The Real-Life Horror Behind Netflix’s Menéndez Brothers Series

Ryan Murphy’s latest premieres on Netflix on Thursday.

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Ryan Murphy’s latest premieres on Netflix on Thursday.
The Menéndez brothers are getting the Monster treatment.  The second installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology series — which premiered Thursday, Sept. 19, on Netflix — explores the high-profile case that took America by storm. Before O.J. Simpson’s freeway chase sparked a nationwide news frenzy, there was Lyle and Erik Menéndez. The duo murdered their parents, José (a highly successful record executive) and Kitty Menéndez in August 1989. Lyle and Erik shot their mother, Kitty, 10 times; they shot José six times. The brothers stayed home, called 911 and claimed innocence, saying they were at a movie theater watching Batman when the crime happened. Initially, law enforcement officials believed the brothers. The notion that Lyle (21) and Erik (18), two young men who came from a privileged family, killed their parents seemed implausible.  But as the case unfolded, the brothers were eventually arrested and, after two trials, were convicted and imprisoned for first-degree murder. Were Lyle and Erik after their family’s fortune, or was this a reaction to a lifetime of abuse? Netflix’s new series takes a closer look at the case. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story follows the immense success of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (which has racked up over a billion hours viewed). The second true crime-inspired installment aims to revisit the crime in question, the allegations of abuse that motivated the murder and the sentencing.  Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny lead the cast as José and Kitty Menéndez. Nicholas Alexander Chavez plays Lyle and Cooper Koch is Erik.  Now that the season is here, let’s look at the real-life horror that inspired Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story. Read more: Netflix Review: Our Top Choice in a Crowded Market José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez were, as CBS News reported, “shot multiple times at close range with a shotgun while in the family room of their Beverly Hills mansion.” Two 12-gauge shotguns were the weapons of choice.  Soon after, their eldest son, Lyle, made the call to 911 where he screamed, “Someone killed my parents.”  The brothers claimed they found their parents’ bodies after returning home from the movies. Initially, the police believed them. However, authorities believed their behavior in the months following the deaths was uncharacteristic of someone dealing with such a tragedy. The biggest red flag for them was Lyle and Erik’s lavish expenses, adding up to roughly $700,000 of their parents’ money — the equivalent of $1 million today. “By October 1989, Lyle had charged more than $90,000 to Jose’s American Express card,” Crime Library reports.  Lyle invested in a restaurant; Erik hired a private tennis coach. The duo traveled, “purchased Rolex watches and real estate, and invested in businesses,” CBS news stated. The spending spree may have captured the attention of law enforcement, but it wasn’t what led to their arrest.  Judalon Smyth, the girlfriend of Jerome Oziel, the brothers’ therapist, tipped off Lyle and Erik’s involvement in the murder to the police. Erik confessed their crime to his psychologist — and it was recorded. Lyle and Erik Menéndez were charged with murder in March 1990. They spent three years in jail and the first trial began in 1993. The brothers were tried together but had separate juries, which could not reach a unanimous verdict, leading to a mistrial.  A second trial was held in 1995, and both Menéndez brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder. Lyle and Erik Menéndez murdered their parents. Once in court, the brothers never denied the crime, instead focusing on the reason behind the killings. Their defense team alleged “years of violent, repeated physical and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of their father,” The LA Times reported. The abuse allegations weren’t admissible in court during the brothers’ second trial, which ultimately convicted them of first-degree murder. Decades later, a letter was discovered by an investigative journalist named Robert Rand, according to Newsweek, that discussed Lyle and Erik’s abuse claims. Erik sent a letter to his late cousin Andy Cano eight months before the murders, which supports the allegations.  “I’ve been trying to avoid dad,” the letter reads. “It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. … Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy! He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone.” The letter wasn’t evidence in either trial. Cano testified in court but was called a liar by the prosecutors. Three decades later, a Peacock docuseries called Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed explored an unfortunate connection between the brothers and boy band member Roy Rosselló. According to Variety, Rosselló claims José sexually assaulted him when he was a child.  Lyle and Erik Menéndez are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. The new evidence referenced above has sparked fresh hopes for the Menéndez camp that a retrial may be in their future.  One of their lawyers, Cliff Gardner, told 48 Hours on CBS that the evidence in question “corroborates those longstanding claims and lessens their culpability.” Gardner, along with the rest of their legal team, stands by the assertion that the brothers’ crime was manslaughter instead of first-degree murder, which would have come with a shorter prison sentence.  Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story is now streaming on Netflix.

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