On August 20, 1989, the Menendez brothers murdered their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, a crime that shocked the United States due to the coverage that the media gave to the event. After 30 years, producer Ryan Murphy decided to remember the crime through the series “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.” Both are still behind bars in California.
Joseph “Lyle” Menendez, 21, and Erik Galen Menendez, 18, were sentenced to two life terms in 1996 after being charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez.
The story of the Menéndez brothers of Cuban descent was widely publicized in the 1990s, but after so many years, the family tragedy has been exposed in a streaming series that has sparked curiosity about who the real Lyle and Erik are, aged 56 and 53 respectively.
They remain inside the prison
The Menendez brothers are currently serving their sentences at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, they are not eligible for parole.
What happened and when? On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik’s parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, decided to watch a movie in the TV room of their home at 722 North Drive, Elm in Beverly Hills. The brothers had purchased two 12-gauge rifles days earlier.
While the parents were asleep, Lyle and Erik opened fire on them, according to police documents, which described Jose Menendez being shot in the back of the head at point-blank range. When Kitty heard the gunshot, she woke up and tried to run, but was shot in the leg.
Multiple shots that disfigured them
Officers said Jose, 45, was shot three more times in the arms and legs, while Kitty, 47, was hit by four shots to the head and face, plus five more to the body. They were trying to make it look like a mob crime.
“The bodies were deformed,” authorities said at the time when they arrived at the home. “They did not look anything like what you would expect a human being to look like.”
After the shooting, Lyle and Erik left the home, dumped the rifles on Mulholland Drive and headed to a movie theater to watch a film. When they returned home, Lyle called 911 to report the murders.
After their parents died, the Menendez brothers spent six months spending thousands of dollars, buying various items, including a car and luxury watches. Prosecutors said during the trials that the brothers spent around a million dollars.
After investigation they turned out to be responsible
Detectives began an investigation against the brothers and the evidence that led to their arrest was the confession to the psychologist about the murders, which is how Lyle Menendez was arrested on March 8, 1990. Three days later, Erik turned himself in to the authorities.
The brothers made their first court appearance on March 12, 1990, where they argued that they killed their parents because they feared for their safety after a lifetime of sexual abuse perpetrated by their father and tolerated by their mother. A family member testified that he had heard about the abuse as a child, ABC News reported.
The Menendez brothers were first tried by separate juries in 1993, which was broadcast on Court TV.
After two trials, on July 2, 1996, Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Weisberg sentenced the brothers to consecutive terms for the murders and the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
A possibility opens up for them
After spending almost half of their lives in prison, this year another documentary opened a possibility for the brothers, as the former member of the group Menudo, Roy Rosello, accused José Menéndez of sexual abuse, in addition to a letter sent by the younger brother to his cousin in which he told him about the rapes they had suffered at the hands of their father.
Lyle and Erik’s attorneys filed a petition for habeas corpus before the Los Angeles Superior Court, arguing that this information should serve as evidence to overturn the life sentence and have a new trial held.
Erik’s wife, Tammi Menendez, has been following the Netflix series closely, criticizing it for not being close to the reality of what happened. She calls the series a “dishonest representation of tragedies.”
Continue reading:
- Gunman who killed 10 people at Colorado supermarket charged with murder
- Mother of Georgia shooting suspect charged
- Nebraska man who claimed to be a student to commit sex crimes will spend life in prison