The Menendez Brothers' Netflix series inspires outcry

At the top of the stairs near the entrance to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse where Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted of killing their parents with a shotgun blast nearly three decades ago, a woman trumpeted a sign that read: “35 years in prison. “Let her out!”

Dianne Martin first learned about the case from Ryan Murphy's polarizing nine-part series, which details and dramatizes the 1989 murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez. That piqued her interest and led her to watch a Netflix documentary about the brothers released earlier this month. She said she prefers the documentary, although she credits the series for shining a spotlight on the case.

Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez “blurs the line,” she explained. “You don’t know what’s true or not. I watched the documentary and then I realized they had such a difficult home life.”

Martin was referring to newly uncovered evidence that supports the brothers' claims that they were sexually abused as children by their father Jose, an executive at Hollywood video distribution company Live Entertainment Inc. And on Wednesday, the extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez held a press conference asking Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón for help in overturning their convictions or angering them.

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the brothers, pointed to Murphy's series for rallying public support behind the brothers even as it portrayed the intent behind the killings.

“When the Ryan Murphy series came out, it was such a caricature that the pendulum swing – the backlash – created a focus on it,” he said.

After the release of the Netflix dramatization of the murders of José and Kitty Menendez in 1989, the Menendez family cried over the portrayal. Nevertheless, millions of subscribers watched the nine-part series. Kim Kardashian even visited the California prison where the brothers are currently serving their sentences. A two-hour documentary featuring interviews with the duo premiered earlier this month. The convictions and sentences have become a flashpoint for an increasingly bygone culture and a criminal justice system that silences allegations of sexual abuse.

Recent content about the Menendez brothers, however problematic, “has helped bring more attention to the case,” said Lupe Delos Santos, who attended the news conference. “It has changed a lot. There are a lot of people supporting her now.”

The timing of the family's announcement was no coincidence. In October, Gascón said his office was reviewing the convictions. The re-examination refers to new evidence in the case that the judge who pronounced the sentence did not take into account the duration of the brothers' detention and could shorten it. In a social media post, Gascón shared an image of a handwritten letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin Andy Cano that supported his claims of sexual abuse.

“I tried to avoid dad,” Erik Menendez wrote. “It still happens, Andy, but now it's worse for me. I never know when it will happen and it drives me crazy. Every night I stay awake thinking he might come in.”

Last year, the Menendez brothers' lawyers cited the letter in a petition to review their sentence. They said it was written in 1988, eight months before the parents were murdered.

After a media frenzy of a trial that ended in jury deadlock, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 1996. So-called “special circumstances” for ambushing their victims served as the basis for a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to sentence each brother to two consecutive life sentences but rejecting the death penalty.

There was little evidence of sexual abuse at the retrial. At their first trial, the brothers admitted killing their parents but said they did so in self-defense. They said they feared the couple would kill them to prevent them from revealing their father's harassment.

“Instead of being seen as victims, they were vilified – their father's sexual abuse was ignored,” said Brian Andersen, the brothers' cousin.

Anamaria Baralt, Jose Menendez's niece, urged prosecutors to “consider the bigger picture.”

Geragos also cited a statement from Roy Rossello, a member of the boy band Menudo, who also accused Jose Menendez of sexual abuse as a minor. If the evidence were presented at her trial, he cited the possibility that the jury would convict of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder.

The alleged failings of the judge who oversaw the Menendez brothers' trial have exploded on TikTok. “Jessica Palmadessa, a content creator, attended the press conference,” emphasizing the impact of Netflix content and pointing out inconsistencies in Murphy’s show. “Nobody talked about it before,” she said. “Without the documentation, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Delos Santoz was less forgiving. “They didn’t talk about the harassment,” he said. “They portrayed them as criminals.”