True Crime

The Menendez family is blaming the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office for the hospitalization of Terry Baralt -- Erik and Lyle's aunt ... claiming the graphic crime scene photos they were shown did a number on her health.

In a press release from the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition -- a collective of family members fighting for the brothers' release -- the group confirmed our story that Baralt had been found unresponsive in her hotel room.

The coalition says the D.A.'s office didn't give the family a heads up that they would be presenting photos of the crime scene at Friday's resentencing hearing ... a violation of Marsy's Law, a law designed to protect the victims of crimes.

Lyle and Erik Menendez's aunt, Terry Baralt, has been rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive in a Los Angeles hotel room ... TMZ has learned.

Our sources tell us Terry -- who is 85 and battling colon cancer -- has been exhausted, stressed and traumatized in the last year as the entire Menendez family works to get the two brothers released from prison.

It all came to a boiling point Friday when the Menendez brothers appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom for a resentencing hearing. During the tense hearing, the defense team went at it with prosecutors while the Menendez family looked on.

Rosie O’Donnell has revealed her friendship with an infamous convicted killer -- Lyle Menendez -- saying she feels "safe" to be vulnerable with him.

The actress, comedian, and former talk show host opened up about their close bond during a recent chat with the New York Times ... revealing she and Lyle -- who is serving life in prison without parole alongside his brother Erik Menendez for the first degree murder of their parents -- became pals in 2022 after his now-estranged wife reached out to her.

Rosie said she and Lyle began speaking on a "regular basis" via a tablet phone, and their friendship grew naturally.

Erik and Lyle Menendez might take the stand next Thursday to convince the judge in their resentencing hearing they're worthy of redemption ... but according to their lawyer, it could be a high-risk move.

Mark Geragos jumped on the "2 Angry Men" podcast Friday from the Van Nuys Courthouse, fresh off a victory where the judge shut down the D.A.'s request to put the kibosh on any resentencing hearing.

Excuse the intro to the clip -- it's a pisser -- but a little ways in, Harvey asks Mark about his strategy to possibly call the bros to the stand. Harvey has spent some time talking to Erik and Lyle, and says plainly they presented themselves as compelling men who might impress the judge.

Erik and Lyle Menendez will get their day in court to seek a new sentence, and possibly win their freedom ... after an intense battle with L.A. County D.A. ended with the judge ruling in the brothers' favor.

The Menendez brothers appeared remotely in the L.A. County courtroom Friday where D.A. Nathan Hochman and his team of prosecutors presented their case to the judge for withdrawing the petition to resentence Erik and Lyle -- a petition that was filed by the previous D.A. George Gascon, and which the newly elected Hochman vehemently opposes.

The brothers -- wearing prison blues -- were seen on a video screen in court, and visibly reacted as prosecutors repeatedly stated that they had not changed since their conviction ... because they never admitted their claim they purchased guns in fear for their lives was a lie.

Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in a Netflix series about the infamous Menendez murders, is showing support for the Menendez Brothers ... because he's in the house for a court hearing for their resentencing petition.

The "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" star was spotted Friday on his way into a courthouse in Van Nuys, in L.A. ... walking in arm-in-arm with his boyfriend.

At one point, Cooper -- wearing shades and a gray sweater -- stopped to talk to Erik's wife, Tammi Menendez, and Erik's adopted daughter, Talia Menendez.

Weezer bass player Scott Shriner's wife is getting lots of attention for being shot by LAPD officers and getting booked for attempted murder ... but before she got famous for being shot by cops, she shot an episode for Zak Bagans' TV show.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Jillian Lauren Shriner filmed an episode of "Ghost Adventures" back in November at Zak's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

We're told the episode was all about serial killer Samuel Little ... Jillian's an expert on the guy because she once wrote a book about him.

Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino -- the man who the L.A. County D.A. alleges killed 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez -- deserves the death penalty, one U.S congressman says ... and, he blames California Governor Gavin Newsom for making that impossible.

We spoke with U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) Wednesday about this case ... and, he tells us the moratorium on the death penalty instituted by Gov. Newsom in 2019 has had disastrous consequences.

