The case is part of a new Netflix series
The subjects of Netflix’s ‘Monster’ series gave a harrowing reason for killing their parents in secretly recorded therapy session.
Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez have been behind bars for nearly three decades after shooting José, 45, and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menendez, 47 at their home in Beverly Hills on August 20, 1989.
The case is now back in the spotlight after it was revealed as the subject of the second series of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s ‘Monster’ which is available to stream today, 19 September.
Lyle, now 56 and Erik, 53, walked into the California property with shotguns. They fired six shots at their father, a wealthy entertainment executive before delivering a fatal shot to the back of the head.
Their mother, Kitty, was shot at ten times. The pair then called 911 saying: “Somebody killed my parents!”
The brothers initially said they had been to watch Batman at the cinema and returned home to find their parents dead. They dumped the guns and bought cinema tickets to corroborate their story.
The pair roused suspicion when they spent $700,000 on luxury cars, clothes and watches all while supposedly grieving their parents.
Lyle bought a buffalo wing restaurant in Princeton which piqued the interest of investigators. They got one of Erik’s friends to quiz him about the murders while wearing a wire, but he stuck to his story.
During a therapy session with Dr Jerome Oziel, the then 18-year-old confessed to killing his mum and dad.
The Menendez brothers told the therapist that they had killed their mother to put her ‘out of her misery’ while their father deserved to die because his ‘infidelity caused her despair’.
He had also confessed to Judalon Smyth who he had been in a relationship with but upon their split, Smyth told the police.
During the trial, the siblings claimed their father had molested them throughout their childhoods, with each of them sharing graphic descriptions of the horrors they claimed had taken place.
Testimony from two of their cousins which supported their claims failed to convince the jury as prosecutors focused on the fact that they made no mention of these allegations to the therapist.
Despite being the one who reported the brothers, Smyth also spoke up for the defence. She claimed the therapist ‘brainwashed’ her into saying she overheard the confession.
They were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 with no possibility of parole.
