He success of ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ led to the platform renew the series to make it an anthology that will review “other monstrous figures that have impacted society”. A few days ago, Netlix announced the story that will star in the new installment that will arrive in 2024. This is the case of the brothers Lyle and Erik Menéndez and the shooting death of their parents.
With this case, the series dates back to 1989 and, specifically, to August 20, when José and María ‘Kitty’ Menéndez were fatally shot at his home in Beverly Hills, California. The video with which the platform has announced the new season shows the desperate call of the children after, supposedly, having found their parents dead. The family wore a carefree life thanks to parents’ work in the entertainment industry with which they had made a good financial fortune. An idyllic life that would end up being a sentence since the economic motive was what motivated the sons Lyle and Erik Menéndez to end their parents.
The environment of the victims usually focuses the investigations of crimes and more in this case that there were no signs that the entrance to the house had been forced. Neighbors mistook fireworks for what were actually shots, the one who killed José point blank from behind the head and those that Kitty received in the arm, chest and face. Also, the two had knee shots in an attempt to copy a mafia signature. All the bullets came from 12-gauge Mossberg shotguns. Despite the fact that the house had the highest levels of security, the father almost never turned them on. The mother had come to mention to his psychiatrist who locked his bedroom door at night and kept a rifle in the closet because he was afraid that his children were sociopaths.
The murder became a media case that caught the attention of the press for the morbid appeal of the tragedy of a wealthy family. The youngsters Lyle and Erik, who at the time of the murder were 21 and 19 years old, respectively, were the main suspects from the outset and the investigation focused on gathering enough evidence to charge them.
They spent a million in six months
The Menéndez brothers made it quite easy since since the disappearance of their parents they began to squander their fortune, spending a million dollars in the six months following the event. A restaurant, a Rolex or a Porsche 911 were some of the first acquisitions. They moved to two luxury apartments in Marina del Rey and traveled with their recently murdered mother’s car without sparing any expense: the best restaurants, stays in the Caribbean or London, and even participation in professional tennis tournaments in Israel. , including the payment of personal trainers. They also bought a very expensive ticket to see the Knicks and, curiously, In 2019, a 1990 sticker in which the brothers appeared in the stands was revalued.
Even so, the definitive step for the accusation was the Statement from the psychologist who had treated Erik and to whom he had confessed to the murders, the doctor broke doctor-patient confidentiality after the older brother Lyle threatened him. At the time of the trial, which was held in 1993, the brothers pleaded guilty and They justified the crime by the abuses to which they assured that their father subjected them. The trial was televised, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict so it was declared a mistrial. In the repetition of the lawsuit, the judge did not allow the entry of cameras and the two brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment. Even though they might never get out of jail, the two brothers have rebuilt their lives inside and have married, even on two occasions each, with women with whom they were related by letter. Even so, in their case they cannot receive conjugal visits.
The case could turn around
Almost 30 years after the code, the case could turn around as a result of new evidence that would come to confirm the version of parental abuse alleged by the Menéndez brothers and that at the time was dismissed. One of those tests would be related to the children’s group ‘Menudo’to which Ricky Martin came to belong, and it is that one of the members of the band Roy Roselló, has revealed that José Menéndez abused him in Peacock’s (NBCUniversal) documentary series ‘Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.’
After the previous appeals of the convicted have not prospered, this time the brothers would be closer to getting a favorable review of their case. In addition to the accusations by third parties of his father for abuse, The children’s version could be confirmed by a letter that Erik Menéndez would have sent to his cousin Andy Cano in 1988. In it, it says as published by CNN write things like this: “Every night I lie awake thinking he may come. I need to get it out of my mind. I know what you said earlier, but I’m scared. You don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy.”
With this new evidence, the lawyers have asked the court to annul the conviction and sentence against the two Menéndez brothers. We will have to wait for the premiere of the Netflix series to know the approach and to find out if its episodes will include the latest news regarding the case.
