since 1989. An examination of Fuller's computer hard drive at his home revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse as well as evidence of his 'persistent interest in rape, abuse and murder of women'. Fuller's victims included nurses, teachers, a pilot, a skier, a war veteran, wives and mothers who had nurtured families. Many were still wearing defibrillators and catheters at the time Fuller abused their bodies. Among those whose bodies were abused by Fuller was a 92-year-old Second World War hero who worked at Bletchley Park. Her daughter previously said he 'has done the most heinous crimes, something our family must live with daily'. In 2020, Fuller admitted murdering Ms Knell and Ms Pierce in 1987 after he brutally bludgeoned and strangled them to death. Both women, who lived alone in bedsits in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, were then sexually assaulted by the former hospital electrician as they were either dying or post-death. Ms Knell's body was discovered in her bed on June 23, 1987, while Ms Pierce, who was attacked just feet from her front door on November 24, was found three weeks later on December 15 wearing just a pair of tights, in a field 38 miles away in Romney, Kent. Their horrific deaths - dubbed the Bedsit Murders - became one of the UK's longest unsolved double homicide cases. Three-times wed Fuller was finally arrested on December 3, 2020, after a major breakthrough in DNA science identified a familial link to a relative on the national database. He was sentenced to two life orders in December 2021, meaning he will never be released. The sentencing hearing heard impact statements from a string of the victims' family members. The mother of Fuller's youngest victim, a nine-year-old girl, addressed him directly, saying: 'David, you know who I am because you read the letter I wrote to my baby.' She added: 'You raped my baby. She couldn't say no to the dirty 66-year-old man who was abusing her body. I feel guilty I left her there. I will not enjoy my life again. This unnatural sick pain I will never get over.' The father of an 18-year-old victim said: 'The only bit of comfort we held on to was how peaceful she looked when we said our goodbyes. 'This was destroyed when we got a knock on the door by the police to say she had been violated by a man my wife had grown up in fear of. 'Fuller has taken our little girl's innocence and destroyed our souls. I am consumed with anger.' The widower of another woman told him: 'David, when you are serving your time behind bars, think carefully about what you have done and thank your lucky stars that I'm not sharing a cell with you.' Ordering Fuller to stand, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb QC said: 'These were premeditated killings, carefully planned and executed. 'You had no regard for the dignity of the dead. You have spent the last 45 years living an outwardly mild and ordinary life. 'You were described as a man good under pressure while in seclusion you committed acts of the deepest darkness. 'You became a vulture, picking your victims from among the dead within the hidden world of hospital mortuaries which you were free to inhabit simply because you had a swipe card. 'The depravity of what you did reveals your conscience is seared. You will spend every day of the rest of your life in prison.' Morgue rapist David Fuller: A timeline of the heinous offences 1973: Fuller grew up in a terraced house in Angerstein Road, Portsmouth, and was living at the address when he was convicted of 26 counts of burglary. June 23, 1987: Ms Knell is found dead in her apartment in Guildford Road on by her boyfriend. The bed, duvet and pillows were bloodstained, and her bloodstained head was resting on a towel. Police could find no signs of forced entry, and neighbours heard nothing through the flat's thin walls. November 24, 1987: Ms Pierce, manager at a popular restaurant, is murdered by Fuller. However, it is not until three weeks later that her body - naked apart from a pair of tights - is found in a water-filled dyke of a remote field on Romney Marsh in Kent. January 1989: Fuller begins working as an electrical maintenance craftsman at Kent and Sussex and Tunbridge Wells hospitals. 2008: The first evidence of Fuller having filmed and photographed himself sexually abusing the bodies of dozens of women at the mortuaries. 2012: Kent Police reveals it has a full DNA profile of their prime suspect for the murders of Ms Knell and Ms Pierce. 2015: Fuller has to undergo a criminal record check for the first time in the wake of revelations Jimmy Savile sexually assaulted patients. It emerges he had convictions for burglaries in the 1970s that he is understood to have previously lied about. December 2020: Fuller is identified as the prime suspect in the murders after a DNA breakthrough achieved by analysing genetic material found at the crime scenes and searching criminal databases for relatives. Officers arrest him at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, where he lived with his family, in the early hours of December 3. January 2021: Fuller admits responsibility for both killings at Maidstone Crown Court, but his barrister says he will deny murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He is later charged with additional offences relating to the sexual abuse of more than 100 victims. November 4, 2021: After his trial gets underway, Fuller changes his plea to guilty. He also admits a further 51 offences related to sexually abusing at least 102 victims, of which 82 have been identified, in the mortuaries over more than a decade. December 15, 2021: Fuller is sentenced to two whole life orders at Maidstone Crown Court. The Government launches an independent inquiry in 2021 to investigate how Fuller was able to carry out his crimes undetected. November 28, 2023
Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Chilling twist in hunt for beloved missing news anchor Jodi Huisentruit as new 'person of interest' is unmasked
Thirty years after news anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished on her way to work, a bombshell documentary reveals a new person of interest. Huisentruit, 27, was running late to her shift at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, on June 27, 1995, when she was abducted from the parking lot of her apartment complex sometime after 4am. For years, the investigation into Huisentruit's disappearance stalled with few leads, no arrests and little concrete evidence to move the case forward. She was declared legally dead in 2001. However, a new three-part documentary, Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit, reveals that a tip led authorities to Brad Millerbernd, the ex-husband of her childhood best-friend Patty Niemeyer. In the series, Niemeyer describes how, after watching an ABC 20/20 special on the case three years ago, she got a gut feeling that her ex-husband may have been involved. 'My information just fit in there too much,' said Niemeyer. 'You know that burning gut feeling that you get? I couldn't let it go.' She first became suspicious 10 years after the disappearance in June 2005 when Millerbernd apparently called her out of the blue and said, 'Do you realize what day it is?' Niemeyer had been separated from Millerbernd for almost 11 years and said the call 'freaked' her out. It was the first time she had heard from him in over a decade, and she didn't understand why he'd reached out to discuss her friend. But the odd conversation got her thinking. Millerbernd, she claimed, always had an odd preoccupation with Huisentruit, frequently talking about her, asking what she was up to and where she 'was at'. 'That always bothered me,' said Niemeyer. 'But I guess I was naive, and I was like, 'Oh, it's nothing.'' Niemeyer first reached out to the Mason City Police Department (MCPD) in 2017, urging them to look into Millerbernd as a potential suspect. Her initial tip went unanswered, but she followed up again after seeing the 20/20 special, sharing more detailed information to support her suspicions. Millerbernd has not been accused of any crimes related to Huisentruit and has denied any wrongdoing in his conversations with law enforcement. He declined to speak in the latest ABC documentary, and the Daily Mail's attempts to reach him for comment have been unsuccessful. At the time Huisentruit vanished, Millerbernd was living roughly three hours from Mason City in Winstead, Minnesota, property records show. He was working for his father's company, Millerbernd Process Systems, and frequently traveled to Mason City for work, driving a white Ford Econoline van, according to Niemeyer. Niemeyer's recollection of the van stood out to Mason City detectives. Several witnesses reported seeing a mysterious white Ford van parked outside Huisentruit's apartment moments before she was abducted. Identifying the owner of that vehicle has long been seen as the key to cracking the case. While investigating Niemeyer's tip, MCPD detective Terrance Prochaska made a startling discovery: in its case files, the department had composite drawings of a man who'd been spotted lurking near Huisentruit's apartment block two nights before she went missing. Sharing the information publicly for the first time, Prochaska said several witnesses saw a suspicious white male standing at a bridge embankment next to the complex, carrying a bag and 'acting odd' as he stared in the direction of Huisentruit's home and 'creeped' around the property. The man was described as bald with a mustache and goatee and wearing a strange black hat. The documentary showed the moment Niemeyer looked at the drawings. 'I see Brad Millerbernd... ' she said in response. 'That is him to a T.' Niemeyer's marriage to Millerbernd was short-lived. They tied the knot in February 1994 and were living apart by December of that year. Their divorce was finalized on June 23, 1995, just four days before Huisentruit vanished, and two nights before numerous locals spotted the suspicious man lurking near the anchor's building. Both Niemeyer and Detective Prochaska emphasized that the timing of the divorce being finalized and Huisentruit vanishing is compelling. In 2022, Prochaska quizzed Millerbernd over the phone about his memories and interactions with Huisentruit. According to the detective, during that call, Millerbernd admitted to taking Huisentruit out to dinner in the fall of 1994. He claimed to have made contact with Huisentruit after getting her information from a telephone directory, and then drove from Winstead to Mason City in his white Ecoline van to pick her up. That was understood to be the last time he allegedly saw her. However, Prochaska - along with the documentary's director, Maria Awes - made a startling discovery in the notes of the late private investigator Gary Peterson, who worked the Huisentruit case for years. Buried in Peterson's files was a note that, on June 5, 1995, Huisentruit reached out to Niemeyer to inform her that Millerbernd 'tried to contact her.' 