Thirty years after Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, Jose’s former business partner still questions what led to the killings.
In his new memoir, “Karmic Winds: Reflections from the ‘Smartest Guy in Hollywood,'” Peter M. Hoffman recounts his rise in the entertainment industry, including his tenure as president and CEO of Carolco Pictures, the studio behind hits such as “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Basic Instinct” and the “Rambo” franchise.
Hoffman later served a federal prison sentence in connection with his convictions in a Louisiana film tax credit fraud case. He has continued to maintain his innocence and challenge those convictions. He was portrayed in Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
“To me, the devil came to in 1989,” Hoffman told Fox News Digital. “Nobody came out unaffected by this terrible act.”
Hoffman met Jose when the no-nonsense patriarch was an executive at RCA, which brought the boy band Menudo to English-speaking audiences. Years later, the group helped catapult Ricky Martin to global fame.
By the time Jose left RCA, Hoffman was running Carolco Pictures and looking for someone to lead the studio’s video business. At the recommendation of entertainment attorney John Mason, he hired Jose. They worked closely together from 1986 .
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“Jose was one tough character,” Hoffman admitted. “He was very focused on his Cuban ancestry, very conservative. He had bought and was expecting to go back to Florida and run for the Senate. He had big dreams. He wanted to make a lot of money and then have a life in politics. That was his goal.”
“He could be difficult because he had his way of doing everything, and he felt like he knew better than everybody,” Hoffman shared. “It wasnt always an easy ride. But I also had a high opinion of Jose and all his dealings. And of course, we didnt really know about all the problems he had with his family until after the horrible murders.”
Looking back, Hoffman believes there were early signs of trouble.
“I got a call sometime in 1988,” Hoffman recalled. “It was Jose. He said, I need to draw a couple of million dollars out of my deferred comp plan. I want to move so I can be closer to the office. I just said, Thats all right with me. Thats when he bought the house on Elm Drive.”
“It turned out he hadnt been completely honest with me,” said Hoffman.
“The real reason he had to do that was that Erik and Lyle had been caught breaking into their friends houses and stealing things,” he said. “They had been caught by the police. Jose had to pay everybody off and get the hell out of dodge.”
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On Aug. 20, 1989, Jose and his wife were inside their home. Their sons called 911 and said their parents were killed by intruders.
“I remember waking up the next morning, and I got a call,” said Hoffman. “It was grotesque. You have to understand that at the time, nobody knew it was the kids. The immediate suspicion was on Mario Kassar, chairman of Carolco Pictures, and me, that we were somehow behind this. All of a sudden, the suspicion is somehow this murder is connected to those bad guys at Carolco.”
In the months following the murders, Lyle and Erik Menendez were not initially considered prime suspects. Instead, speculation centered on the possibility of a mob-style hit, fueled by Jose’s connectio
