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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is the second season of the crime anthology series on Netflix by Ryan Murphy. It involves the story of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez who murdered their parents, José and Kitty Menendez in 1989.
The series tells the story of the Menendez brothers, who pleaded that killing their parents was long overdue after long suffering abuse and not for the reason presented during prosecution, which is that they wanted to be cheated out of the family's fortune, as explored in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story features Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez along with Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez. It stars Javier Bardem as José Menendez and Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez. The season is set to be released on September 19, 2024.
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Background of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
The Menendez brothers came to be born into a prosperous and ideal family. Their father was a successful entertainment executive, José Menendez, and their mother used to be a schoolteacher and a homemaker, Kitty. The Menendez brothers grew up in a privileged life in Beverly Hills with money and opportunities.
However, things were far from rosy in the Menendez household behind closed doors. Later the brothers testified in court to long years of beatings, emotional torture, and even sexual abuse at the hands of their father. Their mother allegedly did very little to stop it all. Such accusations were the backbone of their defense before the trial, as explored in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
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About the crime explored in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez brutally murdered their parents in their mansion in Beverly Hills. The brothers used shotguns to shoot José and Kitty Menendez dead in their living room. After committing the crime, the brothers attempted to make the scene appear like a mafia-style execution, where evidence was destroyed and investigators were misled.
They continued as if nothing had happened to them after the murder. They were seen squandering all sorts of luxuries and making tours to places in the whole world. They even set up businesses. It was many months later when the police had grounds to suspect them, then they were detained. The investigation is studied in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Investigation
Most of the attention that had been bestowed to the Menendez brothers, was on external ways in which suspects might have conspired amongst themselves or suspected some third party behind the murder due to the high-profile career of José Menendez. Contradictions in the brothers' statements and their unusual behavior after the crime brought forth red flags around the brothers.
All of that changed, however, when Erik Menendez went to his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, and confessed that he had indeed committed the murder. The girlfriend of the therapist spilled the beans about the confession of Menendez, which led to their arrest.
Read more: Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story soundtrack
However, the defense pleaded that these brothers had ended up murdering their parents due to a life of abuse and acted out of compulsion to save themselves from being killed. The prosecution made them look like cold-blooded killers who were only money greedy, with the fact that these brothers' tendency to lavish funds continued even after committing the murders.
Resolution
The first trial of the Menendez brothers in 1993 resulted in a hung jury. It could not decide whether the killings were classified as premeditated murder or merely the outcome of the abuse allegations. In 1995, the retrial for the Menendez brothers convicted both brothers of first-degree murder and sentenced both brothers to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The case, heavily publicized and with televised coverage, reaching millions, created more far-reaching debates on issues of affluence, family ties, and the justice system. The brothers have not, up to today, had a successful appeal and remain in prison.
Aftermath
The case of the Menendez brothers surely has forever left a mark on the American culture and the country's judiciary. It brought into the limelight very complex issues that emerge while making and prosecuting claims of family abuse in courts besides the role of the media in celebrity trials.
Many who have been convicted afterward not only regret their crime but also debate whether or not what they got in terms of punishment was right. Since the murder of their parents, the two Menendez brothers have been imprisoned separately in different prisons though they were sometimes lodged together at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California for a few months in 2018.
Their story inspires thousands of hours of documentaries, TV specials, and books, including Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which critically examines the psychological and legal complexities of the case.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is a chilling reminder of the multifaceted elements that drive a man to such heinous acts against his family. While one can't help but put aside all thoughts of denial over the brutality of the crime committed, the case does bring up questions regarding abuse, trauma, and justice.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story arrives on Netflix on 19 September with nine episodes.
