At first, police suspected a mob hit. The scene was that violent. But within seven months, the real story began to emerge — not through clever detective work, but from the brothers themselves, who couldn’t keep their stories straight and spent money like lottery winners on a deadline.
After the August 1989 murders, Lyle and Erik went on a jaw-dropping spending spree. Lyle picked up a Rolex, a Porsche, designer clothes, and even sank money into a restaurant in Princeton, New Jersey. He also paid for Erik’s private tennis coaching. Meanwhile, Erik bought a Jeep, entered tennis tournaments, and indulged in luxury travel and shopping like there was no tomorrow.
Together, they burned through hundreds of thousands of dollars in just six months. They even redecorated the mansion — replacing carpet and reupholstering furniture — before quickly moving out.
Prosecutors called it what it looked like: greed. The defense tried spinning it as a trauma-fueled reaction to years of alleged abuse. But trauma doesn’t come with receipts from Porsche dealerships and five-star hotels. The brothers’ blatant indulgence only reinforced what the public and prosecutors already suspected — that they killed for money.
Was the “abuse excuse” something they cooked up with their first lawyer Leslie Abramson?
It took two trials, but justice caught up. Lyle and Erik were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The most disturbing part? It wasn’t just the murders — it was the aftermath. The calculated, shameless celebration of their new inheritance-funded freedom, paid for in blood.
I certainly can’t comment on their reportedly excellent prison records. This sentence was not about reform but rather punishment.. It looks like the punishment is about to end through a resentencing or governor’s commutation.
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