'Coincidences happen,' said Prochaska, 'but this one, there's a lot stacked up in June for sure.' Prochaska interviewed Millerbernd for a second time in October 2024, this time in person, stopping by his home in Marshfield, Wisconsin, unannounced. Millerbernd voluntarily agreed to sit down with Prochaska at the local police station for questioning. The detective described him as being 'very cooperative' but 'shaken.' While their conversation was not aired, the detective shared chilling real-time updates with the documentary crew, revealing an unsettling atmosphere during the interview. The detective said he told Millerbernd it was 'hard to believe' he last saw her in the fall of 1994, considering the alleged attempted contact and the man matching his description in her parking lot. In response, Prochaska claimed Millerbernd sat back in his chair, stared and 'had this dazed and glazed over look.' Then, he recalled, after the detective zeroed in on the white van and eyewitness accounts, Millerbernd's demeanor changed. 'His mouth started twitching out of control,' Prochaska claimed. 'I wanted to give him a break, so I paused and gave him a water and, within a few minutes, he'd finished the whole thing.' Prochaska called the suspect 'very nervous' and 'concerned.' 'He looked like a ghost during those questions, which is very much concerning to me.' When given the chance to ask questions about the case, Millerbernd allegedly didn't ask a single one. 'In my career, I've never had that happen,' Prochaska said. In total, the interview lasted 90 minutes. Millerbernd agreed to voluntarily submit his DNA and later agreed to take a polygraph test, the results of which were not disclosed - though, Prochaska described him as 'very cooperative' throughout the three-hour interview. Two days later, Prochaska led a search for Huisentruit's remains in a wooded area behind a property in Winstead, where Millerbernd and Niemeyer used to live. That search came up empty, but the investigation into Millerbernd remains ongoing. In the documentary, Prochaska admits that MCPD does not currently have any DNA evidence in the case. However, the department has several items of evidence that were never tested for DNA or fingerprints - now, they 'absolutely' plan to send them off for examination, hoping significant advancements in DNA technology could help finally crack the case. MCPD Chief Jeff Brinkley said it comes down to a matter of timing: prematurely testing delicate items with insufficient methods could destroy trace DNA samples, potentially squandering vital evidence. MCPD also saw the documentary as an opportunity to share previously unreported details and lay to rest some long-standing myths and misconceptions. For example, officials clarified the partial palm print allegedly found on Huisentruit's car was actually recovered from a nearby light pole in the parking lot. Additional never-before-shared evidence included a police report one of the victim's neighbor's filed saying they consistently found a pile of Coors Light cans in the parking lot every morning for two weeks before the anchor vanished. The cans, according to MCPD, were left in the parking spot opposite Huisentruit's and in view of her apartment window. After Huisentruit was reported missing, one of the responding officers found two Coors Light cans in a nearby dumpster and collected them as evidence. It's unclear if the cans have ever been tested and whether MCPD is still in possession of them. Niemeyer emphasized numerous times in the documentary that Millerbernd drank excessively and became a 'different person' when he was intoxicated. Police records uncovered by the Daily Mail show that Millerbernd has been convicted of misdemeanor DUI charges in Minnesota at least twice, once in 2004 and again in 2010. Today, he serves as Vice President of Dairy Processing at Custom Fabricating & Repair, in Marshfield. Posts to his social media show him spending time with his children and grandchildren. Following the documentary's release, Millerbernd's name is among only a handful of persons of interest to ever be publicly linked to the case. The search to find Jodi Huisentruit remains ongoing. Earlier this year, her niece, Kristen Nathe, told the Daily Mail that while her optimism wanes with each passing year, she still clings to hope her aunt's killer will be brought to justice. 'You can't move on,' Nathe said. 'It's always an open question that's eating at you and haunting you, so it's been a defining part of my life.' Speaking directly to the culprit, she added, 'We've existed in this nightmare for too long, so find compassion in your heart to help us find the peace that we and Jodi desperately need.'
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Young subway surfers caught travelling on top of moving train by police drone team
This is the moment that a group of subway surfers were caught travelling on top of a moving train in New York City. Drone footage captured by the NYPD shows four young males, ranging in age from 12 to 16, standing on top of and in between carriages on a northbound 6 express train in the Bronx on Thursday (10 July). The footage was sent to transit officers who then worked with police officers to stop the train at Parkchester Station. Officers then boarded the train and all four boys were taken into custody. None of the children were injured during the incident.
