Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were involved in one of America’s most well-known celebrity criminal trials. The siblings killed their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, in August 1989, claiming that they were subjected to emotional, physical and sexual abuse throughout their childhoods. During their 1990s trials, attorney Leslie Abramson was at the forefront of their case.
Leslie initially represented Erik in court, then both him and his brother up until their 1996 conviction. In the latest adaptation of the brothers’ case, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Leslie was played by actress Ari Graynor. Ari told Variety in October 2024 that the real-life Leslie “really took a step back” following the Menendez siblings’ trial “not only because this case in particular was so painful for her, but she also did not mince words about the media and its effects on things.”
Scroll through the gallery to see photos of Leslie during the Menendez brothers’ trial and throughout the 2000s, below.
