With the release of the second installment of Ryan Murphy's "Monsters" series, "The Eric and Lyle Menendez Story," the Menendez brothers have once again been thrust into the spotlight.
Up next: a Netflix documentary promising interviews with the siblings, "in their own words."
The two brothers were convicted of killing their parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez in their Mediterranean-style Beverly Hills mansion in 1989 and were sentenced to life without parole in 1996. While prosecutors asserted that Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18, slaughtered José and Kitty Menendez at their home for the couple’s $14 million fortune, Erik and Lyle claim their father abused them physically, sexually and emotionally. Erik fought back while testifying to dad's abuse, which he said began when he was 6 and lasted until the time of the murders.
Murphy's series, which presents a dramatized version of the events that unfolded, invited a lot of controversy and criticism, including from Erik Menendez, who in a statement issued through his wife Tammie Menendez, slammed the show for its "horrible and blatant lies" and "vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me."
Meanwhile, Cooper Koch, the actor who portrays Erik in the series, met his real-life acting subject during an in-person prison visit last week led by Kim Kardashian, Koch told The Hollywood Reporter. While Erik had not seen the new Netflix series yet, he praised Koch for his work, the actor told THR. Kardashian, who has evolved into a leading voice on criminal justice reform, meanwhile is rallying for the release of the two brothers.
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Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in a press conference Thursday announced his office would review new evidence in the brothers' case, including a letter sent by one of the brothers to a family member alleging he was the victim of molestation.
Presecutors:Evidence of alleged sexual abuse to be reviewed in Menendez brothers case
A group of the Menendez brothers' family members also criticized the show as a "phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations."
Murphy, meanwhile, in interviews with Entertainment Tonight and The Hollywood Reporter, defended the show, saying his intent was to include multiple perspectives on what happened. He also went on to say that the Menendez brothers should be sending him flowers for all the attention they've been getting because of the show.
Less than a month after the nine-episode series dropped and dominated Netflix's Top 10 queue, a new documentary film featuring recorded phone calls of the brothers with director Alejandro Hartmann from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where the pair are serving life sentences, is releasing on the streaming platform.
"For the first time in 30 years, and in their own words, both brothers revisit the trial that shocked the nation," Netflix says about the upcoming film. "Through extensive audio interviews with Lyle and Erik, lawyers involved in the trial, journalists who covered it, jurors, family, and other informed observers, acclaimed Argentinian director Alejandro Hartmann offers new insight and a fresh perspective on a case that people only think they know."
Here's everything you need to know about the new documentary film spotlighting Erik and Lyle Menendez.
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"The Menendez Brothers" will release on Monday, Oct. 7 at 3:00 a.m. ET.
"The Menendez Brothers" documentary film will be available to stream on Netflix.
The film, directed by Hartmann, will feature interviews with both Erik and Lyle Menendez as well as new interviews with their cousin Diane Vander Molen and prosecutor Pamela Bozanich, as per Netflix.
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Netflix shared a sneak peek into the documentary on Thursday.
Contributing: Jay Stahl, Brendan Morrow, Erin Jensen, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
