The Private Diary of Lyle Menendez; In His Own Words!
Beverly Hills, CA: Dove Books, 1995. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 24 cm. xii, [3], 263, [1] pages. Illustrations. Black mark on bottom edge. Foreword by Mike Walker. DJ has some wear and soiling. Preface by Judith Spreckels. List of Individuals. List of Locations. Chapters on: The Crime and the Circumstances, Lyle Menendez Up Close, Listening to Lyle, Life after Lyle, including Conclusion: Reflections on the Con Artist as a Young Man by Pierce O'Donnell. Transcripts of telephone conversations and letters provide an unauthorized account of the trial of Lyle Menendez for the murder of his parents. Joseph Lyle Menéndez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menéndez (born November 27, 1970) are American brothers who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Mary ("Kitty") Menéndez. During the trial, the brothers alleged that they committed the murders in fear that their father would kill them after they threatened to expose him for years of sexual and emotional abuse. They were first tried separately, with one jury for each brother. Both juries deadlocked, which resulted in a mistrial. For the second trial, they were tried together by a single jury, which found them guilty; as a result, they were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The personal story of Lyle Menendez is based on a four-and-a-half-year intimate correspondence with the author and covers the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by Lyle and his brother Erik and the court trials that ended in hung juries. A San Fernando Valley woman, who befriended Lyle Menendez and for 2 1/2 years taped phone calls she had with him, stated that he freely gave his consent to being recorded because they planned to write a book together. Norma Novelli, 55, of Studio City, said that she and Lyle Menendez came up with the idea of a book in 1991, a few months after she began visiting him regularly at the Los Angeles County Jail. The book is no joint project. Instead, it is based primarily on phone calls with Lyle Menendez that Novelli taped from 1991 through early 1994. Sometime in 1991, Novelli stated, Lyle Menendez broached the idea of a book. The original plan was to detail his experiences in jail and “the other side of Lyle,” Novelli testified, meaning “his personality, things like that.” At some point after the first trial, Novelli said, she realized the tapes themselves could be a book. Pierce O’Donnell, a lawyer for Dove, said that the book features “explosive evidence” that will “directly contradict testimony from the first trial,” he said. Judy Spreckels (née Powell, 1933–2015) was an American writer, publisher and trial historian. She was a friend of Elvis Presley during the rock 'n' roll singer's rise to stardom. As a trial historian, Spreckels has "been attending Los Angeles-area trials off and on for forty-six years." Pierce O’Donnell is one of the most influential, accomplished, and sought after trial attorneys in the U.S., with groundbreaking success representing clients in closely watched matters across virtually every major industry and area of litigation. A graduate of Georgetown University and both Georgetown and Yale Law Schools, Pierce’s legal career began with prestigious clerkships for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White and Ninth Circuit Judge Shirley M. Hufstedler. This early experience set him on a path that would always combine his passions for trying cases in the courtroom and for writing provocative articles and books outside of his law practice. Mike Walker (January 16, 1946 – February 16, 2018) was an American radio personality and columnist for The National Enquirer, and hosted the magazine's 1999–2001 MGM-produced newsmagazine, National Enquirer TV.
Between April 11, 1996 and December 2010, Walker was a guest every week on The Howard Stern Show to play "The Gossip Game." He would read four gossip stories, and the Stern crew guesses which one is false. Walker co-wrote with Faye Resnick the #1 New York Times best-selling book about the O.J. Simpson murder trial, Nicole Brown Simpson: Private Diary of a Life Interrupted (1994). It debuted at #1 on the non-fiction side of the Times bestseller list on November 6, 1994. He participated in the publication of The Private Diary of Lyle Menendez. Walker had a weekly radio show on KABC, Los Angeles, California. Walker grew up in Boston and started working for the Enquirer in 1970. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Trials, Lyle Menendez, Criminal Justice, Norma Novelli, Prisoners, Parental Abuse, Sociopaths, Psychopaths, Gil Garcetti, Pierce O'Donnell
ISBN: 0787104744
[Book #19839]
Price: $65.00