People
Judalon Smyth: The Woman Whose Testimony Helped Put the Menendez Brothers Behind Bar, Where She Is Now and Why She’s Stayed Silent for Decades?
Judalon Smyth never met Lyle and Erik Menendez. Yet her decision to speak to police in 1990 helped set in motion one of the most closely watched murder prosecutions of the 1990s. Decades later, as new dramatizations revisit the Beverly Hills case and the brothers’ sentences have been reduced to terms that allow parole, Smyth’s name is back in the conversation — even though she’s kept her life almost entirely private.
In 2015, after a 25-year absence from the public eye, Smyth briefly returned in a true-crime docuseries, recounting the scrutiny that followed her testimony. Since then, she has largely stepped away again. Here’s what to know about Judalon Smyth — how she entered the Menendez story, what she told the court, how pop culture has portrayed her, and where she has been in recent years.
Who is Judalon Smyth?
Smyth’s connection to the case began through the Menendez brothers’ therapist, Dr. L. Jerome “Jerry” Oziel. She and Oziel started an affair in 1989, months before the brothers were arrested for the August 1989 murders of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. Writing in Vanity Fair at the time, Dominick Dunne underscored how improbable her role was: Smyth “was as unknown to Lyle and Erik as they were to her,” yet within seven months of the killings she would be “responsible for their arrest.”
How did she become central to the investigation?
Menendez Brothers, Erik and Lyle.
Source: AP
According to Smyth’s later accounts, she learned that Erik Menendez had confessed to Oziel during an October 31, 1989, therapy session and that, weeks later, the brothers allowed Oziel to record a taped confession on December 11. After Smyth and Oziel split in March 1990, she informed police about the existence of those recordings; within days, the brothers were arrested. While the psychologist later disputed that Smyth was asked to overhear any session, the thrust of her tip — that tapes existed — proved pivotal to the case that followed.
What did Judalon Smyth say on the witness stand?
Smyth testified in 1993, and her testimony evolved across the legal saga. She had initially cooperated with prosecutors by alerting authorities to Oziel’s recordings. By the time of trial, however, she was called by the defense and sought to undercut Oziel’s credibility, saying he had “brainwashed” her, and contending she heard only fragments of the original therapy conversation — while still maintaining she listened to the brothers admit to the killings. Her testimony also recounted the tumult of her relationship with Oziel, including accusations of manipulation and control, which he denied.
How has she described the media attention?
When Smyth sat for her first on-camera interview in 25 years in 2015, she said she hadn’t anticipated the backlash that followed her cooperation with law enforcement. “It was a little confusing for me the way the media was,” she recalled, adding that although it “took a long time” to come forward, “ultimately, I did.” She pushed back at the notion that speaking up made her a gossip, asking, “If that was your mother and father getting murdered, would you like someone to have tight lips or loose lips?”
Where is Judalon Smyth now?
Smyth has largely stepped away from public life. A profile widely attributed to her on LinkedIn — last updated years ago — described her as living in Beverly Hills and working as an EMT since 2012, including on sets for film, television, and large events. The page also contained a brief personal statement about pursuing “a productive passion” that benefits others. It is not clear whether she is still working in emergency medical services; Smyth has not given new interviews about her life since the 2015 docuseries.
How do recent dramatizations portray Judalon Smyth?
Erik Menendez (Gus Halper), Kitty Menendez (Lolita Davidovich), Jose Menendez (Carlos Gomez) and Lyle Menendez (Miles Gaston Villanueva) on Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders Season 1 Episode 2.
Source: Justin Lubin/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Smyth’s role has been revisited repeatedly on screen. Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story introduces her as Oziel’s former patient and mistress whose knowledge of the tapes ultimately helps lead to the brothers’ arrests; actress Leslie Grossman portrays Smyth in the series. Grossman said in 2024 that she did not seek out Smyth while preparing for the role, explaining that she would talk if Smyth wanted to connect, but otherwise preferred to respect her privacy. Years earlier, Heather Graham played a Smyth-inspired figure in Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.
Why is her name resurfacing now?
In May 2025, after more than 35 years in prison, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic resentenced Erik and Lyle Menendez from life without parole to 50 years to life — a change that made them immediately eligible for parole under California law governing youthful offenders. The judge cited their rehabilitation behind bars while underscoring the gravity of the crimes. The district attorney elected in 2024 opposed the resentencing bid, but the court allowed it to proceed. A parole process and separate clemency avenue remain, and any release would involve parole board review and potential gubernatorial action. The resentencing renewed public interest in every figure who shaped the original case, including Smyth.
What did Smyth say about why she came forward?
Judalon Smyth, Dr. Jerome Oziel’s former mistress who claimed to hear the Menendez brothers’ confession to killing their parents, takes the stand.
Source: CourtTV
In her 2015 appearance, Smyth framed her decision in moral terms, saying that despite fear of the public reaction, “ultimately” she chose to tell police what she knew. That stance mirrors how contemporaneous accounts portray her role: as an outsider to the Menendez family, whose information about the recordings catalysed a turning point in the investigation.
How do contemporaneous reports and later retellings differ?
One thread running through the coverage is the tension between the explosive nature of the taped sessions and the disputes over who heard what and when. Smyth’s statements about overhearing the October conversation have been nuanced in later years — she has said she heard bits and pieces, not the entire session — even as she has maintained that an admission occurred. Retellings have also emphasised her allegations about Oziel’s conduct during their relationship, which he denied, and the fact that by the time of the trial, she was testifying for the defense rather than the prosecution. The result is a complex portrait, even contradictory in places, but central to understanding how the tapes came into play at all.
What is important and not well-known about her life away from the case?
Beyond the familiar beats of the trial, there is scant, verifiable public detail about Smyth’s personal life since the 1990s. The limited professional information available comes from the long-dormant LinkedIn page and a single TV interview from 2015. In recent years, the public conversation surrounding the Menendez case has focused on the brothers’ rehabilitation, the legal debates about youthful offenders, and the impact of new allegations resurfacing decades after the crime — developments that do not directly involve Smyth but inevitably revive interest in her earlier role.
Has Judalon Smyth commented on the 2025 resentencing?
No new interview from Smyth about the resentencing has been reported as of August 11, 2025. Her last known comments about the case remain those made in 2015, when she spoke about the experience of being criticised after coming forward.
FAQs
Why is Judalon Smyth associated with the Menendez case? Her information to the police about recorded therapy sessions involving the brothers helped lead to their arrests in 1990, and she later testified about the tapes and her relationship with Dr. Oziel.
Did Judalon Smyth know Lyle and Erik Menendez personally? No. She was not part of their circle; her connection was through Oziel. Contemporary reporting stressed that she was a stranger to the brothers, who nonetheless became consequential to the case.
What did she later say about the October 1989 therapy session? Smyth has said she heard parts of the conversation and an admission, while disputing aspects of earlier portrayals and alleging manipulation by Oziel.
Where is she now? Smyth has remained private. A LinkedIn profile last updated years ago lists EMT work in the Los Angeles area beginning in 2012; there have been no confirmed, recent public updates.
How does the 2025 resentencing relate to Smyth? It does not change her historical role, but renewed attention to the brothers’ potential parole has sparked fresh interest in the figures who shaped the original investigation and trials.
