“Incestuous Fantasy”: Netflix hit crime drama reignites debate over Menendez murders | Netflix

It was a crime that shocked and fascinated a nation.

On the night of August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez, then 21 and 18 years old, burst into their Beverly Hills mansion, shooting their father, Jose, five times at close range in the back of the head and their mother, Kitty, nine times, also in the face , as she tried to crawl away. Then, in a frantic emergency call to 911, they claimed that someone had killed their parents.

The brothers eventually confessed, but always claimed they had acted in self-defense. In two harrowing trials, they said they feared their parents would kill them to prevent their father's long-standing sexual abuse from coming to light. Ultimately, the prosecution's argument that they killed to inherit a multimillion-dollar estate won, and they continue to serve life sentences without parole.

But over the past week, the story of the Menendez murders and the events in the months and years leading up to the attack have come back into the spotlight.

More than three decades after the family became a tabloid sensation, the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” has reignited the debate over the brothers' guilt. The series jumped to the top of the Netflix charts and spawned a growing number of Menendez defenders, many of whom were not yet born when the crimes were committed.

True-crime impresario Ryan Murphy's nine-part series is a sequel to his first Monsters series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and has sparked a public dispute between the brothers and the show's creator.

The biggest points of contention are attempts to tell the Menendez story from multiple perspectives, including that of the parents, and the creative liberties allowed in the script, such as an implied incestuous relationship between Lyle and Erik.

In a post on

The show, starring Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, was viewed 12.3 million times last week and is among Netflix's top 10 most-watched TV shows in 89 countries.

Google searches for “Lyle and Erik Menendez” increased by 2,000% in a week, and in the past month there have been more than 2 million searches for Erik and Lyle Menendez each.

On TikTok, thousands of posts defended the brothers, 80% of which came from people aged 18 to 24. Clips from the trial have been viewed up to 15 million times and many have condemned the “gender bias” of the justice system. More than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for the brothers' release.

In a statement shared by Erik Menendez's wife, Tammi, on

Erik Menendez also accused Murphy of “bad intent.” “Netflix's dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime took the painful truths several steps backwards – back to a time when prosecutors built a narrative on the belief that men were not sexually abused and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women. “,” he said.

Murphy quickly hit back, saying: “It's interesting that he made a statement without having seen the show.” The director admitted that it was “really hard” to see one's life on screen, said but, it was his duty to present both sides of the story.

Murphy said: “I would say 60-65% of our show is about the abuse and what supposedly happened to them. In this age when people can talk about sexual abuse, it can be controversial to speak and write about all viewpoints. Four people were involved. Two people are dead; What about the parents?”

But that wasn't the end of it. On Thursday, Tammi released another statement from the extended Menendez family, saying she was the victim of Murphy's “grotesque shockadrama.” They criticized the “phobic, crude, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare” that “ignores recent exculpatory revelations.”

These include claims by a member of the boy band Menudo that Jose raped him as a teenager, and a letter Erik wrote months before the murders about abuse and fear of his father. Lawyers are now using the new evidence to challenge the brothers' detention.

Murphy said his show “opened the possibility” that this evidence could provide “a path forward for the brothers” and was “the best thing that has happened to them in 30 years” because it gave them “another trial in court “would have brought public opinion”.

Even the famous Kim Kardashian, an advocate for criminal justice reform, visited the brothers in prison along with Cooper Koch, who plays Erik. Afterwards, Koch said he “stands with” the brothers and “supports” them in their call for a new trial.

Robert Rand, an investigative journalist and author of “The Menendez Murders,” told the Sun: “I personally feel, based on the evidence I saw in court, that Erik and Lyle Menendez were murdered the night they killed their parents, feared for their lives.” .”

There is little sign that the Menendez talk will be over any time soon. Netflix has announced a documentary that promises to tell the brothers' story “in their own words.”

In the trailer, Erik says: “Everyone asks why we killed our parents. Maybe now people can understand the truth.”