Erik and Lyle reveal great feelings of guilt

Thirty-five years after their crimes, Erik and Lyle Menendez, the infamous brother and sister who shockingly killed their parents in the family's sprawling Beverly Hills mansion, are once again captivating the public.

Prosecutors alleged in the 1993 televised trial that Lyle, who was 21 at the time of the murders, and Erik, then 18, were responsible to José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez for the couple's $14 million fortune -Dollars would have shot. But Erik and Lyle claim they feared for their lives and were physically, sexually and emotionally abused by their father. Lyle said his father's abuse stopped when he was 8, but Erik testified that his father's abuse began when he was 6 and continued until the time of the murders. Part of the brothers' motivation for killing their parents was to free Erik from the abuse that Kitty supposedly knew about and did nothing to stop.

Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a scripted drama from producer Ryan Murphy, put the siblings (and Lyle's hairpiece) in the spotlight and landed on Netflix's top 10 list. Erik condemned the nine-part series for its “terrible narrative with vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slander.” (Murphy responded to the criticism by suggesting to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Menendez brothers should send me flowers.” They haven't received this much attention in 30 years.

He's not wrong about his renewed interest. On Thursday, reality star and aspiring lawyer Kim Kardashian called for the brothers' life sentences to be “reconsidered” in an essay published by NBC News. That same day, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón held a news conference and said the office was reviewing new evidence.

The brothers' lawyers have filed a request for authorities to consider new evidence and consider resentencing based on their level of rehabilitation and general behavior in prison, Gascón said. A hearing on the new evidence is scheduled for November 29th.

The documentary “The Menendez Brothers,” now streaming on Netflix, features Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, speaking via recorded phone conversations from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. (Additional interviews, conducted by director Alejandro Hartmann, can be seen in a three-part Menendez series appearing on Netflix's You Can't Make This Up podcast on October 9.)

Hartmann says he's focused on the Menendez brothers' first trial, which resulted in two deadlocked jurors, because it felt “unresolved” and “inspired this amazing TikTok movement” in which a new generation began to acknowledge the tragedy analyze. “We thought the trial would connect us to the new perspective of the case,” he says.

Did Lyle Menendez wear a hairpiece? Why it appeared in the key scene of Netflix's new “Monsters” series

Hartmann interviews family members and Pamela Bozanich, the prosecutor in the first trial. Hazel Thornton, a juror, tells the filmmaker that during deliberations, “all the men raised their hands to support first-degree murder and none of the women raised their hands.”

“I think the men had a really hard time accepting the fact that a young man could potentially be abused by his father,” she adds, “and the women were more empathetic in understanding abuse issues.”

“It’s been 34 years of incarceration,” Lyle says in the documentary. “And for the first time, I feel like it’s a conversation that people can now understand and believe.”

Here are the revelations from “The Menendez Brothers”:

Erik is amazed that the police didn't suspect the brothers: “There was gunpowder residue everywhere on our hands”

In the documentary, Erik is shocked that the police initially did not consider the brothers as suspects. Erik points out that he told investigators he saw smoke in the cave where his parents were shot, “which would have been impossible if I hadn't done it.”

Plus, “there was gunpowder residue all over our hands,” he says. “There were bullet casings in my car. And if they had just harassed me, I wouldn't have been able to withstand any questioning. I was in a completely broken and shattered state of mind.”

The spending spree “was intended to cover up this terrible pain”

Murphy's “Monsters” explores the brothers' excessive spending after the death of their parents, as Lyle (played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez) announces to Erik (Cooper Koch) that “we're living our best lives.”

In real life, the brothers actually went on a shopping spree and bought a Porsche, a Rolex, and even a restaurant. But Erik says that “the idea that I had a good time is absurd.”

The purchase “was intended to cover up this terrible pain of not wanting to be alive,” he says. “One of the things that stopped me from killing myself was that at that point I felt like I was a complete failure to my father.”

Lyle says he “actually sobbed a lot at night, didn't sleep well, was very disturbed at times, and was kind of at a loss for all these months.”

Prosecutor: José's death was a “plus for humanity”

“I couldn't find anyone who had anything nice to say about José Menedez except his secretary,” says Bozanich, “and everyone else just told these horrible stories about him and what a monster he was.” Jose Menendez's loss was mine In my opinion, a real benefit for humanity.”

Erik testified that Jose threatened him with a large knife when he tried to reject his father's sexual advances. He put the blade to his neck and added: “I should kill you, and next time I will.” On the witness stand, Erik claimed his father had threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the abuse.

In the documentary, Lyle says that he believes that “part of this disastrous weekend was because I was simply naive that I could somehow save Erik without consequences. I was able to confront my father about the fact that my mother would somehow react like that for the first time in her life.” a mother. These were very unrealistic expectations.

José Menendez's abuse allegedly extended to more than just his sons. Roy Rosselló, a member of the 1980s Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, said in Peacock's 2023 documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that José Menendez drugged and raped him as a teenager.

“Monsters” star Nicholas Alexander Chavez responds after Erik Menendez criticizes Netflix series

Erik and Lyle Menendez are awaiting the district attorney's decision

The brothers reunited in Donovan in 2018 after being incarcerated separately for more than 20 years. But their reunion doesn't erase Erik's guilt over telling Lyle about his father's alleged abuse and confessing the crimes to his therapist Jerome Oziel.

“I involved him in every aspect of this tragedy,” Erik says. “Every aspect of this tragedy is my fault.”

Lyle struggles with whether he really saved his brother; Erik ended up in prison. “There comes a point where you just realize, 'Okay, that's impossible… I couldn't save us all.'”

Although they were sentenced to life in prison without parole, Erik and Lyle filed a habeas corpus petition in May 2023 to overturn their convictions, citing new evidence.

Among the new evidence Gascón and his office will examine is a photocopied letter that one of the brothers allegedly sent to another family member in which he claimed he was the victim of harassment.

According to Gascón, prosecutors were also presented with evidence from one of the brothers' lawyers alleging that he was abused by his father. Gascón added that none of the allegations made by the defense have been confirmed.

Contributor: Jonathan Limehouse

Erik is amazed that the police didn't suspect the brothers: “There was gunpowder residue everywhere on our hands”

The spending spree “was intended to cover up this terrible pain”

Prosecutor: José's death was a “plus for humanity”

Erik and Lyle Menendez are awaiting the district attorney's decision

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