The Real Story of the Menendez Brothers Murder Case: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Netflix Drama | Entertainment & Arts Updates
After three decades, the shocking trial of two brothers who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion is back in the spotlight.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty of murdering their father and mother Jose and Kitty Menendez by shooting them multiple times at close range on 20 August 1989 when they were 21 and 18, respectively.
(L to R) Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez, Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez. Pic: Netflix
A Netflix dramatization of their story – which has drawn accusations of “dishonesty” from Erik Menendez – is currently number one in the streamer’s viewing chart.
The same platform will be putting out a documentary next month.
So, what was the Menendez brothers’ crime, and why are people so fascinated by it?
The crime, trial and punishment
On 20 August 1989 Lyle and Erik Menendez shot their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, multiple times at close range in the family mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
While the brothers initially told police they found them dead when they got home, they were eventually tried for their murder.
An initial attempt to try each brother individually in front of separate juries ended in a mistrial after both juries failed to reach a verdict.
A second trial saw the brothers tried together.
Erik Menendez (L) left and his brother Lyle (R) in front of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989. Pic: Getty
The defence claimed the brothers committed the murders in self-defence after many years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, with no protection from their mother.
They said they had feared for their lives after they threatened to expose their father.
The prosecution argued the murders were motivated by greed, and they killed their parents to avoid disinheritance.
Evidence of alleged abuse from their defence case was largely excluded from the joint trial by the judge.
In 1996, seven years after the killings, a jury found the brothers guilty, and they were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Erik and Lyle Menendez, now aged 53 and 56 respectively, are currently in prison in San Diego, California.
To this day, both brothers say their actions stemmed from abuse at the hands of their parents which they say they had suffered over many years.
The Netflix drama
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story stars Oscar-winner Javier Bardem as Jose, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty, and Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as the Menendez brothers.
Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story. Pic: Netflix
It attempts to explore the crime from different perspectives – both from the brothers’ and parents’ point of view.
Many viewers have commented on the graphic and violent nature of the show, which is both gory and gruesome.
Viewers have also been critical of implications the brothers had an intimate relationship.
Bardem, who plays the father Jose Menendez, said he was able to separate art from his personal life when working on the show.
“I’m a true believer in the fiction, in the imagination, in the joy of playing something without being taken by it,” he said.
Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, said he used recordings from the real-life trial to inform his performance.
What does Erik Menendez say?
The day after the show came out on Netflix, one of the real-life brothers, Erik Menendez, criticised the show, calling it “dishonest” and “inaccurate”,…
