‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’: Where Are the Menendez Brothers Today?
One of the most notorious crimes of the 1980s is now a Netflix series. After exploring the chilling murders committed by Jeffrey Dahmer in Monster: Dahmer, creator Ryan Murphy has turned his focus to the Menendez brothers murder case.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story offers a fictionalized account of the two California brothers who killed their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, in 1989. Lyle and Erik claimed that years of abuse led them to murder. Prosecutors argued they wanted to get their hands on their parents’ money.
Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their parents in 1989
On the night of August 20, 1989, Lyle, then 21, called 911 to report a horrible crime. He and his brother, Erik, then 18, had returned home from seeing a movie to find their parents, Jose and Kitty, dead in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
At first, police thought that Jose, an entertainment executive, and his wife, might have been killed in a mob hit. But suspicion eventually turned to their brothers. They were arrested in March 1990 following a tip from a woman who was dating the siblings’ psychologist. She said she’d heard them confessing on a tape recording their doctor had made. In a controversial decision, a judge ruled that the tapes were not covered under doctor-patient privilege.
The first trial began in 1993. (It was one of the first broadcast by Court TV.) Lyle and Erik admitted that they had killed their parents. But they said they had only done so after enduring years of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Several family members testified that they’d known about the abuse. Each brother was assigned his own jury. Both juries deadlocked and the prosecution ended in a mistrial.
A second, non-televised trial began in 1995. There was one jury for both brothers, and the defense was limited in the amount of information they could share about the alleged abuse. In March 1996, both Lyle and Erik were found guilty of killling their parents and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Where are the Menendez brothers in 2024?
Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, have been in prison since 1996. Both are incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
For years, the Menendez brothers were housed at different institutions. But in 2018, Lyle was transferred to the prison in San Diego, where Erik had been held since 2013. They were eventually moved to the same housing unit and were able to see each other in person for the first time since 1996.
Erik married a woman named Tammi in 1999. Lyle married a woman named Rebecca in 2003.
Could the Menendez brothers be released from prison?
Though the Menendez brothers are not eligible for parole, supporters have been holding out hope that they could eventually be released. In 2023, their lawyer filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that Lyle and Erik’s convictions should be vacated because of new evidence. That evidence includes a letter a 17-year-old Erik wrote to his cousin describing his father’s abuse. In addition, a former member of Menudo – a 1980s boy band signed to RCA Records, where Jose was an executive – has come forward, alleging that he was abused by Jose.
“The boys were abused as children. They were abused their whole life. … And this is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It’s just that simple,” the brothers’ attorney Cliff Gardner told 48 Hours. “My hope in the case is that the judge will realize that this new evidence is indeed credible and persuasive, and he’ll vacate the convictions.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is streaming on Netflix.
Sources: The New York Times, ABC News
How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.
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