True Crime

Casey Anthony has a new gig -- she’s now a self-proclaimed "legal advocate" and is promoting her role on her brand-new TikTok account.

The formerly acquitted defendant -- who was on trial for murder in 2011 for her daughter Caylee Marie Anthony's death -- explained that after being thrust into the legal spotlight, she’s turned what many saw as a curse into a blessing. She says her new goal is to give people a voice and the right tools when they find themselves in a sticky legal situation.

Casey used the video to reintroduce herself, saying she’d only be posting professionally, limited to legal matters, and that her drive to be a legal warrior really kicked off after seeing people she knows personally who were targeted and attacked recently. She doesn't specify, but she mentions being a proponent for the LGBTQ community and for women's rights.

The Menendez brothers' family has a lot of hope after Governor Gavin Newsom spoke about the brothers' case ... though they're still disappointed after L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman's recent comments on Erik and Lyle's case.

The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition -- a group led by Menendez family members pushing for their release -- held a virtual press conference Thursday where they addressed key facts about Erik and Lyle's case and responded to statements made by L.A.'s top prosecutor.

Anamaria Baralt -- Erik and Lyle's cousin -- kicked off the comments ... saying Governor Newsom calling on the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a "risk assessment investigation" is a huge sigh of relief for the family, which is excited to hear someone in power is paying attention to Erik and Lyle's plight.

Connecticut cannibal Tyree Smith is scaring the family of his murder victim, Angel Gonzalez, after Smith was granted a conditional release from a high-security hospital -- and Gonzalez's relatives are so freaked out they're applying for a protective order.

TMZ just interviewed Angel's sister-in-law Talitha Frazier, who says Gonzalez's daughter is so terrified of her father's killer, she's hoping a judge will quickly sign off on the restraining order, barring Smith from returning to Bridgeport, CT -- where the brutal slaying occurred in 2011.

As we reported, Smith was accused of hacking Gonzalez to death in a vacant building and eating a portion of his brain, along with his eyeball. Smith was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sentenced to 60 years in a maximum-security forensic hospital.

Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to ask the California Board of Parole to review the Erik and Lyle Menendez matter could make next month's up-to-now critical resentencing hearing all but irrelevant.

As we reported, Newsom has asked the Parole Board to conduct a "risk assessment investigation" ... this on the heels of TMZ's "2 Angry Men" podcast in which Erik and Lyle appeared by phone to talk about what they've done with their lives behind bars for 35 years.

The Board will effectively conduct a parole hearing, in which they will assess whether the Menendez brothers pose an unreasonable risk to public safety. By doing so, the Board will necessarily review how Erik and Lyle have conducted themselves in prison.

Governor Gavin Newsom is ordering an investigation into whether Erik and Lyle Menendez are fit to return to public life ... TMZ has learned, and he says it's a critical first step before he, or anyone else, can decide if they get out of prison.

This is a major, unexpected development in the Menendez brothers' fight for freedom. It seemed the Governor was going to take a back seat until the courts ruled on Erik and Lyle's fate, but all that has now changed.

The CA Gov. tells us, he's directing the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a "risk assessment investigation" on the Menendez bros., which he says is their version of a "parole hearing" -- but before the Board weighs in, a "Comprehensive Risk Assessment" must be done.

The lead detective in the infamous Jeffrey Dahmer case is issuing a warning to a psychiatric review board that granted conditional release to a Connecticut cannibal killer -- Don't let him out!

Retired Milwaukee detective Dennis Murphy -- who took Dahmer's 1991 confession in which he discussed eating a human heart, bicep and thigh -- says Bridgeport, CT, killer cannibal Tyree Smith should stay locked away at a maximum-security forensic hospital.

Murphy says after Dahmer was convicted for his serial murders in 1992 and sentenced to multiple life terms, the detective went to visit him in a Wisconsin prison.

L.A. County D.A. Nathan Hochman says he will consider evidence of sexual abuse at the hands of Jose Menendez when Erik and Lyle Menendez make their case for resentencing.

Hochman appeared Monday on "TMZ Live," and acknowledged the laws of government resentencing allow a judge to consider "psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including ... abuse, neglect, exploitation, or sexual violence."

Hochman was adamant ... sexual abuse in no way calls Erik and Lyle's conviction into question, but it will come into play next month when the brothers ask a judge to resentence them to something less than life without parole -- which opens the door to a parole board freeing them.

The Los Angeles district attorney claims the letter detailing the alleged abuse Erik and Lyle Menendez faced at the hands of their father is fabricated and totally ludicrous ... this according to their attorney.

