It was the trial that shocked America, now 30 years later the real-life story of two brothers who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion is hitting the headlines again.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of shooting their father and mother Jose and Kitty Menendez multiple times at close range on 20 August 1989. They were 21 and 18 at the time.
Image: (L to R) Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez, Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez. Pic: Netflix
The same platform will be putting out a documentary next month.
So, what was the Menendez brothers’ crime, and why are people so fascinated by it?
The crime, trial and punishment
On 20 August 1989 Lyle and Erik Menendez shot their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, multiple times at close range in the family mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
While the brothers initially told police they found them dead when they got home, they were eventually tried for their murder.
An initial attempt to try each brother individually in front of separate juries ended in a mistrial after both juries failed to reach a verdict.
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A second trial saw the brothers tried together.
Image: Erik Menendez (L) left and his brother Lyle (R) in front of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989. Pic: Getty
The defence claimed the brothers committed the murders in self-defence after many years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, with no protection from their mother.
They said they had feared for their lives after they threatened to expose their father.
The prosecution argued the murders were motivated by greed, and they killed their parents to avoid disinheritance.
Evidence of alleged abuse from their defence case was largely excluded from the joint trial by the judge.
In 1996, seven years after the killings, a jury found the brothers guilty, and they were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Erik and Lyle Menendez, now aged 53 and 56 respectively, are currently in prison in San Diego, California.
To this day, both brothers say their actions stemmed from abuse at the hands of their parents which they say they had suffered over many years.
The Netflix drama
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story stars Oscar-winner Javier Bardem as Jose, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty, and Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as the Menendez brothers.
Image: Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story. Pic: Netflix
It attempts to explore the crime from different perspectives – both from the brothers’ and parents’ point of view.
Many viewers have commented on the graphic and violent nature of the show, which is both gory and gruesome.
Viewers have also been critical of implications the brothers had an intimate relationship.
Bardem, who plays the father Jose Menendez, said he was able to separate art from his personal life when working on the show.
“I’m a true believer in the fiction, in the imagination, in the joy of playing something without being taken by it,” he said.
Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, said he used recordings from the real-life trial to inform his performance.
“I just read everything that I could. I watched the entire trial. I slept with that trial on. So, like, I went to sleep listening to Erik [Menendez] and Leslie [Hope Abramson – the lawyer who defended the brothers] on the stand.”
What does Erik Menendez say?
The day after the show came out on Netflix, one of the real-life brothers, Erik Menendez, criticised the show, calling it “dishonest” and “inaccurate”, and hitting out at what he called “blatant lies” that made up the characterisation of his older brother Lyle.
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In a statement shared by Erik’s wife Tammi on X, he said: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose.”
He went on to accuse the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, of “bad intent”, and said the show put back the cause of male sexual assault victims by many years.
He also asked: “Is the truth not enough?” and thanked people for their support.
How has Ryan Murphy responded?
Murphy, who made the first series of Monser about US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, responded to the comments, saying Erik had not actually seen the show, and that it was his obligation as the show’s creator to portray both sides of the story.
Image: (L-R) Javier Bardem with Ryan Murphy at the Monsters premiere in LA. Pic: AP
Murphy told Entertainment Tonight: “It’s really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen…
“There were four people involved, two people are dead, what about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”
Murphy was also the showrunner behind Glee, Pose, The Watcher, Feud, American Horror Story, Hollywood and Ratched.
It’s not the first dramatization of the crime, which has previously been made into three TV movies and inspired an episode of US police procedural Law And Order.
The Netflix documentary
Hot on the heels of the Netflix drama, the streamer has a factual film on the way – but this one seems to have the approval of the Menendez brothers.
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Directed by Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Hartmann, the documentary The Menendez Brothers will stream on Netflix from 7 October.
The project promises to “offer new insight and a fresh perspective on a case that people only think they know”.
It will feature extensive audio interviews with Lyle and Erik Menendez, lawyers involved in the trial, journalists who covered it, jurors, family, and other informed observers.
A new development
In 2023 a documentary which aired on Peacock titled Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed featured claims from former Puerto Rican boyband member Roy Rossello, who claimed the brothers’ father sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager.
Jose was a former executive at RCA Records.
Image: Joseph Lyle Menéndez and Erik Galen Menéndez. Pics: Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility
Shortly after that documentary premiered, attorneys for Lyle and Erik Menendez filed a petition asking for a new trial, in light of the new evidence.
The LA county’s district attorney’s office told Sky News’ US partner NBC News they are investigating the claims and will have a response by 26 September.
The brothers’ defence team also say they’ve uncovered a letter that Erik Menendez had written to his cousin that was dated months before the murders, where he talked about what he said was abuse from his father and being afraid of him.
The defence team say this should warrant a new trial because it’s information they didn’t have when the case was first presented to a jury.
Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.
The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed theUS rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.
“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.
“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.
“An underdog that bites back, just like me.
“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”
Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.
Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.
The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”
Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Image: Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
Image: The fire gutted the main stage
Image: Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Image: Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
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The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Image: Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.