Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix: The story behind the murders in Beverly Hills
A dramatized series in nine episodes about brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents in 1989
What is the series about?
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix, 2025) is the second season in Ryan Murphy's anthology series about notorious American criminals. The series focuses on the events that led to the two brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez shooting and killing their wealthy parents, José and Kitty Menendez, with shotguns in the family's mansion in Beverly Hills on August 20, 1989. Over nine episodes, viewers follow the brothers' lives before the murders, their decadent spending after the crime, and the media circus-like trial that followed in the 1990s. The series is a dramatized retelling and plays on the many different perspectives that characterized the case, including the defense's claims of years of sexual and psychological abuse and the prosecution's assertion of greed as the primary motive.
The real case
The real case of the Menendez brothers is one of the most talked-about in American criminal history. On August 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez called 911, crying that someone had shot his parents. Initially, the police believed it was a mafia-related hit due to José Menendez's position in the music industry. However, suspicion quickly fell on the brothers when they began spending enormous sums of their parents' fortune on luxury cars, watches, and properties shortly after the funeral. The pivotal turn in the case came when Erik Menendez confessed to the murders to his therapist, whose mistress subsequently went to the police. During the trial, which was broadcast live on Court TV, the brothers claimed they acted in self-defense after years of fear from their father's sexual abuse. However, the prosecution convinced the jurors that the murders were premeditated to secure the brothers' inheritance. In 1996, both brothers were sentenced to life in prison.
Timeline of the case
The case spans several decades, from the fatal shots in 1989 to recent attempts to reopen the case in light of new evidence. After the first trial in 1993, which ended in a hung jury (mistrial), the brothers were brought before a new judge in 1995. Here, much of the defense's evidence regarding abuse was limited, leading to their final conviction in March 1996. Since then, the brothers have been incarcerated in California, and their case has experienced renewed interest through social media and documentaries, prompting the Los Angeles District Attorney to begin reevaluating their case in 2024.