Warning: This article contains spoilers for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan waited thirty years to make Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story for Netflix. Yet they still might not have captured the complete story of the ongoing Erik and Lyle Menendez saga. The two L.A. brothers became international celebrities, murdering their parents, José and Kitty (Mary Louise), in their posh mansion in 1989. Erik and Lyle were eventually found guilty of the murder of both parents after two separate trials as individuals, the state trying them together in one joint trial in the wake of those mistrials. The scope of the court battle dragged on as the case widened to include imaginary mafioso assassins, a corrupt shrink and his drugged-up mistress, Judd Nelson, and confessions of incest. As strange as the court proceedings were, the two years leading up to the double homicide were more unbelievable.
Following up their attention-grabbing and clumsily-titled Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which chronicled the despicable crimes of the Milwaukee cannibal, Murphy and co-producer Brennan shift to the Pacific coast. In this second season of the Netflix hit, the writing team dissects the Menendez Brothers trials and the events that led up to the murders. Expect a fair amount of treachery and opportunism, as the series zooms into the underbelly of high society, a cautionary tale of the downward spiral that is avarice and privilege. Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny star as the doomed José and Kitty. Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch tackle the titular preppy killers in the crime anthology.
Where to start the show’s events is almost as challenging as where to end them. Murphy and Brennan might need a part-two for this particular season because as we’ll see, this tragedy is still far from over. It’s only fitting that this macabre chapter of Los Angeles history would be so full of drama and endless, improbable cliffhangers that would make the most desperate screenwriter roll their eyes in disbelief. So, what can we expect from the new show, and why did the Monster showrunners choose this case file?
The Origins of America’s Love of True Crime
Before O.J. or Johnny Depp v Amber Heard, the Menendez Bros. court trials were the preeminent celebrity scandal, and arguably the one that set the stage for America’s preoccupation with the newest form of entertainment, protracted celebrity legal ordeals. Court TV launched to coincide with the media circus, one of the now-defunct staples of ’90s pop culture. The brothers weren’t actually celebrities at the time of the crime. However, the media covered and scrutinized every available second of the incident, allowing the morbidly curious and outraged their chance to wallow in the details.
The Menendez patriarch was a Cuban refugee who hit it big in Los Angeles, eventually moving into the mansion that formerly belonged to Prince and Elton John. The two Beverly Hills kids lived the stereotypical life of spoiled brats, playing tennis, driving fancy foreign cars, and attending the best schools — Lyle in Princeton and his brother Erik set to enroll at UCLA.
The execution of José and Kitty Menendez was initially treated as a possible mob hit, connected with José’s work as an entertainment executive. A team of bodyguards was hired, supposedly to save the sons from mafia hit squads out to finish the job, or so Erik and Lyle wanted us to think. The police’s suspicion soon turned from the underworld to the two young sons of the slain couple, one still a teenager.
Though they had gone so far as to buy tickets to Batman and the new James Bond film as a cover story, their lies unraveled, admitting that they did in fact murder their parents with a shotgun on the night of August 20, 1989, alibis crumbling. Jerome Oziel (played by Dallas Roberts in the miniseries), the brothers’ psychotherapist, was forced to testify at the first two trials, despite this being a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality. Oziel’s incompetence was so great he let his mistress tape the sessions in which the brothers fessed up. It should be noted, he never appeared at the third trial. The prosecution’s case was so airtight they didn’t even need to bother with him.
Why Murphy and Brennan Chose the Menendez Brothers
The reason for selecting this story is hard to pin down, but Murphy and Brennan must have felt pressure to be more prudent in their choice of salacious legal extravaganzas. Judging from the controversy that emanated from the last season of Monster, exploring the crimes of Jeffry Dahmer, it’s likely they picked a more nuanced, morally gray crime that invites much less criticism.
Fans will recall that Netflix and the producers were rebuked for glamorizing the deranged fetishes of Dahmer. Rita Isbell, the sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, stated in her essay in Business Insider in 2022 that the project’s emphasis on so-called “murder porn” was crass and disrespected the victims and the families who had to live with the trauma the program portrayed with detached pizzazz, each episode complete with a star-studded soundtrack accompanying the murders:
“…the victims have children and grandchildren. If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless. It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”
Erik and Lyle’s Less Than Perfect Crime
We should expect a little more tact. The brothers’ crime will play less of a role than their botched cover-up and shameless social climbing. Their lack of contrition is ultimately what brought about their fall, and defined them. This absence of sorrow is evident in a New York Knicks basketball trading card, the photo showing them grinning in court-side seats at Madison Square Garden on their spending spree after inheriting the family fortune.
Acquaintances and employees describe two brothers as constantly in search of more frivolous toys in their pursuit of the high life. Friend Glenn Stevens, whom Lyle met at Princeton, remarked how Lyle wasn’t content with an Alfa Romero sports car and wished instead to have a Porsche, and then went so far as to purchase his own restaurant for $300,000 (just the down payment). After the money rolled in, he suddenly started wearing a Rolex, spending lavishly rather than grieving.
According to The LA Times, Stevens indicated that Lyle seemed relieved, Lyle saying to him, “Well, I’ve been waiting so long to be in this position, that I’m prepared for it.” Prosecutors contended their crime was inspired by the 1987 NBC TV movie Billionaire Boys Club starring brat packer Judd Nelson, which their dad’s company had distributed, and had aired briefly before the murders.
They practically delivered the verdict to the prosecutor. According to People Magazine, Erik had gone so far as to write a screenplay about a kid murdering their parents for an inheritance two years earlier, hinting that this was his idea originally, or, at the very least, a concept the two had been mulling over for years. Erik’s other hobby was burglary, which he had been arrested for in 1988. Their pattern of behavior and the screenplay all but convicted them in the eyes of the public long before a jury could. Masterminds, these were not.
The Running Tally of Erik and Lyle Menendez Plot Twists
They were sentenced before most of the docudrama’s fans were born, but that’s not the end of the tale. Seven years after the trial, the bungling therapist in question, Dr. Oziel, was barred from ever practicing in the state of California. In part due to the spotlight, Oziel had been found engaging in sexual relations with his female clients, among a litany of other heinous allegations. It destroyed his career, which, so happened, specialized in sex-related psychological conditions.
As for the guilty parties, Lyle and Erik’s rep grew so much that both were deluged by fan mail, both marrying women they met through inmate pen pal services, living out their fantasies of fame and adulation. 37 years after his failed screenplay, Erik’s teenage fantasy is finally getting the Hollywood treatment. He’s too busy bartering with a skinhead for a can of tuna to watch. Be careful what you ask for, kids.
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Largely forgotten about by the media, recent evidence may exonerate the duo, proving their pleas of self-defense against their father were justified. Keep in mind that the third trial barred the abuse-retaliation defense. Few at the time were heartbroken at the jury’s ruling, but this new revelation possibly gives credence to the brothers’ framing of the crime as lashing out at a cruel father and enabling mother who threatened their sons into silence.
We can only wonder if the Monster editors had time to slap on an epilogue title screen as the case enters yet another phase that may see one or both killers earning parole. The miniseries also features Nathan Lane and Ari Graynor in supporting roles. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available for streaming exclusively on Netflix on September 19th.
