Yahoo News The Menendez Brothers' Therapist Dr. Oziel Is No Longer Working as a Pyschologist
The new Netflix show Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story dramatizes the murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons, Lyle and Erik. A key player in the story is Erik's therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel. Here's what you need to know about him and his impact on the Menendez brothers' case.
First: Who even is Dr. Jerome Oziel?
Oziel received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Arizona State University in 1972. After living in South Carolina, he moved to Beverly Hills. There, he started a private practice and taught at USC. Per the Los Angeles Times, "He became an expert in phobias of various sorts but, as he related in court, the majority of his professional articles dealt with sex-related disorders."
Did Erik Menendez really confess to Oziel on Halloween?
Oziel's relationship with the Menendez brothers began in 1988, when Jose and Kitty hired him after Lyle and Erik were caught burglarizing houses in Calabasas. He saw Erik for a time.
After the murders of their parents, Erik reached out to Oziel—and yes, he did confess to him. As the Los Angeles Times reported in 1991, "In October, 1989, Erik Menendez, now 20, telephoned his therapist for an urgent appointment. They met late Halloween afternoon, talking first in Oziel’s Bedford Drive office and then during a walk in a nearby park, according to court records. It was there, Oziel said on the tapes, that Erik confessed that he and his brother had committed the murder." Oziel said in notes dictated after the session, "Erik revealed in detail the planning and execution of the crime, including (the brothers’) fabricated alibi defense." On November 2, both brothers were in his office, where they discussed why they killed their parents. On December 11, he taped his session with the brothers.
Were Oziel's recordings of the Menendez brothers deemed admissible in court?
In early March 1990, Judalon Smyth, Oziel's patient with whom he was having an affair, went to the police and told them about the tapes. The cops soon seized them, and arrested the brothers. After, there was a protracted legal battle over whether or not the tapes were admissible as evidence, and in August 1992, the Supreme Court of California ruled two our of four of the tapes were indeed admissible.
Oziel became a key witness for the prosecution. During their first trial, the Los Angeles Times reported, "Oziel testified about the confessions for the prosecution. He then endured a withering cross-examination designed to undermine his credibility and deflect attention from the slayings—most of it having to do with the stormy details of his extramarital affair with a woman named Judalon Smyth." During the second trial, he did not testify, but one of his recordings of the brothers was played in court.
Where is Dr. Oziel in 2024?
In 1997, Oziel lost his psychology license. He was "accused by a state panel of breaking confidentiality rules and having sex with female patients," per the Los Angeles Times. Oziel denies that his license was seized from him. In a statement to Bustle in 2017, he said, "I did not surrender my license due to the accusation, which implies I gave up my practice because I did things alleged in the original accusation." He added, "I had phased out my practice because I had a major business offer that was highly lucrative and moved to be the CEO of a large business in another state a year and a half prior to the surrender… No agency ever found I did a thing that was improper or wrong."
He is reportedly now going by Jerry Oziel, and living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is listed as a staff member at Marital Meditation Center. Per their website, "The field of Marital Mediation focuses on improving marriages through mediation as an alternative to divorce. While not all marriages can or should be saved, many couples are happier staying together if they can resolve certain issues."
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