Effects of Menendez Abuse Told

Left “very young, immature, naive” by a lifetime of psychological abuse, Erik Menendez felt he had no choices and no place to go when he and his brother killed their parents, a child abuse expert testified Tuesday.

Ann H. Tyler, the first of a string of experts scheduled to be called by the defense, told jurors that intense, repeated abuse leads to a condition called “learned helplessness.” On the night that the Menendez brothers shotgunned their parents, Erik Menendez was “in a box with no way to get out,” Tyler said.

Erik Menendez, 22, and Lyle Menendez, 25, are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1989, slayings of Jose Menendez, 45, and Kitty Menendez, 47.

Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, contend that the brothers killed out of hatred and greed. The defense says they killed in fear after years of abuse.

For the past four weeks, the brothers have been on the stand, testifying that they lashed out in a preemptive strike when they believed their parents were about to kill them on the night of Aug. 20.

Tyler’s appearance marked the beginning of a new phase in the case, with the defense seeking to explain for jurors why Erik and Lyle Menendez could have felt their lives were in immediate danger, even though their parents were not armed and apparently were watching television.

Two juries are hearing the case, one for each brother, and Tyler testified before Erik Menendez’s jury only. Attorneys for Lyle Menendez will present their own experts to his jury.

Tyler said she had no doubt that Jose and Kitty Menendez had psychologically abused their younger son in virtually every way possible.

The Salt Lake City-based psychologist said she based her opinions on 30 hours of interviews with Erik Menendez and careful reading of piles of records.

Declaring that “psychological maltreatment” was at the core of all abuse, Tyler said the Menendez parents abused Erik from the moment he was born--in fact, before he was born.

Kitty Menendez wanted her second child to be a girl and bought pink outfits, Tyler said.

“It sets the unborn child up to be a disappointment,” she said. “It sets him up for expectations that can never be met. It sets him up for rejection.”

While discussing many episodes in Erik Menendez’s upbringing, Tyler laced her testimony with words and phrases such as “statistically significant correlates” and “mis-socialization.”

By 4 p.m., jurors were taking only sporadic notes. One rolled a pencil between his nose and lips.

Earlier in the morning, a friend testified that Erik Menendez invited him on a trip to Cancun, Mexico, in November, 1989, imploring him to come because “he needed a friend to talk to.”

David Mraovitch, 22, of Lawrenceville, N.J., said that during the week in Cancun, his friend never disclosed that he had killed his parents. But Erik Menendez did complain about his therapist, he said, telling him that L. Jerome Oziel seemed more interested in making money than helping him.

The defense is trying to show that Erik Menendez did not trust Oziel enough to tell him how Jose Menendez had molested him. Oziel testified that both brothers confided their roles in the slayings to him and said they wanted to commit “the perfect crime.” The defense has said Oziel is lying.