Netflix set to release Menendez brothers documentary to tell their true story in their own words
The Menendez brothers have agreed to participate in their own Netflix documentary after their family slammed the streaming service for its series that dramatized the brutal murders of their parents.
The Menendez brothers have agreed to participate in their own Netflix documentary after their family slammed the streaming service for its series that dramatized the brutal murders of their parents.
Netflixs documentary will feature phone interviews with Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted and sentenced to life with no parole for shooting their mother and father, José and Mary Louise Kitty Menendez.
This is the first time the brothers, who were 22 and 19 at the time of the 1989 murders, are telling their story together outside of a courtroom.
They will call in from Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, 150 miles south of where the murders occurred in their parents $5 million Beverly Hills home.
What happened that night is very well known, but so much hasnt been told, one of the brothers is heard saying in the documentarys trailer.
Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit in Beverly Hills Municipal Court on March 12, 1990, several months after the murder of their parents
Monsters, created by Ryan Murphy, tells the chilling tale of Menendez brothers Erik (played by Cooper Koch, right) and Lyle (played by Nicholas Chavez, left) who killed their parents in 1989
In the new documentary, Erik (left) and Lyle (right) will call in from prison, where theyve been since they were convicted in 1996
At their divisive retrial in 1996 - they were first tried separately in trials that both ended with hung juries - the brothers claimed their parents were abusive, especially their father, who they said sexually abused them throughout their childhood.
Older brother Lyle also testified that their father had molested Erik when they were children.
While many believe justice was served for the cold-blooded murders of their parents - with prosecutors arguing the motive was money - others are sympathetic to the brothers claims of lifelong abuse.
This comes as Ryan Murphys Monsters, the Netflix drama that revisited the Menendez case, got harsh reviews from the family after it was released on September 19.
It stars Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as the Menendez parents, and Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch as their sons.
Extended members of the Menendez family released a scathing statement criticizing the new series - which is number one on Netflixs global top ten.
Co-signed and shared on X by Eriks wife, Tammi Menendez, the brothers aunt Joan VanderMolen summed up the familys sentiments.
In this family photo, Lyle flanks Kitty Menendez, while Erik stands behind José Menendez
VanderMolens statement read: We are virtually the entire extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez. We are 24 strong and today we want the world to know we support Erik and Lyle. We know them, love them, and want them home with us.
She went on to accuse the series of painting a false narrative, calling it a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that neglects recent revelations the family claims would exonerate the brothers.
Contrary to Murphys claim of extensive research, VanderMolen claims the family was never consulted during the production of the show.
The thing that possibly angered the family the most were scenes depicting the brothers in an incestuous homoerotic relationship.
The character assassination of Erik and Lyle, under the guise of a "storytelling narrative," is repulsive. We know what went on in their home and the unimaginably turbulent lives they have endured, VanderMolen wrote.
Erik himself also released a statement slamming Murphy for the shows horrible and blatant lies.
I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose.
It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naïve and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent, he wrote.
Murphy was been blasted for making brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez kiss in the series
The shocking moment unfolds in the shows second episode, titled Spree
Murphy (pictured) shot back at critics of the show, and said he felt it was important to present he points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case
Murphy shot back this week, saying: I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show.
It’s really, really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen, he said.
The showrunner also dismissed claims from viewers that he overlooked the alleged abuse inflicted on the brothers in favor of running with a forbidden romance plot.
The thing that I find interesting that he doesn’t mention in his quote, is if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the film form center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them, he said.
Netflixs documentary will premiere on October 7, and is only the latest retelling of the infamous case that captured the nations attention throughout much of the 1990s.
Fox and CBS aired TV movies about the murders in 1994, Lifetime ran Menendez: Blood Brothers in 2017 and NBCs Law & Order: True Crime also focused on the case.
Peacock’s 2023 documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed featured Roy Rosselló, a former member of boy band Menudo, who claimed José Menendez sexually assaulted him as a teenager.
