Where Is Dr. Oziel Now? Menendez Brother's Therapist And What Happened In Real Life

20 September 2024, 14:11

What happened to Dr. Oziel? Here's Where Menendez's Therapist Is Now. Picture: Netflix

By Katie Louise Smith

How accurate is Netflix's Monsters series and what actually happened with Dr. Oziel and the Menendez brothers in real life?

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has just dropped on Netflix and viewers are already captivated by the true crime dramatisation. But just how true is it?

Starring Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik Menendez, the new Ryan Murphy series explores the build up and aftermath of the brutal murders of José and Kitty Menendez, who were killed by their sons Lyle and Erik.

At the start of the show, the brothers' therapist Dr. Jerome Oziel (played by Dallas Roberts in the Netflix series) finds himself at the centre of the case after Erik confesses everything to him. Oziel also ended up being part of the reason why they got caught despite being bound to patient confidentially.

But how did it unfold in real life? Is the Netflix series true to life, or it is inaccurate? Where is he now? Here's what happened IRL.

Read more: Did Lyle Menendez Wear A Wig? The True Story Behind His Hair Loss Explained
Read more: Netflix's Monsters Slammed For "Implying" Incest Between Erik And Lyle Menendez

Where is the Menendez brother's therapist now?

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story trailer

Did Erik Menendez confess to his therapist in real life?

Two months after José and Kitty's murders, a traumatised and guilt-ridden Erik tearfully confessed to Dr. Oziel that he and Lyle were the ones who did it. Reassuring them that he was bound by patient confidentiality, Oziel then urged the brothers to tell him everything and continued their sessions together, recording their conversations.

In real life, this is how the real life Oziel claims it unfolded. He and Erik decided to go for a walk, and during that walk, Erik confessed, simply stating: "We did it."

Did Judalon Smyth actually over hear the Menendez brothers' confessions?

In the Netflix series, Oziel is shown to have contacted his mistress Judalon Smyth immediately after Erik confesses, urging her to come to the office and act as a witness. The real life Smyth actually did do this, but the real life Oziel denies making the request for her to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Real life Smyth also previously told the authorities that she had overheard the Menendez brothers say they had 'shot their mother', but later testified that she had not heard them say that. She also clarified that she had not actually heard the brothers say they killed their parents “from their own mouths”, as she once told a TV interviewer.

In the series, she's shown to overhear Erik say that they killed their parents.

How did Dr. Oziel play into the Menendez brothers getting caught?

In episode 3, viewers see Judalon Smyth go directly to the police and tell them everything after Oziel ends their relationship. Oziel's house is eventually searched by the police, and the Menendez brothers are arrested.

Judalon's real life confession to the police really did prompt the beginning of the investigation into Lyle and Erik, placing Oziel right in the middle of the case. However, due to patient confidentially, his testimony was difficult.

The tapes from Oziel’s sessions were eventually allowed to be used in the trial after he claimed that the brothers had threatened his life, violating doctor-patient privilege.

Dr. Oziel takes to the stand during the Menendez brother's trial. Picture: CourtTV via CourtTV.com

Where is Dr. Oziel now? What happened to him?

Despite fearing that the Menendez brothers would kill him following Erik's confession, they did not. He is still alive. During his court testimony, he claimed they threatened his life.

Dr. Oziel is no longer a practising therapist and no longer lives in California. In 1997, he was stripped of his psychology license after being “accused by a state panel of breaking confidentiality rules," and engaging in inappropriate relationships with his female patients, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In 2017, Bustle reached out to the real life Oziel after Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders dramatisation of the Menendez case. In a statement, 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. That is flatly and completely false."

At the time, he also slammed the dramatisation of the events in the NBC series, writing: "Where I'm concerned, there was not one characterization that bore any relationship whatsoever to the truth or facts. Nothing portrayed happened. Period."

As of 2024, Dr. Oziel (now known as Jerry Oziel) is working at the Marital Mediation Centre in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he now lives. He works with couples to improve their relationships through mediation, as an "alternative to getting divorced."

He has not yet publicly commented on the Netflix dramatisation.

Dr. Oziel's mistress, Judalon Smyth, was the one who told the police that Lyle and Erik killed their parents. Picture: Netflix

Where is Judalon Smyth now?

In 2015, Judalon spoke out for the very first time following the Menendez court case. Speaking on the Murder Made Me Famous true-crime docuseries, Smyth said: "I really didn’t understand the attack I was going to come under for doing the right thing."

"There was some paper that said something about me having loose lips,” she added. "It’s like, excuse me. If that was your mother and father getting murdered, would you like someone to have tight lips or loose lips? I mean, it took a long time for me to do the right thing but ultimately, I did."

"There was one newscaster that called me a 'nutball' on the radio," she said of the reaction to her testimony. "It was frightening. Someone comes forward and then you crucify them."

Judalon has continued to maintain a low profile, and is not a public figure.