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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Four months after a Hollywood execu tive and his wife were slain in their mansion, the motive is unclear although police say they suspect the shootings were ‘‘message”’ murders. Relatives have maintained that Jose Enrique Menendez, hard-driving chairman of Live Entertainment Inc., was killed for a reason related to his video and music distribution business. Nothing was stolen from the Spanish-style, $5 million home. There were no signs the killers forced their way in. No clues were left at the scene. The couple were killed the night of Aug. 20 by multiple shotgun blasts at close range. Their sons said they found the bodies after a night out. Police say they are continuing to investigate possible mob links to the death of Menendez, 45, and his wife Mary Louise ‘‘Kitty’’ Menendez, 44. But detectives have pursued many other angles, including questioning the Menendez couple's sons, Erik, 19, and Lyle, 21, about the night of the deaths. The sons did not reply to an interview request relayed by probate lawyer Stephen B. Goldberg. Police also are looking into the disappearance of an apparent reference to Menendez’s plans to write a new will. Under terms of the parents’ 9-year-old wills, the sons will share a $10 mil lion estate that Goldberg estimates will exceed $5 million after debts and taxes are paid — ‘‘next summer if all goes smoothly.” They also were beneficiaries of a $400,000 life insurance policy. Goldberg said he tried to determine a few weeks ago whether the boys had been ruled out as suspects, but the answer was inconclusive. ‘The only thing I have been able to confirm is that there are no prime suspects,”’ Gold berg said last week. Police won't rule out anybody or anything, at least not publicly. A $25,000 reward posted by family friends had brought in some leads, police said. “There has been no specific motive determined,” said Lt. Robert Curtis, a spokesman for the department. “It’s fair to say some progress has been made, but that’s about all I can say.’
Newspaper Details
The Daily Review
Towanda, Pennsylvania, US
Mon, Dec 18, 1989
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Aicha M.