Among them, Kiley says, the people of California voted to keep the death penalty legal ... and, the governor stepped in to override the rule, making criminals less afraid of committing major crimes. California Proposition 62 -- which would've repealed the death penalty -- failed back in 2016.

Bryan Kohberger's autism diagnosis may come up at his murder trial, but the state won't argue it elevated his alleged crimes to an even more severe level ... because a judge just ruled they can't.

Kohberger appeared in court Wednesday, and the conversation turned to his recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder ... which the judge made clear should not be used by the state of Idaho during the sentencing phase -- if he's found guilty -- as an "aggravating factor." BK's attorney argued the diagnosis should keep him from being sentenced to death.

An "aggravating factor" is a factor in the case which makes the crime even more heinous ... such as premeditation, committing the act in front of a child, or showing a lack of remorse, for example. So the judge is basically granting the defense's request.

Gary Michael Hilton is one of the oldest living serial killers in the country ... and now he's confessing for the first time to the murder that landed him on Death Row in Florida.

The 78-year-old Hilton -- AKA The National Forest Serial Killer -- sat down with Court TV's investigative reporter David Scott -- and TMZ has obtained an exclusive clip of their recent face-to-face interview ... and it's pretty damn wild!

But first, just to recap ... Hilton was convicted of killing four people during his monstrous 2007-2008 spree in three states: Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. He committed the murders in national parks and confessed to three of them, but he never copped to the fourth -- a nurse named Cheryl Dunlap, who was killed in 2007 in Leon County, Florida. That is, until now.

4:38 PM PT -- Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman tells TMZ ... "In denying parole for Sirhan Sirhan ... Governor Newsom took into account his young age at the time of the crime (24), his lack of any prior arrests or convictions, his difficult upbringing in the war-torn Middle East, his success in getting college degrees and engaging in rehabilitation in prison, his risk score which was the lowest on the scale, his age (77 years old), his diminished health, and the amount of time in prison (54 years).

He continues ... "Notwithstanding those factors, Governor Newsom stated that his lack of full insight into actions and taking complete responsibility for them overweighed the other facts to show that he remained an unreasonable risk of danger to society. Sirhan Sirhan never made up a self-defense defense, never suborned or attempted to suborn perjury, and never lied repeatedly at trial under oath."

He concludes ... "In contrast, while the Menendez brothers have many of the same positive characteristics of Sirhan Sirhan in favor of parole or resentencing, they have never accepted responsibility for lying about their self-defense defense and suborning and attempting to suborn perjury concerning their fabrications of stories of their father violently raping Lyle's girlfriend, their mother trying to poison the family, and their friend supposedly giving them a handgun the day before the murders. As a result, if Sirhan remains an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety, then so too do the Menendez brothers -- who have never come fully clean of their lies in over 30 years -- constitute an unreasonable risk of danger to the community."

Sirhan Sirhan's lawyer is calling out Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman ... saying the new D.A. is getting some bad information about RFK's alleged assassin.

Hochman's been trying to use the Sirhan case to keep the Menendez Brothers behind bars in their bid for freedom ... but Sirhan's attorney tells us Hochman is confused about some basic facts.

Angela Berry, who represents Sirhan, tells TMZ ... Hochman is pushing a common misperception about Sirhan when he says Sirhan admitted to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and then later claimed his innocence, and she says Hochman is making an unfair comparison to Erik and Lyle.

Henry Cejudo is convinced his actions at a hit-and-run incident last week helped save the suspect's life.

The wild scene, of course, all unfolded on Friday night in the UFC star's Phoenix neighborhood ... when he says he saw a group of young adults in a vehicle careening down his block at around 80 MPH.

Cejudo told TMZ Sports on Monday the car went airborne after it hit one of his neighbor's sprinkler systems ... and then it crashed through one of his other neighbor's houses.

Erik and Lyle Menendez are firing back at Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman ... telling him it's stupid to compare them to Sirhan Sirhan because they actually admitted to killing their parents.

The Menendez Brothers distance themselves from RFK's assassin in new legal docs where they push back on Hochman's motion to withdraw his predecessor’s motion to resentence them.

Hochman's on the record saying Erik and Lyle should not gain their freedom, comparing their case to the denial of parole for Sirhan ... but the brothers say there's no way to seriously put them on the same plane as Sirhan.

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.