TRUE CRIME STORIES are a dime a dozen these days, but say what you will—Ryan Murphy knows how to tell them in a way that cuts above the rest of the noise. Between his American Crime Story, American Sports Story, and Monster franchises (in addition to Feud, which isn’t quite “true crime,” but a depiction of nonfiction nonetheless), the stories and their adaptations for the small screen know how to get people talking, which is more than you can say for a lot of the other documentaries and scripted series taking up television airwaves in 2024.
The latest is the second installment of his Monster franchise for Netflix, titled Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. As the title explains, the story tells the infamous story of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez (played in the show by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch), and how they killed, and eventually convicted for the murder of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez (played in Monsters by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny) on August 20, 1989.
The case wasn’t cut and dry at first, though; the Monsters series opens with the funeral of the Menendez parents, and that was reflected in reality. It wasn’t known that the brothers killed their parents until their lavish spending—and eventually, a murder confession—came to light. The latter of those marks a key piece of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, as its Erik Menendez’s confession of murder to his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, that both ultimately (and controversially) incriminated the brothers, and also that help provide Monsters as a way to frame the events of the show.
How was Dr. Jerome Oziel involved in the Menendez Brothers’s murder trial?
Feeling overwhelmed with guilt, Erik Menendez eventually revealed in a therapy session with Dr. Jerome Oziel (played by Dallas Roberts) in Monsters that he and his brother shot their parents to death. But as Erik got more and more worked up, the Dr. then called his mistress, Judalon Smyth (Leslie Grossman in Monsters) to be a witness to the brothers confessing to the murders. Smyth would eventually testify that Oziel said he needed to “needed to get them to say incriminating things on a tape so we would have the tape to protect us,” because Lyle threatened Oziel’s life; Smyth only told the police about Oziel’s involvement after the fact, after breaking up with Smyth.
In most cases, this type of evidence would not be admissible due to the protections of doctor-patient confidentiality. But Judge James Albrecht ruled that since Lyle threatened Dr. Oziel, that privilege was broken, and the tapes were admissible. Eventually that decision was appealed, something that delayed the case for two full years; it was eventually determined that outside of the tape where Erik initially discussed the murders, the rest of the evidence would be admissible. The brothers were charged, and eventually convicted, of the murders.
Where is Dr. Jerome Oziel now?
J
There’s not a ton of information out there about where Dr. Jerome Oziel is now, but he lost his license to practice in 1997. The California Board of Psychology said that he improperly shared information about the Menendez case with Smyth, his mistress at the time, and also that he was guilty of sexual misconduct with female patients. Rather than fight the charges, he surrendered his license.
According to Slashfilm, in the years since losing his license, Oziel’s website now says that he offers sessions to help “marriages through mediation as an alternative to divorce,” and that he previously “hosted relationship seminars for women” in Portland, Oregon, as recently as 2017.
Dr. Jerome Oziel is played in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story by Dallas Roberts (and not John Ritter)
While many have thought that Dr. Oziel in Monsters looked like the late great John Ritter (who sadly died back in 2003), he’s actually played by veteran character actor Dallas Roberts.
Roberts has appeared in the main cast of a number of popular TV shows before, including The Walking Dead, Insatiable, Rubicon, The L Word, and Unforgettable. He’s also popped up here and there on the big screen as well, most recently playing Kathryn Hahn’s husband in Glass Onion, while also appearing in Motherless Brooklyn, My Friend Dahmer, 3:10 to Yuma, and more.
Share
Print
