As if male victims of sexual child abuse could not possibly be ridiculed in the spotlight more, in September 2024, estranged playwright Ryan Murphy began teasing trailers for his new true crime series based upon the infamous Menendez Brothers, called “Monsters.” The brothers, convicted of murdering their parents inside their Beverly Hills home in 1989, have been incarcerated since 1996. Numerous short films, documentaries and spin-offs have since been released, but none are quite as inaccurate and hurtful as Murphy’s series.
The common misconception made by outsiders to the case is that Murphy’s “Monsters” is a documentary; however, this show is the furthest thing from the genuine truth. While the show has inspired many to dive deeper into the case, it constructs a false narrative that the murders were more of a cinematic decision for fame rather than a last-chance effort to save lives. The show has created a false reputation surrounding the brothers, allowing society to view them as nothing more than characters, reposting edits on social media of the actors shirtless and editing real court footage to explicit songs. It is impermissible to laugh and ogle at an actor’s dishonest portrayal of a victim without knowing the real story.
Erik Galen Menendez, 18, and Joseph Lyle Menendez, 21, shot and killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home on the night of Aug. 20, 1989. The brothers arranged the murders to look like an organized “crime hit,” perhaps the mafia, and stuck to that story until they were eventually arrested in March 1990. For years, the media placed titles on Erik and Lyle, such as “rich kid killers,” “blood brothers” and, most notably, “monsters.”
Eventually, the brothers went to trial in 1993, where they confessed they had killed their parents out of fear for their own lives. They revealed they had been sexually and emotionally abused for years, Lyle from ages six to ten and Erik from ages six to a few weeks before the murders. The brothers were hesitant to reveal this information, both because they did not want to tarnish their family’s name any further, and also because, in the 90s, they felt embarrassed and hopeless that anyone would believe two men were sexually abused — especially by their own father.
In the first trial, the prosecution claimed the brothers killed for money — a baseless claim built upon a spending spree committed after the murders, in which the brothers shopped as a form of trauma freedom. The first trial ended in a hung jury, meaning all 12 jury members could not come to a unanimous decision and were hopelessly deadlocked. This resulted in a much more restricted and unfair second trial, as sexual abuse evidence was limited and several family members were not allowed to testify.
This second jury heard a completely different trial, and, therefore, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Both Lyle and Erik continue to assert that they committed the crimes in self-defense over fears their parents would kill them first if they publicly revealed the sexual abuse they both experienced at the hands of their father.
One of the main points of criticism within Murphy’s “Monsters” is the wrongful characterization of Lyle, played by Nicholas Alexander-Chavez, as rude, short-tempered and selfish. For example, in between the first and second trials, Lyle is portrayed as a liar who can “move a jury” because he was “practicing crying” (in reference to the first trial). This so-called dialogue comes from an audio recording with Norma Novelli, a 50-year-old aspiring author who taped Lyle without his consent.
The problem, however, is that this conversation never existed. Lyle simply said he would go onto the stand and let his emotions flow freely, rather than hide them, so the jury could feel the gravity of the situation. He did not say that he wanted to purposefully sway the jury in either direction or that he would lie on the stand to secure a better verdict. Lyle is also written as swearing at his first trial attorney, Jill Lansing — another false portrayal. In previous Novelli audiotapes, Lyle can be heard referring to Lansing as “Jilly,” referencing his comfortability with her and saying that “as long as Jilly is here,” he felt understood. Lyle’s ex-wife and best friend, Rebecca, runs a Facebook account in Lyle’s name in which he communicates back and forth to supporters from inside prison; he cited inaccuracies within other TV portrayals of him, specifically in regards to his rage-filled personality. He repeatedly assures that he is not a violent person and would never be rude without warrant, leading many to believe that Murphy’s portrayal of him is false.
What Murphy failed to include, however, is that each day Lyle went on the witness stand, he carried a different letter in his pocket from one of the many unbelieved abuse survivors who had written to Lyle in prison, as said in the book “The Menendez Murders” by Robert Rand. By shaping both brothers, especially Lyle, as vile, the decades of progress made by the brothers threatens to be undermined.
The backlash from the characterization of Lyle in “Monsters” reached the real Erik, who had spoken to the media through a letter written to his wife, Tammi Menendez.
“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 said in the letter. “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.”
Murphy believes that the Menendez brothers should “owe him money,” as his series is the one that brought their case back into the limelight. While that may be true in some capacity, there is a stark difference between shining light on a victim’s case to highlight the victim’s name and devising a controversial project to highlight your own namesake.
For example, NBC’s “Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders,” which was released in 2017, consulted with Robert Rand, a detective who has followed the case since its origin in 1989, and Dr. Vicary, the psychiatrist who worked with Erik. This series is a much better portrayal of genuine events and the states of mind of the brothers throughout the murders and their respective trials.
Why such a false portrayal of the brothers was put through production is mind-boggling; anyone is welcome to watch trial footage on Court TV and make an opinion for themselves, rather than watch a fabricated Netflix series that is meant to cause controversy.
The extremity and false portrayal of not only the actors, but the sexual abuse, on “Monsters” is one of the reasons why there is still a population of people who do not believe that boys can be sexually abused. The series subtly infers that every boy who is sexually abused must be gay and enjoy the abuse if they let it continue on for that long — an idea that the Menendez brothers have worked tirelessly to discontinue over the last 40 years. The cap of the jokes, however, is one in which Erik and Lyle are portrayed as having had an incestual relationship with each other. How demoralizing to real victims of sexual abuse, both male and female, to have their horrendous and painful past brought to light in the most derogatory way of all.
The co-stars of the series, Nicholas Alexander-Chavez, the actor who angrily portrayed Lyle, and Cooper Koch, who played Erik, did several press runs and have received mixed opinions from social media. Chavez has been ridiculed by the media for his neutral stance on the release of the brothers, something that is unacceptable when knowingly taking on the role of an abuse victim. Yet, Cooper Koch’s portrayal of Erik and his outright support for the brothers has shined a light on the monstrosity that the series has brought upon both Lyle and Erik.
Erik and Lyle, now 54 and 57, have been in prison for 35 years and are currently awaiting a resentencing hearing that has been pushed back numerous times, now with a date of March 20, 2025, in allowance for the new Los Angeles County district attorney, Nathan Hochman, to review the case. The resentencing will focus on the brothers’ rehabilitation in prison.
Erik has worked with terminally ill inmates, led classes pertaining to meditation and religion and has even learned sign language to communicate with hard-of-hearing prisoners. Both brothers have offered support to victims of sexual abuse, something that Lyle hopes to continue for the rest of his life. They have spearheaded a beautification project focused on humanizing prisoners and modernizing the atmosphere of prison itself; Erik and several inmates painted the longest mural in prison history on the once gray concrete walls, while Lyle has been elected as the representative of other inmates with the prison administration. None of these successes are portrayed in “Monsters” — only the so-called evil intent of these “psychopaths.”
Murphy’s “Monsters” is dishonest, shameful and a clear setback to the progression and visibility of sexual abuse victims the Menendez brothers have been working towards during their three-decade tenure in prison. As author Robert Rand said in his 2018 novel, “The Menendez Murders,” “nothing should ever give you a free pass to kill your parents, but if there are mitigating circumstances — as there clearly were in this case, the time has come to consider releasing the brothers from prison.”
I encourage you to learn the hard facts about the case — watch court footage, read novels by Rand and Hazel Thornton and form your own opinion, not one based on a lie.
Once and for all, “let us finally shed light on childhood trauma,” Erik Menendez said. “Let the truth stand as the truth.”
