The Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik, made headlines in 1989 for the brutal shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. The case captivated the nation, and now, more than three decades later, their story is being revisited in the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Who are the Menendez brothers?
Joseph Lyle Menendez and Erik Galen Menendez were born in New Jersey to parents Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. After spending most of their childhood in New Jersey, the brothers moved to Beverly Hills as teenagers when their father secured a position as an executive at a movie studio. Erik excelled at tennis and was ranked 44th in the country for his age group, while Lyle attended Princeton University before dropping out.
The murders and the investigation
On August 20, 1989, the Menendez brothers told police they had spent the evening at a movie theater and later attended the “Taste of L.A.” festival at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. They returned to the family home to find their parents dead in the living room, their father shot six times and their mother shot 10 times. At first, the brothers claimed that the Mafia had killed their parents because of one of their father’s business deals. But investigators became suspicious of the brothers’ lavish spending, which included $700,000 in about six months on real estate, luxury items and tennis lessons for Erik.
The Trials and convictions
The Menendez brothers pleaded not guilty in 1990 and were held without bail and incarcerated separately. The trial was delayed for two years because of legal questions about whether the prosecution could use tapes of Erik’s conversations with his psychologist as evidence. In 1993, the brothers’ trial was broadcast on Court TV, and during their testimony they admitted to killing their parents, claiming it was self-defense. The brothers’ defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, argued that the brothers’ fear for their lives drove them to commit the murders. Prosecutors, however, argued that Lyle and Erik killed their parents for financial gain. After the jury deadlocked in the first trial, the case was retried, and in 1996 the brothers were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole and sent to separate prisons.
More Read
Life in prison and recent developments
Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53, respectively, remain incarcerated in separate California prisons. Despite their separation, the brothers have maintained a close relationship, writing regularly and even playing chess through the mail. Both brothers have married while in prison, with Erik marrying Tammi Saccoman in 1999. In 2017, the brothers told People magazine that they remained close, and in 2018, they reunited for the first time since their incarceration 22 years earlier. Their lawyers filed a petition in 2023 asking the court to reopen the case, suggesting that new evidence supported the brothers’ claims that their father was abusive and a pedophile. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is still investigating the claims made in the petition.
The Netflix drama
The Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story premiered on Sept. 19, 2024, and explores the brothers’ motives for killing, including their claims of abuse by their parents. The show stars Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez, with Javier Bardem portraying family patriarch Jose Menendez and Chloë Sevigny playing the brothers’ complacent mother, Kitty Menendez. The Menendez brothers’ case captivated the nation for decades, and their story continues to fascinate audiences and new generations.