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The Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story offers a look at the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the show takes viewers back through the events leading up to the killings on August 20, 1989, and through the subsequent two trials - and ultimate conviction - of Lyle and Erik Menendez for the crimes.
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On August 20th, 1989, Jose and Kitty Menendez were brutally slain in their home by their sons
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Lyle and Eric. The story was dramatized in Netflix's Monsters, the Lyle and Eric Menendez
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story. And like any Hollywood adaptation, some of the details are true while others are pure
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fiction. So today, we're going to take a look at everything Netflix's Monsters got right and wrong
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about the Menendez brothers. OK, time to see how much of this true crime story is really true
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As portrayed in the series, when authorities first arrived at the scene of the crime, just hours
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after the Menendez brothers killed their parents, Lyle and Eric appeared genuinely distraught
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In fact, the brothers were so convincing, investigators didn't even bother to test their hands
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for gunshot residue. Instead, police initially believed the murders were committed by the mafia
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or another organized crime entity connected with the Menendez's company. Live Entertainment Incorporated of Van Nuys, a video and music distributor
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Early news reports also called the crime a gangland-style killing, based on the fact both Kitty and Jose suffered from gunshots to the kneecaps
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along with several other fatal gunshot wounds. The LA Times, for example, confidently cited a source that blamed two hitmen
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saying, it was definitely a message. There's no question, it's organized crime
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Just another good reminder not to believe everything you read in the papers. In Monsters, Eric and Lyle arrive at their parents' funeral an hour late
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Lyle then stands up before the 400 grieving attendees to deliver the final eulogy
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During his speech, he plays Girl, I'm Gonna Miss You, a 1989 single by dance pop group Milli Vanilli, explaining that the song's lyrics more accurately
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describe his feelings than he can put into words himself. The scene is so over the top
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particularly Lyle's choice of Milli Vanilli, a band famously known for lying, that it had to
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have been invented by a screenwriter. But proving once again that truth is often stranger than
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fiction, that whole scene happened in real life pretty much exactly as it plays out in the show
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As depicted in the series, 20-year-old Halil did, in fact, wear a toupee at his father's insistence
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Jose encouraged his son to purchase the hairpiece before entering Princeton, where we presume
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balding students just weren't taken seriously. And as depicted in the series during a fight with Halil, his mother Kitty ripped off his
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toupee, which was held on by a strong adhesive. It sounds funny, but it really happened, and it actually caused Halil immense pain
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Afterwards, Eric ran to comfort his brother, and the two discussed the abuse they had endured
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throughout their childhoods. And that part is all true. But on the show the brothers hatched their violent plan then and there while the facts indicate at this point Lyle just invited Eric to move to Princeton with him as a way to escape their parents
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In the first episode of Monsters, Eric's therapist calls Lyle to his office where
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much to Lyle's chagrin, he confesses his crimes to the doctor. And just as the show suggests
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the real life Eric did initially seek help from Dr. Jerome Ozil because he was overwhelmed with
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guilt. Ozil then recorded their session of December 11, 1989, during which the siblings
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confessed to the crime on tape. According to the brother's confession, their mother, Kitty
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had been depressed due to their father's extramarital affairs, and they hoped to put her
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out of her misery. They also stated their belief that their father deserved to die
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because of the suffering he caused their mother. During the second episode, Lyle chastises Eric for writing a play about killing their parents
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Although, in his defense, they do say write what you know. That's actually true
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Five years before Ross, Rachel Chandler, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe would arrive on TV
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Eric penned a script that was suspiciously similar to the crime he eventually committed
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and named it Friends. The younger Menendez brother described the lead character, Hamilton Cromwell
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as immensely psychotic and extremely anxious to obtain his inheritance, a character worthy of
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Jekyll and Hyde. To secure those funds, Hamilton offs his parents as they lie in their bed
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According to Eric's friend and co-writer, Craig Signorelli, the protagonist wanted to gain an
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inheritance so he could fulfill his dreams of creating a hunting ground for humans. Signorelli
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would later admit an eerie resemblance between the script's opening scene and what happened on
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the night of the murders. Eric asked another friend, photographer Philip Kearney, to review
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the screenplay and share his opinion on the narrative. While Kearney wasn't initially
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interested in reading the script, he revisited it upon learning that the Menendez brothers were
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responsible for their parents' slayings, later recalling, I had looked at enough of the screenplay
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to know that it was basically the same thing that occurred. The later episodes of the series focus
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on the brothers opening up about the alleged abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents
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and claiming that abuse is what ultimately drove them to commit the crime
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In real life, Lyle and Eric did both testify that their father molested them as children
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and claimed the murders were a direct result of the emotional scars they suffered
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in an abusive household. But the show leaves out some considerable evidence
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that seems to support the brothers' allegations. For instance, nude photos of Lyle and Eric as children
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were discovered in an envelope with Kitty's handwriting on it. And Eric had written a letter about the alleged abuse
