After Erik and Lyle Menendez brutally murdered their parents, they initially told police that they believed it was the result of a mob hit. However, as depicted in the series Monsters, they first confessed to the crime during therapy sessions with their psychiatrist, played by actor Dallas Roberts.
The series portrays the brothers attending sessions with the doctor following a court order after they were caught burgling houses. It even shows them attending therapy with the parents they would later murder, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
plans to follow up the Monsters series, which dramatises these events, with a documentary titled The Menendez Brothers in October. This documentary aims to examine all the key figures involved in the case.
But who is the psychiatrist Dr Jerome Oziel, what role did he play in the trial, and where is he now?
Dr Jerome Oziel was a psychologist living in a large house in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, at the time of the murders. He lived with his wife, also a psychologist, and their two daughters, reports .
Dr Jerome Oziel during the Menendez trial (Image: YouTube)
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Oziel earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Arizona State University in 1972 and eventually established a private practice in Beverly Hills while also teaching at a nearby university. According to the LA Times, he only saw patients three or four days a week, had a waiting list for his services, and charged $150 for a 45-minute session.
Dr. Oziel, who had previously appeared on television as an expert in human behaviour, was the therapist chosen by the Menendez brothers for their therapy sessions following their arrest for housebreaking in 1988. Unbeknownst to the Menendez family, Oziel’s license was under probation due to an investigation into an inappropriate ‘dual relationship’, where he was alleged to have exchanged therapy services for construction work done at his home by a patient.
What role did Dr. Oziel play in the Menendez case?
Dallas Roberts as Dr Jerome Oziel (Image: Netflix)
Initially, Oziel was engaged to provide therapy to the boys after they were implicated in a series of burglaries. However, as depicted in the series, one of the brothers sought further assistance from Oziel in coping with the emotional aftermath of the murders.
Oziel would eventually conduct joint therapy sessions with the brothers, during which they detailed their murder plot. He recorded these sessions, capturing their confessions on tape and assuring them that it would help a jury understand them.
Rather than submitting the tapes to the authorities or reporting what he had learned, Oziel chose to store the recordings in a safe deposit box. As reported by Psych Central, a therapist’s decision to report crimes disclosed by a patient depends on whether the crime occurred in the past, is ongoing, or may occur in the future.
A therapist is obligated to report an ongoing crime or one a patient intends to commit, particularly if it pertains to the safety of the patient or others. Confidentiality does not extend to cases involving abuse of children, vulnerable individuals, or elderly adults. This allowed Oziel to maintain confidentiality even when the Menendez brothers confessed to their parents’ murder, as it was a past event.
However, he violated this confidentiality by disclosing the information to his mistress, Judalon Smyth. The court admitted the tapes as evidence, ruling that Lyle Menendez had breached confidentiality by threatening Oziel, thus nullifying the agreement.
This decision was appealed, causing a two-year delay in court proceedings, but the tapes remained a crucial piece of evidence leading to the brothers’ conviction.
The Menendez brothers are the subject of a new Netflix drama (Image: Getty)
Oziel met Smyth in June 1989, and she proposed they start a business together. She operated a tape copying business, and Oziel testified that they planned to produce and distribute informational tapes.
They eventually began an affair, which Oziel claims he struggled to end, and Smyth even moved in with him and his family.
Smyth alleged in court that Oziel recorded the conversations with the brothers to extort money from them. It was Smyth who informed the authorities about the confessional tapes.
Both Oziel and Smyth played crucial roles as witnesses during the trial, with the doctor asserting his belief that the siblings had suffered mental abuse. However, he made no mention of any physical or sexual assaults.
What happened post-trial?
Oziel’s reputation was significantly tarnished following his testimony at the trial.
In 1997, he faced disciplinary hearings with the Consumer Affairs Board of Psychology over allegations of sharing confidential information and engaging in sexual relations with female patients.
Before the case could reach court, Oziel voluntarily surrendered his license. His lawyer justified this decision by stating it was not financially prudent to defend his license when he no longer resided in California. He also refuted any claims of ‘improprieties’.
During the trial, he was questioned about a supposed settlement payment ranging from $400,000 to $500,000 to his mistress. He responded by saying that the payment was made by his insurance company.
Where is Jerome Oziel now?
According to a company directory, a Dr Jerry Oziel is now employed in Marital Mediation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bustle reports that in 2017, Oziel hosted seminars “for single, widowed or divorced women and mother/daughter seminars with practical advice on how to deal with men in situations in which women tend to make major mistakes.”
This information came to light after the publication contacted him for his comments on his portrayal in another television depiction, Law and Order: True Crime.
Oziel shared his dissatisfaction with his depiction in the 2017 series, and it’s anticipated that the fresh attention he’s receiving from ‘s Monsters will not sit well with him. Vanity Fair reports that Oziel swiftly turned the page on his involvement in the infamous Menendez case, stating through email: “This case was over 30 years ago. I moved on a couple of months post-trial. My life is very satisfying and it has no connection to this trial.”