(CNN Spanish) – On August 20, 1989, brothers Lyle and Eric Menendez murdered their parents inside their mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The Netflix series “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Eric Menendez,” which premiered on the platform Sept. 19, is a nine-episode drama based on that crime. CNN learned that the Menendez brothers were aware of the series.
Although during the trial Lyle and Eric Menendez alleged years of abuse by their father and indifference towards them on the part of their mother, the prosecution did not believe their testimony and argued that they wanted to keep their parents’ property. Wanted. Both convicted Life imprisonment in 1996.
Following production on the crime story, Cliff Gardner, one of Lyle and Eric Menendez’s attorneys, told CNN in an email response this Tuesday that the brothers are aware of the series.
Gardner stated that, to his knowledge, he had no involvement in the production.
As to whether he has any say in how he is referred to in the show, especially in the title, Gardner responded, “I’m pretty sure they do, although I haven’t been since the show aired.” I am not in touch with him.”
Jose Menendez, a 45-year-old music executive for RCA Records, and his 47-year-old wife, Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, were killed in a brutal shooting inside their own home.
It was older brother Lyle who called 911, crying: “Someone killed my parents.” The recording of the call, which was broadcast in the media and is part of the series, begins like this:
“Emergency Circumstances:-Beverly Hills, Emergency Circumstances.
Lyle Menendez: -Yeah.
Emergency situations: -What is happening?
Lyle Menendez: – We are the children of…
Emergency situations: -What is happening?
Lyle Menendez:—Someone killed my parents.
Emergency situations:-What? Who? Are they still there?
Lyle Menendez: – Yes
Extenuating circumstances:—Did they shoot him?
Lyle Menendez: – Yes (…)”
Although at first the Menendez brothers denied murdering their parents, they later admitted to doing so, although they denied that the motive was for money. And in the first trial, which was televised, she detailed her father’s alleged sexual abuse.
In 1995, their lawyer Leslie Abramson said that it was not murder because there was no malicious intent in the act: he spoke of years of psychological and sexual abuse, and said that the brothers committed the murder out of fear. “If it’s fear and not bad intent, it’s not murder,” he said, CNN reports.
The argument that he should not be convicted of premeditated murder was based on the fact that he had acted in self-defense after suffering abuse from his father throughout his life, and his mother had done nothing about it.
The prosecution, on the other hand, did not believe their testimony and said that the brothers had acted out of greed and wanted to take advantage of their parents’ $13 million estate.
The first trial was open to television and was tried before two juries in 1993, as each brother had an independent jury. And in 1994 it was declared a mistrial after both juries failed to reach a verdict.
The second trial took place in 1996 and the jury made its decision after deliberating for three days. He was found guilty of premeditated murder.
Lyle Menendez, 56, and Eric Menendez, 51, are currently serving life sentences in the same California prison without the possibility of parole.
In a habeas corpus, his lawyers have requested to cancel his life sentence
In May 2023, attorneys for the Menendez brothers claimed that according to court documents they filed, there was new evidence to show that the conviction and life sentence should be overturned.
The defense argued that two pieces of evidence contradicted prosecutors’ story and filed a habeas corpus petition in Los Angeles Superior Court, where they said a letter sent by Eric to his cousin eight months before the murder contained his Details of the father’s abuse were given.
The Los Angeles County Prosecutor’s Office, which prosecuted the two cases, told CNN in a statement at the time: “We have received a habeas petition in the Menendez case and it is currently under review.”
A December 1988 letter from Eric Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano says: “It keeps happening, Andy, but now it’s worse for me.”
The letter was discovered by Marta Cano, Jose Menendez’s younger sister and Andy’s mother, who shared it with journalist Robert Rand in April 2018, CNN reports.
That same month, he shared the letter with Eric Menendez’s former appellate attorney, Cliff Gardner, court documents state.
In the letter, Eric writes: “I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. I lie awake every night thinking that he might come. I need to get this out of my mind. I know what you said before, but I’m scared. You don’t know dad like I do. He is mad. She’s warned me hundreds of times not to tell anyone, especially Lyle. Am I a complainer? I don’t know if I will be able to recover from this or not. I can handle it, Andy. I need to stop thinking about it.”
The document says a review of court records shows the letter was not presented in any lawsuits.
On the other hand, other evidence that the defense took into account for the request is the testimony of Roy Rosselló, a former member of the youth music group Menudo associated with the RCA record company, where Menéndez was an executive.
Rosselló claimed that Jose Menendez had sexually abused him when he was a teenager. The alleged attack was revealed in the documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed”, which premiered on the Peacock platform in May 2023.
“In short, the new evidence not only shows that Jose Menendez was a violent and brutal man who sexually abused children, but also shows that he was, in fact, exploiting Eric Menendez in December 1988 as well .As the defense argued all along,” said a court document filed last year by the Menendez brothers.
For this reason, lawyers asked the court to quash the conviction and sentence against both, or to allow the presentation of evidence and an evidentiary hearing when they can provide it, as stated in the brief.
Still no news on that order. “The court has ordered the state to respond in writing to the petition. The state has not yet responded; Their response should be received by the end of November,” Gardner told CNN about the progress of the habeas corpus petition.
With information from CNN, Taylor Romine, Abel Alvarado, Rafi Rivera.
