(CNN Spanish) – On August 20, 1989, brothers Lyle and Erik Menéndez killed their parents inside their mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The Netflix series “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez,” which premiered on the platform on September 19, is a nine-episode drama based on that crime. CNN learned that the Menéndez brothers are aware of the series.
Although during the trial Lyle and Erik Menéndez alleged years of abuse by their father and indifference from their mother regarding them, the prosecution did not believe their testimonies and argued that they wanted to keep their parents’ assets. Both were convicted to life imprisonment in 1996.
Following the production based on the crime story, Cliff Gardner, one of Lyle and Erik Menéndez’s lawyers, told CNN that the brothers are aware of the series, responding to an email this Tuesday.
Gardner said that, according to his information, they had no involvement in the production.
As for whether they have any say in how the show refers to them, particularly in the title, Gardner responded, “I’m pretty sure they do, although I haven’t been in contact with them since the show aired.”
José Menéndez, a 45-year-old music executive for RCA Records, and his wife Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez, 47, were killed in the brutal shooting inside their own home.
It was Lyle, the older brother, who called 911 and said, in the midst of crying: “Someone killed my parents.” The recording of the call, which was broadcast in the media and is part of the series, begins like this:
“Emergencies: —Beverly Hills, emergencies.
Lyle Menéndez: —Yes.
Emergencies: —What’s happening?
Lyle Menéndez: —We are children of…
Emergencies: —What’s happening?
Lyle Menéndez: —Someone killed my parents.
Emergencies: —What? Who? Are they still there?
Lyle Menendez: —Yes
Emergencies: —Did they shoot them?
Lyle Menéndez: —Yes (…)”
Although at first the Menéndez brothers denied having killed their parents, they later admitted to having done so, although they denied that the motive was for money. And in the first trial, which was televised, they gave details of their father’s alleged sexual abuse.
In 1995, their lawyer Leslie Abramson said that it was not a murder because there was no malicious intent in the act: she spoke of years of psychological and sexual abuse, and said that the brothers killed out of fear. “If it is fear and not bad intention, it is not murder,” he said, as reported by CNN.
The argument that they should not be convicted of premeditated murder was based on the fact that they had acted in self-defense after enduring a lifetime of abuse from their father, and their mother doing nothing about it.
The prosecution, on the other hand, did not believe their testimonies and stated that the brothers had acted out of greed and wanted to take advantage of their parents’ assets, estimated at 13 million dollars.
The first trial was open to television and was carried out in 1993 before two juries, since each brother had an independent jury. And it was declared a mistrial after both juries failed to reach a verdict in 1994.
The second trial was in 1996, and the jury made its decision after deliberating for three days. They were found guilty of premeditated murder.
Lyle Menendez, 56, and Erik Menendez, 51, are currently serving life sentences in the same California prison without the possibility of parole.
In May 2023, the Menendez brothers’ attorneys asserted that there was new evidence to show that the convictions and life sentences should be overturned, according to court documents they filed.
Defenders argued that two pieces of evidence countered prosecutors’ narrative and filed a habeas corpus petition in Los Angeles Superior Court, where they stated that a letter sent by Erik to his cousin eight months before the homicides gave details of his father’s abuse.
The Los Angeles County prosecutor’s office, which prosecuted the two trials, told CNN in a statement at the time: “We have received the habeas petition in the Menendez matter and it is currently under review.”
Erik Menéndez’s letter to his cousin Andy Cano, dated December 1988, says: “It keeps happening, Andy, but now it’s worse for me.”
The letter was discovered by José Menéndez’s younger sister and Andy’s mother, Marta Cano, who shared it with journalist Robert Rand in April 2018, CNN reported.
That same month, he shared the letter with Erik Menendez’s former appellate attorney, Cliff Gardner, the court document states.
In the letter, Erik writes: “I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay awake thinking he might come. I need to get it out of my head. I know what you said before, but I’m scared. You don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy. He’s warned me hundreds of times not to tell anyone, especially Lyle. Am I a complainer? I don’t know if I’m going to get over this. I can handle it, Andy. I have to stop thinking about it.”
A review of court records shows that the letter was not presented in either trial, the document says.
On the other hand, the other evidence that the defenders took into account for the request is the testimony of Roy Roselló, former member of the youth musical group Menudo, linked to the RCA record company, where Menéndez was an executive.
Rosselló claimed that José Menéndez sexually abused him when he was a teenager. The alleged attack was revealed in the documentary called “Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that premiered in May 2023 on the Peacock platform.
“In short, the new evidence not only demonstrates that José Menéndez was a violent and brutal man who sexually abused children, but suggests that he was, in fact, still abusing Erik Menéndez in December 1988. As the defense had argued all the time,” says the court document that the Menéndez brothers’ lawyers presented last year.
For this reason, the lawyers asked the court to annul the conviction and sentence against both, or to allow the presentation of evidence and an evidentiary hearing when they can provide it, as indicated in the brief.
There is still no news on that order. “The court has ordered the State to respond in writing to the petition. The State has not yet responded; His response should be received by the end of November,” Gardner told CNN about the progress of the habeas corpus petition.
With information from CNN, Taylor Romine, Abel Alvarado, Rafy Rivera.
