True Crime

Erik and Lyle Menendez say they finally have something to look forward to as they inch closer to a possible release from prison, and they're revealing how they've evolved during their 35 years behind bars.

The brothers tell us why they are -- for the first time since 1990 -- hopeful for the future in our new special, "TMZ Presents: The Menendez Brothers: The Prison Interview" ... premiering tonight on FOX.

Lyle says the word hope is new for them, and Erik says he's striving to be a better person every day and finally beginning to like himself -- but the key for them will be whether the California parole board finds they no longer pose a danger to society.

President Trump's no-nonsense Attorney General Pam Bondi has made it clear she wants Luigi Mangione executed for allegedly committing murder — and, if she gets her way, the 26-year-old Ivy League grad faces a torturous fate, TMZ has learned.

TMZ interviewed University of Richmond Law Professor Corinna Lain, who provided us with a road map of what Luigi can potentially expect if he is federally convicted of stalking and murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The federal prosecutor presents aggravating factors to the court after a conviction, and the jury must unanimously agree on those factors before the judge decides whether to impose the death penalty. In federal cases, the death penalty typically results in lethal injection.

Here's the first look at Jason Clarke in character as Alex Murdaugh on the set of an upcoming Hulu series about some infamous murders.

Jason is starring in "The Murdaugh Murders" alongside Patricia Arquette as Alex's wife, Maggie Murdaugh.

Hulu's limited series is based off Mandy Matney's investigative reporting on the Murdaugh murder case ... and it's being filmed at Assembly Studios in Atlanta.

An Illinois teacher accused of sexually assaulting one of her 15-year-old students was caught on video telling cops she was going to throw up while being arrested for the alleged crime.

Newly released police body cam footage shows Christina Formella weeping and hyper-ventilating in the backseat of a patrol car after she was cuffed by an officer in Downers Grove, Illinois, on March 16.

The officer secures Formella's seatbelt and asks her if she wants a tissue. Formella responds that she feels sick and the cop offers to get her a barf bag, calling in the request over the radio. Formella continues to cry in the back seat, turning hysterical right before our eyes.

A doctor who allegedly tried to kill his wife by pushing her off a cliff in Hawaii harbored "extreme jealousy" and once accused her of having an affair ... at least according to his spouse.

Gerhardt Konig -- a 46-year-old anesthesiologist who works on Maui -- is accused of trying to murder his wife Arielle last month during a scenic stroll on Oahu.

He was charged Wednesday with second-degree attempted murder -- prosecutors say he attacked his wife at the famous Pali Lookout -- and on Thursday she filed for court-ordered protection.

10:40 AM PT -- Luigi Mangione's attorney Karen Agnifilo tells TMZ ... “By seeking to murder Luigi Mangione, the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric. Their decision to execute Luigi is political and goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent. While claiming to protect against murder, the federal government moves to commit the pre-meditated, state-sponsored murder of Luigi.

By doing this, they are defending the broken, immoral, and murderous healthcare industry that continues to terrorize the American people. We are prepared to fight these federal charges, brought by a lawless Justice Department, as well as the New York State charges, and the Pennsylvania charges, and anything else they want to pile on Luigi.

This is a corrupt web of government dysfunction and one-upmanship. Luigi is caught in a high-stakes game of tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors, except the trophy is a young man’s life.”

Bad news for Luigi Mangione -- U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing for the death penalty in his case.

In a statement Tuesday, Pamela reminded everyone of Mangione’s alleged crime -- the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson -- calling it a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.

Pamela's now ordered Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky to pursue the death penalty ... saying it aligns with President Trump’s agenda to crack down on violent crime and "Make America Safe Again."

Virginia Giuffre, who accused the now-deceased Jeffrey Epstein of sex trafficking, has shared a troubling IG post from a hospital ... claiming docs have told her she has 4 days to live -- now down to 3 -- after an apparent car crash.

In a Sunday IG post, Giuffre shared a photo of her bruised face from her hospital bed ... asserting in the caption that she went into renal failure after a school bus crashed into her at a whopping "110km" (68 miles per hour) while she was slowing down for a turn.

Giuffre claimed her injuries were so severe that doctors gave her just days to live and transferred her to a specialist urology hospital ... but despite supposedly being at death’s door, she still managed to muster up the strength to update her IG followers.

Robert Kardashian's signed and inscribed Bible which was gifted to O.J. Simpson as a token of friendship that Kim Kardashian wanted to pay $15K for has sold at auction for a whopping amount of money ... TMZ has confirmed.

Malcolm LaVergne, the special administrator of O.J.'s estate, tells TMZ ... the Bible of the former lawyer sold at auction for $80,276. He says he doesn't know who the lucky buyer is but notes that whether you loved O.J. or hated him it's clear "his legacy endures."

The estate's auction brought in an estimated $300K in sales. Other items that sold included a personally signed and framed photo of O.J. and former President Bill Clinton which went for over $18K. Also sold was a replica of O.J.'s 1968 Heisman Trophy for $42,700.

The woman who shot and killed Selena Quintanilla will not be freed from behind bars ... because she just got denied parole.

The decision came down Thursday when a parole board in Texas denied Yolanda Saldívar's bid for freedom ... citing the violent nature of her crime and claiming she still poses a "continuing threat" to the community.

