Where Are Lyle And Erik, The Menendez Brothers In ‘Monsters’, Now?

The 1989 murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by the hands of their 18- and 21-year-old sons are again within the highlight because of the premiere of Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

The collection, directed by Ryan Murphy, stars Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez, and Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik Menendez, because it recounts the moments main as much as the grisly double homicide in Beverly Hills — and what occurred after.

Jose and Kitty Menendez have been shot and killed of their Los Angeles residence on Aug. 20, 1989, leaving a scene so ugly it was initially investigated as a mob hit, in line with the Los Angeles Instances.

Their two sons, Joseph “Lyle” Menendez, now 56, and Erik Galen Menendez, now 53, have been convicted in 1996 of killing their dad and mom with shotguns after two trials, the primary of which resulted in hung juries.

Within the brothers’ second trial, which was earlier than a single jury and freed from TV cameras, the decide dominated allegations of Jose Menendez abusing his youngsters as inadmissible, although that was the protection’s argument within the first trial.

Erik and Lyle Menendez have been imprisoned for greater than half of their lives since their arrest in 1990. Allegations of sexual abuse from a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo in opposition to their father, included within the 2023 Peacock collection “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” however not included of their trials within the Nineties, might corroborate their claims — and probably reopen their case.

Right here’s what to know concerning the Menendez brothers, the Menendez household’s connections to Menudo and the place the brothers are actually.

What occurred on Aug. 20, 1989? How the Menendez Brothers killed their dad and mom

Jose Menendez spent a lot of the early Nineteen Eighties as chief working officer at RCA Data, the place he helped signal bands like Duran Duran, The Eurythmics and Menudo, in line with the Los Angeles Instances.

He moved his household to California after leaving RCA Data in 1986 to work for Carolco Photos, in line with the Instances, and he bought a 9,000-square-foot residence in Beverly Hills in October 1988.

The Beverly Hills residence would turn into the notorious crime scene the place Jose Menendez and his spouse Mary “Kitty” Menendez have been shot a number of occasions of their front room on Aug. 20, 1989 with two 12-gauge shotguns.

“It was simply completely savage,” Russ Olson, a former Beverly Hills police captain and homicide investigator mentioned of the crime scene on an episode of “Snapped,“ an Oxygen true crime documentary collection. “You’re two human beings who had been ripped aside.”

Jose Menendez, 45, was shot at point-blank vary at the back of the pinnacle, and was struck three extra occasions within the legs and arms. Kitty Menendez, 47, was shot 4 occasions within the head and 5 different occasions throughout her physique.

“The our bodies have been distorted,” Olson mentioned. “That they had no resemblance of what you’ll anticipate a human being to seem like.”

Then 21-year-old Lyle Menendez known as 911 saying he and his then 18-year-old brother Erik Menendez had simply returned residence to search out their dad and mom slain.

“Any person killed my dad and mom,” Lyle Menendez advised the dispatcher, in line with a transcript of the decision. “Erik, get away from them,” he could possibly be heard shouting at his brother on the decision.

When police arrived, neighbors might hear screams and officers discovered Erik Menendez curled in a ball, sobbing on the garden, the Instances reported.

How did the Menendez brothers get caught?

Investigators described the murders as a “gangland-style killing,” the Instances reported citing police stories, and detectives suspected the slayings have been perpetrated by mobsters or Jose Menendez’s enterprise rivals who could have had a grudge.

Nevertheless, the Menendez brothers’ monetary habits following the slayings started to draw the eye of investigators: Lyle Menendez purchased a Porsche, a Rolex and 1000’s of {dollars} price of clothes, whereas Erik Menendez bought a customized Jeep Wrangler.

Shortly after police confiscated recordings of the brothers’ remedy periods which contained incriminating info, and about seven months after the murders, the couple’s oldest son, Lyle Menendez, was arrested on March 8, 1990.

Erik Menendez surrendered to authorities three days later, and each brothers made their first look in court docket on March 12.

Why have been there a number of trials?

The Menendez brothers have been first tried collectively with separate juries in 1993. The case turned a nationwide sensation as a result of tv protection of the courtroom proceedings on Courtroom TV.

Within the first trial, the brothers argued they killed their dad and mom as a result of they feared for his or her security after a lifetime of sexual abuse perpetrated by their father, and condoned by their mom. A member of the family testified about listening to of realizing the abuse as a toddler, ABC Information reported.

Prosecutors argued the brothers had killed their dad and mom for monetary achieve, and the trial ended with two deadlocked juries in January 1994, in line with the New York Instances.

Then Los Angeles County District Lawyer Gil Garcetti mentioned he would retry the case and that he wouldn’t settle for a plea cut price, in line with the Instances.

The brothers’ have been tried earlier than a single jury for his or her second trial, which started in August 1995. Decide Stanley Weisberg, the decide within the second trial, dominated proof and testimony concerning the brothers’ allegations of sexual abuse could be inadmissible within the new trial, citing irrelevance, the Los Angeles Instances reported

Erik and Lyle Menendez have been convicted of first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in March 1996.

