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The pair sat down for an episode of Ripa’s ‘Let’s Talk Off Camera’ podcast and dissected some high-profile cases – as well as their theories about what happened
Los Angeles Times via Getty; David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty
Erik and Lyle Menendez; Karen Lees
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Kelly Ripa invited true crime podcaster and author Ashley Flowers onto her podcast for a special Halloween episode
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The pair discussed thought-provoking true crime stories from the Menendez Brothers, Karen Read and Ada Haridine
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Ripa and Flowers shared their theories about the alleged crimes and subsequent trials
Kelly Ripa And Ashley Flowers took an in-depth look at a handful of high-profile crime cases, just in time for Halloween.
During the latest episode of SiriusXM’s Let’s talk off camera with Kelly Ripain what is being called a special Halloween episode, the 54-year-old Live with Kelly and Mark star was joined by the Crime junkie host and author to break down issues that have created buzz – and some she has previously dissected on her podcast.
Among the cases the pair discussed was the case of Menendez brothers Lyle And Erik Menendez, Karen Lees‘s high-profile murder case, and the murder case of an Indiana woman named Ada Haridine, which is blossoming discussed in her podcast earlier this month.
Ripa and Flowers reflected on their first experiences with the Menendez brothers trial, which has sparked renewed interest a new Netflix documentary and drama series from Ryan Murphy. The couple was convicted on March 20, 1996, of first-degree murder in the deaths of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty
Erik and Lyle Menendez on December 29, 1992
Related: Where are the Menendez brothers now? A look at Erik and Lyle’s lives in prison – and the new evidence that could get them out
“When I first moved to New York City, the Menendez brothers were on trial,” Ripa recalls. “I was filming something while I was working in a trailer. And my trailer had a television, and the television only got Court TV.”
Flowers — also one bestselling author of crime fiction – added that people “have a very specific idea about these rich kids who killed their parents because they wanted their money, and that’s not really the whole story.”
On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Mendendez shot their parents and were later tried twice, alleging that their father was physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and that their mother was addicted to drugs and alcohol, physically abusive and turned on Jose. The pair were each convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in March 1996.
In 2023 the brothers’ lawyers filed a petition to vacate the brothers’ convictions in light of new evidence, and all that recently like this monthLos Angeles District Attorney George Gascón wanted to schedule a hearing in which prosecutors and the defense will present arguments for and against their release.
John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty
Karen Read appears in Norfolk County Superior Court
Related: Everything about the Karen Read murder trial that ended with a deadlocked jury – and what happens next
Flowers and Ripa also addressed the murder case of Karen Leesa Massachusetts woman accused of crashing her Lexus SUV into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, in January 2022. “So what’s your instinct?” Ripa asked her guest. “Do you believe that this officer allegedly died in that house and was thrown outside, and then (Karen) took the blame?”
Read’s first trial ended in a hung jury after prosecutors alleged she dropped O’Keefe off at the Canton, Massachusetts, home of a retired Boston police officer after a night of drinking, before allegedly backing up and throwing him in the snow left behind. die. However, her lawyers claimed she was covered up after O’Keefe was allegedly jumped by people in the Alberts’ home.
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“I think they presented enough evidence at trial to make this question a reasonable doubt,” Flowers said, before later laying out some theories.
“What I can’t say is why,” she added. “But everyone got destroyed, and I don’t think you make rational decisions when you’re destroyed… and they’re just bad witnesses. You can tell who was at the house that night and who wasn’t just because they were on the witness stand, because if you were at the house that night you can’t remember anything, and everyone else seemed to have a decent memory.”
Cass County Sheriff’s Office
Ada and Ed Haradine
Flowers and Ripa also shared their thoughts on the case of Ada Haridine, a 40-year-old mother of two from Indiana who disappeared in 1985 before her remains were discovered in a nearby wooded area three years later. Haridine’s story was featured in the second season of Flowers’ Examine the deck – for which she interviewed family members to shed light on the circumstances surrounding her death.
“The 80s were the best time for housewives,” Ripa said. “Housewives were disappearing and going missing and there was always this story that maybe she ran away to start a new life. And I always go, I don’t know any mother who runs away to start a new life.”
The latest episode of Ripa’s Let’s talk off camera podcast with Flowers is available now.