30 years after their murder trials became a true-crime sensation, a new Netflix documentary will feature the Menendez brothers telling their story in their own words. The documentary, titled The Menendez Brothers and premiering on October 7, will include interviews from both Erik and Lyle Menendez as well as others involved in the brothers' trials, which ended with the pair sentenced to life in prison for the murders of their mother and father, José and Kitty Menendez.
Erik and Lyle Menendez, both currently incarcerated at Donovan Correctional Facility in California, were interviewed via phone about the well-publicized trial, with clips from their recorded calls included in the documentary's trailer that debuted on September 23, 2024. "Everyone asks why we killed our parents,” says Lyle, in the film's trailer. “Maybe now people can understand the truth.”
Eric adds, "What happened that night is very well known but so much hasn’t been told."
The film's description reads, "In 1996, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted for the murders of their parents in what became one of the most famous criminal cases of the late 20th century. For the first time in 30 years, and in their own words, both brothers revisit the trial that shocked the nation. Through extensive audio interviews with Lyle and Erik, lawyers involved in the trial, journalists who covered it, jurors, family, and other informed observers, acclaimed Argentinian director Alejandro Hartmann (Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta?, The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar) offers new insight and a fresh perspective on a case that people only think they know."
Ahead of the documentary's release, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón announced Oct. 3 that his office is reviewing the Menendez case, per New York Times. According to the outlet, the brothers' claims of sexual abuse are "among the aspects his office was reviewing." The D.A. also remarked that his office was "divided" over whether Lyle and Erik Menendez should spend the rest of their lives in prison.
“We have a moral and ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us,” Gascón said.
The new documentary will debut just weeks after Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story premiered on September 19 to rapid popularity and instant controversy. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the limited series dramatizes the events before, during, and after the murders. The new show is the latest entertainment project delving into the trial, one of the most well-known cases of the true-crime genre. It has also revived the case in the public eye, with D.A. Gascón acknowledging that his office received many calls about the case following its release.
On the day of Monsters' release, Erik Menendez released a statement lambasting Netflix and Murphy, which claimed that the series is a "dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding [the brothers'] crime."
"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," Erik wrote in the statement. "I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent."