Each brothers have been sentenced to 2 consecutive life sentences with out the potential of parole, in line with the Related Press.

What’s Menudo and what are its ties to the Menendez household?

Menudo was a Puerto Rican boy band shaped in 1977 by music producer Edgardo Diaz. The unique lineup featured 5 boys of their early teenagers, and have become a global sensation by the early Nineteen Eighties — Ricky Martin even debuted within the group in 1984.

As soon as boys reached age 15 or 16, they might get replaced by youthful members, former members recalled in “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” (Peacock is of TODAY’s mum or dad firm, NBCUniversal.)

Roy Roselló joined Menudo at age 13 in August 1983, and alleged within the documentary he was sexually abused by Diaz, the group’s founder, for the three years he was within the band.

Diaz didn’t reply to a request for remark for the Peacock documentary or from NBC Information, however he has repeatedly denied the allegations of sexual abuse in opposition to him from former members of the band.

Roselló additionally alleged within the collection he was molested by Jose Menendez when Menendez was the pinnacle of RCA Data. Roselló mentioned Diaz took him to Menendez’s residence, the place Menendez drugged him and raped him.

“That’s the person right here,” Roselló mentioned within the collection, pointing to a photograph of Jose Menendez posing with Menudo after they signed to RCA in 1983. “This man — that’s the pedophile.”

Erik Menendez mentioned in “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” he remembered seeing Roselló along with his father of their residence as a toddler.

“My dad was one of many guys that was selecting and deciding on the brand new members of the group,” he mentioned. “I bear in mind particularly taking one of many children and going off and saying he needed to speak to him alone they usually went off into the home upstairs.”

Robert Rand, a journalist and govt producer on “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” who has been masking the brothers’ case for many years, advised Erik Hernandez the information of Roselló’s allegations in opposition to his father over the cellphone within the docuseries.

“Frankly, to be sincere, I really feel horrible. It’s unhappy to know there was one other sufferer of my father,” Erik Menendez mentioned. “I at all times hoped and believed that in the future the reality about my dad would come out, however I by no means wished for it to come back out like this — the results of trauma one other youngster has suffered. It makes me very unhappy.”

Lyle Hernandez mentioned within the collection the allegations have been “overwhelming” to listen to.

“We’ve heard rumors that one thing may need occurred with Menudo by way of the years,” he mentioned. “It’s a outstanding factor to occur so many many years later.”

“In fact you’ll know that may have made a distinction at trial,” he advised Rand. “Actually that may have made an infinite distinction as a result of the whole trial centered on the idea about these occasions.”

The Los Angeles County District Lawyer’s Workplace didn’t reply to questions from TODAY.com in 2023 in search of the standing of the investigation into Roselló’s police report, which he filed in November 2022.

Will the Menendez brothers ever be launched?

Erik and Lyle Menendez are presently incarcerated on the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, in line with the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the place they aren’t eligible for parole.

Attorneys for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas petition on Could 4, 2023, in line with court docket paperwork obtained by NBC Information, primarily based on new proof uncovered within the “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” documentary that was not included of their trials within the Nineties. The petition additionally included a 1988 letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin complaining of ongoing abuse from his father.

The Los Angeles County District Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned in an announcement to TODAY.com on Sept. 18, 2024 it was investigating the claims made within the petition, and that “the matter is pending the submitting of casual response” by Sept. 26.

A earlier assertion from the district legal professional’s workplace to TODAY.com in Could 2023 confirmed the workplace had obtained the petition and that it was underneath overview.

Alan Jackson, a prison protection legal professional, outlined on TODAY in Could 2023 what what would want to occur for the Menendez brothers to “breathe free air one in all today.”

“First, they must file the petition. The petition must be reviewed by a superior court docket decide. The decide has to grant a brand new trial, and the protection has to win at trial,” Jackson mentioned. “So these procedural and factual hurdles — that’s an enormous mountain to climb.”

“Is that this a glimmer of hope? It’s a glimmer,” Jackson continued.

The place are the Menendez brothers now?

Erik and Lyle Menendez started serving life sentences with out the potential of parole after they have been convicted of murdering their dad and mom in 1996.

Lyle Menendez is now 56 and his youthful brother Erik Menendez is now 53, in line with the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Each are presently married.

The brothers have been held at separate prisons till 2018, after they have been each moved to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, the place they’re presently serving their sentence.

Rand advised ABC Information in 2018 that earlier than their reunion, the brothers hadn’t seen one another since Sept. 10, 1996.

Lyle Menendez was led down a hallway to fulfill his brother in a room within the jail, and as soon as the guard opened the door, each brothers “burst into tears instantly,” Rand mentioned.

“They simply hugged one another for a couple of minutes with out saying any phrases to one another,” Rand mentioned. “Then the jail officers allow them to spend an hour collectively in a room.”

Rand wrote in his e-book, “The Menendez Murders,” that he additionally hung out with each brothers in 2024, when he was invited to see a big mural unveiled on the correctional facility, a part of a beautification effort led partially by Lyle and Erik Menendez.

“Each brothers had large smiles on their faces,” Rand wrote, including they have been all emotional throughout the 20-minute go to.