On the night of Sunday August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez entered their family home and killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, with a shotgun in their living room. Now, 35 years later they may be released.
The Menendez Brothers’ case has intrigued many people for years. Were the brothers killing for their inheritance? Did the parents deserve it? What really happened in the Menendez home?
This past September, Netflix attempted to bring their take on the murders and trials to the screen by portraying both sides in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The series begins by illustrating what happened during the parents’ murders and the following months leading up to the boys’ arrests. In the next episodes, the brothers’ perspectives and fears are revealed, and the narrative shifts to an empathetic tone as audiences begin to feel pain for the brothers. By the sixth episode, José and Kitty’s side is shared, and the narrative is brought right back to portraying the brothers as described in the series’ title – Monsters.
At the time of the murders, Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18. They were tried separately in 1994, both ended in mistrials, and then in 1996 the brothers were tried together with the final decision of first-degree murder and life in prison. Many believe the trials were unfair, and that the majority of the information that could’ve helped the brothers case was never brought to the jury’s attention. But according to NPR, in May 2023 the brothers filed a petition on the grounds of new evidence. The evidence being presented, are multiple letters from Erik to his cousin talking about sexual abuse from his father, José, and a testimony from a band member claiming the José Menendez sexually abused him too.
One of the main questions people have asked themselves for the past 35 years is why did the Menendez Brothers kill their parents?
The answer most people in the 1990s used in order to not have to think about the horrific truth, was that the brothers committed this crime in order to gain inheritance. The prosecution imprinted this idea of inheritance in people’s minds, but the real reason for the murder, that Lyle and Erik keep to, to this day, is that they were sexually abused by their parents, and were living in fear that their parents would kill them first.
This claim, and people’s reaction, is what makes this case so well known because people simply did not want to believe them. At that time, people believed that men could not be sexually abused, and even if they were, they should have just ran away and told the police. A lot of people today would strongly agree that this claim is absurd and extremely unfair, and even go on to quote the brother’s defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, in Netflix’s series Monsters directed by Ryan Murphy, and say “[i]f my client’s names were Lila and Erika Menendez, would it make any difference to you”. It is unfortunate to say that if the case had happened today there would be a very, very different outcome.
There was also unfortunately a lot of tension in the L.A. court system due to cases involving racism. In the case of Rodney King, where four white police officers were acquitted after beating King, and the infamous case of O.J. Simpson where it is believed Simpson was only acquitted as “a minor form of payback for all those times innocent Black men and women had been convicted for crimes they did not commit,” according to USATODAY. Needless to say, the people in Southern California were hungry for a righteous conviction and the Menendez Brothers were their sacrificial lamb.
After both the Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the documentary The Menendez Brothers, the new generation has been obsessed with this case, and demanding a retrial, which from the looks of the bias and injustice that took place in the early to mid 90s seems like a fair point.
The Menendez Brothers documentary released on October 7th, takes the perspective of the brothers straight from their prison cells, and raises more reasons for the release of the brothers. It is definitely a must watch to truly understand the brothers’ lives.
Within the first week of October, according to NPR, Kim Kardashian spoke out on the case claiming that she “believes the men, now in their 50s, deserve freedom”. Not just Kardashian, but the actors in the Netflix series have spoken out on behalf of the brothers. They believe the brother’s stories of abuse, and they believe that Lyle and Erik should be set free. On top of that, also according to NPR, Los Angeles’ District Attorney announced they will be relooking at the evidence.
The unfortunate events of the night of August 20, 1989 will forever be remembered as a horrific tragedy, but the events of the trial that followed will always be seen as an injustice and unfair result of stereotypes and bias. What truly happened in the Menendez home will most likely be kept secret behind those big, brown wooden doors, but the account the brothers have repeatedly given should not and will not go unnoticed. There is still hope for another trial, and God willing, it will result in belief of the brothers’ multiple sexual abuse accounts.