Recently, Netflix released a docu-series on September 19, 2024, named Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
This show follows the double homicide of Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Mendendez, parents of Lyle and Erik Mendendez on August 20, 1989. The TV show, made up of nine, hour-long episodes, quickly hit No. 1 on the Netflix Global Top 10 TV Shows.
Though the show hit No. 1 with over 153 million views and high ratings, there has been a controversy over the sentencing of the two brothers. In 1996, the Menendez brothers were convicted for the murders of their parents and received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Viewers are raising new questions: Was the jury too harsh on Lyle and Erik? If the trial occurred today, would the public have more empathy regarding their allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of their father? Is it ethical to have created a series like this when both brothers are still alive, even so at the mercy of the penal system? In just a short amount of time, these questions have caused a whirlwind across the internet.
According to Erik Menendez himself, who is still incarcerated in California, the show was inaccurate. He stated, “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime has taken the painful truths several steps backward.”
Menendez, along with his wife Tammie, are disappointed in the ongoing debate of whether their stories are false. Tammie recently released a statement about the series via X. “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle…” referencing multiple scenes in the series of possible incest between the brothers.
After visiting the brothers, Cooper Koch, who played Erik in the series, made a statement to Variety about his feelings about the situation, “They committed the crime when they were 18 and 21 years old, and at the time, it was really hard for people to believe that male-on-male sexual abuse could occur…” Koch said, “But now, after 35 years, we have so much more evidence of child sexual abuse and male-on-male sexual abuse that I think they do deserve to be retried.”
According to Variety, Cooper Koch called Erik and Lyle “such upstanding individuals,” after the visit.
November 29, 2024, marks the new court hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez. The TV Show, as well as new evidence, is causing a stir in the media. The brothers could be released by Christmas.
A letter dated eight months before the murders was found in 2018 by journalist and author Robert Rand. The letter was written to the brother’s cousin, Andy Cano, a year before the murders. Erik, who was 17 at the time, wrote about the alleged abuse of his father.
Although these claims weren’t proven during the sentencing, they received new scrutiny just last year when a former boy band member, Roy Rosselló, claimed he was raped by Jose Menendez during the mid-1980s. According to Rosello, the assault occurred when he was just 14 years old.
The brother’s claims haven’t been proven but this new evidence could change their lives forever. After spending nearly three decades in jail, Erik and Lyle Menendez could be free next year.
Stay tuned for information about the hearing.