Mark Geragos -- a prominent defense attorney and the cohost of TMZ's "2 Angry Men" podcast -- spoke with NBC Boston about D.A. Nathan Hochman claiming the letter Erik allegedly sent to his cousin Andy Cano months before the Menendez brothers killed their parents might not be legit.

Listen to Geragos' comments for yourself ... he says the implication that Jose Menendez's sister Marta Cano and Kitty Menendez's sister Joan VanderMolen are lying about the letter -- they've testified to its authenticity under the penalty of perjury -- is BS, and totally unfair to the two women.

The family of Erik and Lyle Menendez is ripping Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman ... saying he's opening old wounds and silencing survivors of sexual abuse with his latest comments on their case.

Anamaria Baralt, Erik and Lyle's cousin and niece of Jose Menendez, tells TMZ ... Hochman's dismissal of two new pieces of evidence related to sexual abuse is "abhorrent."

The D.A. held a news conference Friday where he said the Menendez brothers didn't deserve a new trial, even though they claim they have new evidence showing they were being molested by Jose before they killed their parents.

The Menendez Brothers got a thumbs down from the L.A. County D.A. when it comes to getting a new trial based on new evidence.

L.A. County D.A. Nathan Hochman just announced his office will oppose the brothers' request for another trial based on 2 pieces of evidence -- a letter from Erik to his cousin purportedly written in 1988 where Erik discusses sexual abuse, and a declaration from a member of Menudo saying Jose Menendez molested him in the '80s. The D.A. says the new evidence does not change what happened when Erik and Lyle were convicted of murder.

Hochman says he did not hear the "2 Angry Men" podcast in which Erik and Lyle talked about how they've evolved in the 35 years behind bars.

Luigi Mangione is back in court, providing the first look at the accused killer after spending the last two months behind bars.

Luigi, the guy who is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthCare Group CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan, went before a judge Friday in a status hearing in his state case.

It's the first time we've seen Luigi since his December arraignment ... and folks were interested in how he would look after spending the past few months at MDC in Brooklyn, the jail where Diddy is being held pending his own trial.

Luigi Mangione's loyal supporters are now portraying the accused killer as some god-like figure ahead of his court appearance Friday ... they plastered a giant poster of him appearing as an apostle on the side of a New York City building.

Check it out ... the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer is pictured standing in front of a sun wearing a green and white cloak with a red heart on it. Yellow letters reading "FREE LUIGI" are printed across his neck.

Mangione will head to state court Friday afternoon ... marking the first time he will sit before a judge since his arraignment on charges he allegedly shot to death UnitedHealthCare Group CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in December 2024.

Ten people allegedly involved in the brutal beating that ultimately killed inmate Robert Brooks have been charged in connection to the death ... with six of them facing murder charges.

Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Anthony Farina, Christopher Walrath, Mathew Galliher and an unnamed suspect who hasn't been arraigned yet all face charges of second-degree murder in the violent beating.

Three others -- Michael Mashaw, Michael Fisher and David Walters -- have been charged with manslaughter. Nicholas Gentile has been charged with tampering with physical evidence.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were viciously attacked in the early days of their time in prison, but their lives have radically changed since then.

The Menendez brothers appeared by phone on TMZ's podcast, "2 Angry Men" with Harvey Levin and Mark Geragos, who reps Erik and Lyle. They talked about how they survived and evolved in the 35 years they've been incarcerated.

Erik says he was violently attacked numerous times, but never fought back. He and Lyle were in separate prisons for the first 21 years behind bars, and Erik vividly remembers when he got word his brother had been viciously attacked and suffered a broken jaw.

They are clearly anxious about their re-sentencing hearing next month, where they will learn how they will spend the rest of their lives -- either as prisoners or free men.

Lyle Menendez was constantly injured during his early days in jail, his ex-wife says ... but, he kept a sense of humor through it all and never spilled on exactly what happened to him.

We spoke with Anna Eriksson -- Lyle's wife from 1996 to 2001 -- who tells TMZ she went to visit Lyle quite a bit when he was first incarcerated ... and, he was clearly suffering from a series of injuries when she saw him.

Eriksson says she once saw the white of his eye was blood-red ... and, another time he couldn't even walk properly. Anna says she sent Lyle new shoes but later noticed he was wearing some old ones she didn't recognize -- and, she believes the new ones were taken from him by force.

New twist in the Karen Read case ... the judge just suspended an evidentiary hearing after voicing "grave concern" over new information from prosecutors.

A hearing in Read's retrial was moving along normally Tuesday when suddenly Judge Beverly Cannone called for a recess.

The swift change happened on the heels of special prosecutor Hank Brennan moving to exclude testimony from two crash reconstruction experts who were involved in the federal investigation into her case.