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to his cousin in December of 1988, eight months before the crime
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More recently, in the 2023 docu-series, Menendez and Menudo Boys Betrayed Former Menudo member Roy Rossello claimed that Jose Menendez drugged and sexually abused him while Menendez was head of RCA records However while Lyle did testify that he had contributed to some of Eric abuse there
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no evidence to suggest the brothers had an incestuous relationship, as the show theorizes
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And both brothers firmly deny it. Eric and Lyle Menendez both alleged that their parents sexually abused them during their initial
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trials. While the defense teams each presented their cases, prosecutors argued that the brothers
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were after financial gains when they killed their parents. Lyle's prosecutor, Pam Bozenich
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claimed that it was impossible for men to be sexually assaulted because they lack the necessary equipment. Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti retried
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the Menendez brothers, as depicted on the show. But in the real-life trial, the judge
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limited the amount of testimony given about sexual abuse allegations. It was only in the penalty phase
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after Lyle and Eric had already been convicted, that testimony about their alleged abuse was allowed
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Before that, the prosecution successfully argued that any testimony about the topic was irrelevant
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They told the jury that the Menendez brothers were lying, simply using the abuse excuse to get away with murder
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Episode 3 of Monsters depicts the brothers struggling to adapt to life behind bars after growing up in luxury
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prompting Lyle to devise an extensive, albeit delusional, escape plan. The plan, which is quickly discovered and confiscated from Eric's cell, includes acquiring a getaway sports car
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changing their names, undergoing plastic surgery, and then fleeing to Canada. In real life, correctional officers found the escape plan in Lyle's cell, not Eric's
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But the rest is true. Lyle really did draw up extensive notes on various ideas about a potential escape
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which were introduced as evidence in their eventual retrial. And the notes did include phrases like change name, change appearance, plastic surgeon
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as well as how transfer money, how communicate overseas. In Monsters, Eric's therapist, Dr. L. Jerome Ozeal
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kept recordings of his conversations with Eric and Lyle, some of which were later used in their initial trials
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after Ozil's mistress told police about them. That's all true, and Ozil ultimately lost his license to practice in 1997
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for violating patient confidentiality. But the show leaves out that Ozil was already on probation
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at the time of the brother's first trial for exchanging therapy for construction work on his house
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Meanwhile, Dr. William Vickery, who was appointed by attorney Leslie Abramson to evaluate and treat Eric
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testified that he believed his patient was truthful. It later came to light that Vickery altered his notes
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to remove potentially damaging information, and he was placed on probation, ultimately
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surrendering his medical license in 2019 after receiving another suspension in an unrelated case
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According to the show, the brothers had previously been accused of burglary
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In an episode six, Jose drives Lyle and Eric around town, forcing them to apologize to the
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victims before writing them checks to cover the costs of the stolen goods. In reality, both brothers were allegedly involved in home burglary incidents with damages amounting
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to around $100,000 prior to the murders. Eric alone was charged with the crimes
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But to keep his youngest son from a more severe penalty, Jose returned most of the stolen goods
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and wrote a check for $11,000 to cover any missing items. Lyle was never arrested in connection with the burglaries
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But he was eventually tied to one committed at the New Jersey office of the Sierra Club
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and the Princeton Friends of Open Spaces, properties Jose Menendez owned prior to moving to California
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O.J. Simpson never actually appears on screen in the series, but Eric is depicted giving him advice
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through their adjacent prison cells. As contrived as it seems that they would be jail neighbors
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it actually happened. After being arrested in connection with the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman
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Simpson was, in fact, placed in a cell next to Eric's. Eric advised Simpson to avoid talking to prison guards
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and other cellmates regarding the case. Lyle also frequently interacted with Simpson
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encouraging him to plead guilty and share the truth surrounding the murders with jurors
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While the show mostly got this right, they did change a few minor details
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For example, the relevant episode depicts Eric warning Simpson about using Robert Shapiro as a defense attorney
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In reality, it was actually Lyle who penned a letter sharing his concern over the decision
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OJ was probably glad he didn't take that particular piece of advice. In the series, Lyle and Eric are initially tried together
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with the jurors unable to reach a decision. In reality, they were both tried separately, albeit concurrently
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But both of their trials ended with a hung jury. Two years later, however, they were retried together
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as depicted in the show. And in the final episode of Monsters, one juror is so convinced the brothers deserve the death penalty
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she has a heart attack pleading her case to her fellow jurors. jurors
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She's then replaced by another juror with more compassion for the brothers, who convinces
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the other 11 to give them life in prison instead. That's all true, for the most part
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Juror Bruce Seats did really replace another juror who had a heart attack during the deliberations
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In reality, however, this happened during the verdict stage of the trial, rather than
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during the sentencing phase, as depicted on the show. And while the show ends with Lyle and Eric being driven away to separate prisons, never
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to see each other again. In reality, the brothers were transferred to the same facility in 2018, where they are able to eat meals
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and spend rec time together. No further escape plans have been discovered