I vaguely recall that story on news cos I was still a kid.... All I remember about them is they had hair like that one guy from Cheers bar show... So yes then, sociopaths.
I don't know but if their story is true they were very badly abused by them and they just had enough. Other children have killed their parents for the same reason who were not sociopaths. They were just protecting themselves against any further abuse.
Interesting . . . Do you have any references to that claim?
Even if that did happen it seems odd. Both were "of age" when the murders occurred (one was 18, the other 21), out from under their parents' thumb, so to speak. And they apparently went on a spending spree with their parents' money after the murders. They also tried to blame the murders on "the Mafia".
If I remember right, there was an aunt that one of the boys went to and told her he was being abused, and when she told their mother, the mother said to the boy that he has ruined the family. So the mother may have known but chose to ignore it, which is not uncommon because they don't want to rock the boat. Had something been done when the boys were little, the parents probably would have not been killed. But I wondered too why they didn't get out while they could. And if it was all about the money.
I actually don't believe they are sociopaths and I do believe their story about abuse. However, I think they are mentally unstable and they should stay in jail. There are many children who are abused by their parents but they don't murder them.
Not sure if you are interested (or will believe me) but I will share this anyway. Two people I was very close to, at different times, worked for Jose Menendez, the father.
One of the people was a man who was the nicest, kindest person and never had a bad word to say about anyone -- even his ex-wife (who I knew to be a pain in the ***). When I was talking to him about the case, showing the photos of the parents in the newspaper, he said "THAT Jose Menendez? I didn't realize it was him. I knew him. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!" Needless to say I was flabbergasted to hear something like that from this man. The guy proceeded to tell me that he once worked for Menendez and shared numerous stories of what an unbalanced & cruel man he was. He treated his underlings like garbage, verbally abusing them. There was more to it but that is the gist of the conversation.
The next day, I was sitting in my boss's office and shared what I was told by this other man. My boss got this shocked look on his face and said "I worked for him 20 years ago! I still have nightmares about him!" He proceeded to tell me stories about what Menendez did to him and his co-workers.
Two different men who worked for the guy at two different companies and they both had similar stories about his abusive nature. Both swore up and down that Menendez was the cruelest person they had ever met. I told them both that they should be testifying for the sons. Both just scoffed at my suggestion.
Does this prove that Menendez abused his sons? No, but it certainly made me believe that at the very least, if the man could be exceptionally cruel to the people that worked for him and get away with it, what was he like in his own home behind closed doors.
Benedict Arnold 