Menendez Murder Case Draws Loyal Flock Of Women -- Groupies, Court- Watchers Crowd Brothers' Trial

LOS ANGELES - They've been called groupies, fanatics, voyeurs. "People think we're just these nutty girls who want to have sex with Erik and Lyle," says one, shaking her head.

They've been sneered at by reporters, derided as gullible, pathetic hangers-on. But the Menendez watchers, an informal, predominantly female club that meets most mornings at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys, hold their heads high.

"We," explains one woman proudly, "have heard more than the jury."

Every high-profile trial has its avid followers, especially if the charge is murder. And now the killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their dark-haired sons have lured an unusual group to the drab courthouse hallways, all hoping for a coveted seat in the courtroom or at least a glimpse of the action.

One regular, who called herself Theresa, was in the original pool for the Lyle Menendez jury, was excused and just kept coming back. Another, make-up artist Joan Villarreal, says her own experience as a battered wife made her come to the courthouse after the Menendezes alleged they had been sexually abused by their parents. She's rarely missed a day since.

A third woman, a Beverly Hills native who once helped Elvis Presley answer his fan mail, has become the case's unofficial historian, compiling news clippings in two indexed binders that have come to be known around the courthouse as "The Bibles." Several reporters have purchased copies of her scrapbooks to use as reference material.

Erik, 23, and Lyle, 26, admitted killing their parents with shotguns in their mansion in 1989. The brothers claim self-defense, saying their father had sexually tortured them from childhood, but prosecutors say they killed to get the family's millions.

A mistrial was declared in Erik's case Thursday. The jury for Lyle has not yet reached a verdict, after more than three weeks of deliberations.

Gender is one thing that sets the Menendez trial observers apart. For whatever reason, hard-core court-watchers usually tend to be men, often retirees, who hop from trial to trial. But these loyal Menendez-watchers are mostly women who had never been to a trial before.

There is something different about this case, they say - something that has made it worth their while to take time out from school, work and children to bear witness to the brothers from Beverly Hills.

Author Dominick Dunne, who is covering the trial for Vanity Fair magazine, has a theory about what it might be: "The fact that the defendants are young, handsome and used to be rich has a certain appeal."

And then there's vulnerability. The defense attorneys' portrayals of the two brothers as victims have clearly struck a chord among some of the trial-watchers. One elderly woman wanted to bring them homemade chicken soup. Others, like a 38-year-old businesswoman who regularly commutes three hours from San Diego, have sent letters of support.

"Lyle Menendez's testimony changed my life . . . And I do have a life," said the woman, who was reluctant to give her name for fear of being "exploited."

When the brothers described being tormented by their parents, she heard the ring of truth. "I believe in them and I wanted to stand alongside them."

Marybeth, a mother of two, said she believes the brothers' dramatic account precisely because some parts of it are so incredible.

"I'm no dope," she said, admitting that she put her children in day care for the first time in order to attend the closing days of the trial. "I looked at it closely (asking myself), `Is that real emotion? Is that something you could make up in jail?' "

Marybeth's conclusion: "They didn't want their parents to die. They just wanted to live."

But not everybody is buying the brothers' story.

Villarreal says that at first she greeted the brothers' account with an open mind.

The more she's heard, however, the less she's been able to swallow. "Lyle? His testimony was Laurence Olivier," said Villarreal, 48. "I think it's a bunch of BS."

Villarreal makes no attempt to disguise her contempt for the court-watchers who express pity for Erik Menendez - who, she points out, has attracted the bigger following.

"Nobody is really interested in poor Lyle," she said. "The fan club in all this is going to Erik because Erik is more pathetic. He can't cope. He's been deprived. That's what (his supporters) say. Honey, it's the twilight zone."

Just as Villarreal sets herself apart from the pro-defense observers, Judy Spreckels tries to keep a polite distance from all other spectators. Spreckels, 62, has been attending local trials for 46 years.

Procedure, not personalities, is what keeps her coming back, says Spreckels, who compiles the Menendez scrapbooks that reporters have found so valuable. And it is a point of pride that she will not align herself with one side or another.

"I like the courtroom atmosphere, the discipline, the points of law, the brilliance of people coming up with the better lie and telling it often enough to be believed."