Menendez Brothers: Why Their Family Still Fights for Their Freedom

Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

True Crime

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

She’s one of the few family members who has stood by Erik and Lyle Menendez from the very beginning, and she’s never backed down. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield sits down with Anamaria Baralt, the Menendez brothers’ cousin, for an unflinching look at the abuse allegations, the trial that shocked America, and what comes next as the brothers fight for resentencing. Anamaria has spoken out before, but not like this. She opens up about the pressure, the backlash, and the toll it’s taken on her family. And with new legal momentum on the horizon, she’s more determined than ever to make sure the truth is heard.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everybody. I'm Ashley Banfield. Welcome to Drop Dead Serious. I have such a treat for you. Massive news, right?
0:12.7	Happening with the Menendez case, the judge just making a decision that they qualify for resentencing and saying 50 to life, which really means because they were under 26
0:23.3	when the crime happened, that they get an earlier shot, a parole and they're meeting with the
0:28.1	parole board on June 13th. I had these fabulous interviews that I conducted. One of them is with
0:34.3	Anna Maria Berald, who testified in the case today where the judge made this decision,
0:40.1	tearfully testified how important she feels it is as their first cousin,
0:44.4	and someone who speaks with them every day, she said, that the feelings of the family members are taken into account.
0:51.3	The family members are not just family members of Eric and Lyle. They are family
0:55.6	members of Jose and Kitty, the victims. And they say they want the cousins released, even though
1:01.3	they are victims of the crimes that Eric and Lyle committed against their loved ones. It mattered.
1:08.4	Anna Maria had such a great conversation with me about why this has been such a
1:12.8	passion project, how she feels about the case, what she's looking forward to, and what she knows
1:18.7	about the effects on Eric and Lyle. Again, she talks to them every single day. So I do have a
1:25.2	bonus episode all about the decision, so make sure you check that out.
1:28.3	But in the meantime, here's my conversation with Eric and Lyle Menendez's cousin, Anna Maria Burald.
1:34.3	What are you expecting to happen?
1:36.3	There's going to be a lot of lawyers arguing is what I'm expecting to happen.
1:40.3	And some of it will be in chambers, so it's called in camera, where I won't be a part of it, any press that is in the courtroom, they won't be a part of it.
1:49.1	And that will be an argument about the CRAs.
1:52.8	So that's the comprehensive risk assessment, part of the risk assessment that was ordered by the governor.
1:59.1	And really that's that important.
2:00.5	Like let's make sure that our listeners and viewers know that the comprehensive risk assessment
	...

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