Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (TV Program)

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    The Menendez Brothers: How True Crime Is Re-Examining Old Cases

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    A thriving genre built on podcasts and documentaries, coupled with younger generations’ more skeptical worldview, helped revitalize interest in this case and others like it.There’s a montage during the new Netflix documentary “The Menendez Brothers” in which comedians, late-night hosts and other pop culture figures of the 1990s mock Lyle and Erik Menendez. The brothers had recently delivered testimony at their first murder trial, detailing their accounts of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, Jose Menendez, whom they had gunned down and killed in 1989, alongside their mother, Kitty.There was a 1993 “Saturday Night Live” skit that had John Malkovich and Rob Schneider mimicking the brothers in the courtroom, weeping dramatically and sarcastically. On the “Late Show,” the comedian Sandra Bernhard told David Letterman, “These two arrogant brothers are gonna fry,” to whoops and laughter from the audience.“I called Jay Leno’s show once, to protest them making fun of them,” Joan Vander Molen, Kitty Menendez’s sister, says in the documentary. “That’s all they did. They just made fun of them.”Some 30 years later, Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 21 and 18 when the murders were committed, have gone from pariahs and punchlines to something approaching sympathetic figures in the eyes of a growing number of people.They’ve also gone from the prospect of spending the rest of their lives in prison to having a chance at freedom after George Gascón, the Los Angeles district attorney, announced on Thursday that he would recommend a resentencing that would make the brothers eligible for immediate parole.Gascón cited the work the brothers have done to improve the lives of their fellow inmates. “I believe they have paid their debt to society,” Gascón said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Menendez Brothers’ Case Under Review: What to Know.

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      Prosecutors are revisiting the brothers’ convictions in the killings of their parents. It could lead to their release from prison.Over 35 years ago, Lyle and Erik Menendez — then 21 and 18 years old — walked into the den of their Beverly Hills mansion and fired more than a dozen shotgun rounds at their parents.Now, after serving decades behind bars as part of a life sentence without the possibility of parole, the Menendez brothers may be getting a chance at freedom.In early October, the Los Angeles County district attorney, George Gascón, announced that his office was reviewing the case after lawyers representing the Menendez brothers asked prosecutors to recommend a resentencing, a move that could lead to their release.The reconsideration of their life sentences comes at a time when the Menendez brothers have been thrust back into the media spotlight thanks to the revelation of new evidence, an army of social media defenders and a recent television series and documentary examining their crime and trials.Here’s what to know about the Menendez brothers’ case:What were they convicted of?In 1996, the Menendez brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents, Jose, a music executive, and Mary Louise, a former beauty queen who went by the name Kitty.It was their second trial. Two years prior, a mistrial was declared after two separate juries (one for each brother) deadlocked over a verdict.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Menendez Brothers: What to Know Ahead of the New Netflix Series

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      “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” chronicles the trials of two brothers who killed their parents in 1989, and their aftermath. Much has changed since then.On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez, ages 21 and 18, shot and killed their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. Both were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 after two highly publicized trials, the first of which was broadcast on the then-nascent Court TV.But in the 35 years since the crime, the public has become increasingly divided on whether the brothers were merely the stone-cold opportunists the prosecution said they were. Now Ryan Murphy — who has a longstanding knack for taking on stories at the intersection of true crime, celebrity and media — is weighing in with a new scripted version of their story, premiering Thursday on Netflix.Titled “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” the series stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik, with Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny playing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. It is the second installment of the Monster anthology, created by Murphy with Ian Brennan. The first focused on the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.A lot has happened since 1989 — including numerous documentaries, podcasts and a “Law & Order” series — as the case and cultural attitudes have evolved. Need to get caught up? Here’s a brief refresher and an update on more recent developments.The Menendez family storyFrom left, Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik and Javier Bardem as Jose in a scene from the scripted series “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.” Miles Crist/NetflixJose Menendez was a successful entertainment executive who fled his native Cuba for the United States on his own at the age of 16, shortly after Fidel Castro took power. He married his college girlfriend, Mary Louise Andersen, better known as Kitty. They had two sons, and after some time on the East Coast, the family settled in the Los Angeles area.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More