Yolanda worked for Selena until March 9, 1995 when Selena's dad fired her after accusing her of embezzling money from the Tejano star's clothing company, which was planning to open a boutique in Monterrey, Mexico.

9:56 AM PT -- Yella Beezy's lawyers, Toby Shock and John F. Gussio, are now speaking out about the case, telling TMZ ... they attended a court hearing today with Yella and, during the proceeding, the prosecutor entered the shooting video into evidence and introduced a couple of new arrest affidavits for codefendants. The prosecutors also asked the court to allow a witness to testify that Yella was one of the key people who allegedly supplied money to the accused shooter, Kewon White, to do the hit on Mo3.

The attorneys also said they were "gratified" the judge lowered Yella's bail to $750,000 from $2 million, citing a lack of evidence against him and other factors. They summed it up by saying ... "We look forward to fighting the case in court — Yella denies the charges."

Video of rapper Mo3's shooting death is surfacing for the first time ... and you see him being chased down in broad daylight by a hitman.

Prosecutors in Texas just released footage of Mo3's November 2020 killing, and the video picks up with Mo3 stopping his car in the middle of Interstate 35 in Dallas ... getting out of his ride and running for his life.

The masked gunman stops his car a few yards in front of Mo3 ... and with traffic whizzing by, both men get out and start running down I-35.

Former Duke football player Brandon Braxton was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the July 2024 death of a North Carolina real estate agent -- with investigators saying he owned up to committing the crime.

Braxton was charged last Thursday with the murder of Charlotte-based realtor Whitney Hurd -- eight months after she was found dead inside her townhome.

According to the New York Post, the former wide receiver confessed to the act while being held at the sheriff's department after being arrested for trespassing -- one of his seven arrests following the murder.

Kim Kardashian is going to take the stand at the trial of a Parisian underground gang alleged to have been behind her Paris robbery ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Kim will go to the robbery trial in France in May, when she will testify on the stand at the jury trial.

Kim was the target of a 2016 jewelry heist that saw her bound and gagged at gunpoint while armed robbers forced their way inside the Paris apartment she rented out for Paris Fashion Week ... holding her hostage and making off with $10 million in bling, including a massive ring worth $4M.

The estranged wife of "Ghost Adventures" star Aaron Goodwin made her first court appearance since being arrested for allegedly plotting to have him whacked ... and she's looking pretty stressed out.

Victoria Goodwin was in a Las Vegas courtroom Tuesday for a preliminary hearing ... she's facing two charges -- solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Victoria's wearing jail scrubs and talking to her attorney, with her hands cuffed to a chain around her waist. She agrees to the judge's question about returning to court in 2 weeks.

TMZ broke the story ... Victoria was arrested earlier this month after police said she hatched a plan to kill Aaron while he was filming his show with Zak Bagans ... as a way to get out of her marriage.

The new Karen Read documentary series -- giving a BTS look at her first trial and her preparation for the retrial in the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe -- is blowing up ... but TMZ’s learned they won’t be rolling the cameras for her upcoming retrial.

Director Terry Dunn-Meurer tells TMZ ... "Karen approached us with a compelling desire to share her story, and we believe we captured it thoroughly in 'A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read.' While the second trial will undoubtedly introduce new evidence and fresh faces -- including a new prosecutor and three additional defense attorneys -- the essence of Karen's story remains the same. Therefore, we currently have no plans to film another documentary covering the same ground."

The ID team stopped filming with Karen a few days after the first trial wrapped last summer, catching the aftermath, and then they did follow-ups in August ... but none of those included Karen -- and that's the extent of it.

Prison inmate Charles Miles gave notorious wife-killer Scott Peterson a beating behind bars earlier this month ... and now he's sharing his side of the story.

In an exclusive preview clip obtained by TMZ, Charles tells Court TV via phone call he went into "attack mode" after Scott rammed into him during a game of pickleball. He says Scott "aggressively" sprinted at him with his paddle in hand --allegedly to chase the ball -- and made no effort to avoid him.

This pissed Charles off, who says he "beat him down to the ground" and "beat the hell out of him." Charles says there was a bit of a struggle, but once he overpowered Scott, he climbed on him and started pounding him.

A Wisconsin teen has an unusual defense for allegedly stabbing his mom to death ... he claims he was inspired to commit the savage crime by the notorious Menendez brothers, who killed their own parents with shotguns.

Racine County prosecutors charged 15-year-old Reed Gelinskey with intentional homicide after the March 4 attack on his mother, Suzanne, in their home in the village of Caledonia, about 20 miles south of Milwaukee. Prosecutors say Reed bashed Suzanne with a dumbbell and stabbed her three times in the chest and twice in the neck, killing her.

According to a criminal complaint, obtained by TMZ, Reed allegedly planned the gruesome murder while watching the shotgun scene in the Menendez brothers' Netflix documentary, "The Menendez Brothers." Reed reportedly referenced the scene that shows the murder of their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez, when talking to cops.

As you know, Erik and Lyle Menendez wielded shotguns and fatally shot their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. After two trials, they were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The brothers are now making a bid to try to get out of prison through resentencing, a commutation or potential parole. They are expected to appear in court for a parole board hearing on June 13.