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Ryan Murphy is diving into true crime again with a dramatized series following the story of Lyle and Erik Menedez and the infamous trial that divided the country. Created by Murphy and Ian Brennan,Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storyis the second installment in their anthology series followingMonster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The second season follows the brothers and the events leading up to the 1989 murder andthe court trial, where they revealed that they were sexually and emotionally abused by their parents, resulting in their murder. The series ends with the brothers receiving life sentences without the possibility of parole, and almost 30 years later,people are still divided on whether this sentencing is just or not.
Like Murphy’s portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer, this series has stirred mixed reactions from viewers as he focused on several perspectives based on the different rumors from the media during the trial. Murphy’s depiction of the traumatic events has brought the brothers' story to a new generation and sparked a conversation about their sentencing.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is the newest addition to Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s “Monster” anthology series, chronicling the case of the real-life brothers convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. While the prosecution argued they were seeking to inherit their family fortune, the brothers claimed - and remain adamant to this day, as they serve life sentences without the possibility of parole - that their actions stemmed out of fear from a lifetime of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
A Quick Recap of the Harrowing True Events in Monsters
Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 18 and 21 at the time, murdered their parents, Kitty and José Menendez, on Aug 23, 2025. After claiming they had nothing to do with the brutal shooting, the brothers were arrested after Erik shockingly confessed to the crime to his therapist.The brothers were triedseparately in 1993 and jointly in 1995. A dark revelation left the public appalled as the defense argued that the brothers committed the crime in self-defense after enduring years of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse at the hands of their parents. The opposing side argued that they were driven by greed and committed the murders intending to inherit their parents' multimillion-dollar estate.
Both of those trials resulted in a mistrial. However, in 1996, the pair were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The televised trial gripped the public andcreated a media frenzy, leaving people not knowing what to believe. The brothers were separated shortly after their sentencing and were placed in different prisons, where they remained separated for 22 years. After more than two decades apart, the brothers reunited at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in 2018, where they are currently serving their life sentences.
The Public and the Menendez Brothers Respond to Murphy’s Project
It wouldn’t be a Ryan Murphy production without controversy.People felt the series was disrespectful of the people whose life story it was based on and that it wasn’t an accurate portrayal of the trauma that sexual abuse survivors endure. There was a moment in the series where it’s insinuated that thebrothers partook in an incestuous relationship, which the brothers testified never happened. Viewers felt Murphy made light of the allegations of abuse the brothers say they lived through, just like the prosecution did in the trial.
Ryan Murphy Breaks Silence On Incest Backlash Against New Netflix Crime Series
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez story has received considerable backlash over its implications of incest between the brothers.
One viewer condemned Murphy and wrote onX,
“taking a story about two brothers who suffered from sexual abuse from their dad and turning it into an incestuous fantasy is horrid.”
User AdHd_IcedCoffee onRedditwrote,
“Murphy took it too far. I’m on the last episode and the number of false assertions are downright disgusting.”
Erik Menendez was among the many people who were outraged at Murphy’s creative choices and released a statement onXvia his wife, Tammi Menendez, who said,
“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.
How demoralizing to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma.”
The Movement to Release the Menendez Brothers
Despite its inaccuracies,the series has caught the attention of a new generationthat wasn’t aware of the case, and that doesn’t tolerate the exploitation of abuse andsurvivors of abuse. Lyle and Erik’s story inspired Micailla Beachman to set up a Change.org petition called “Appeal for Menendez Brothers.” Since 2019, the petition has reached nearly 350,000 signatures and continues to receive signatures since the series was released. In this petition, Beachman calls for a retrial under the California Bill (AB593) that “allows incarcerated individuals convicted of crimes related to their experiences with being abused to submit a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging their original convictions.” The justice system has changed its view on the subject of abuse and acknowledged the complexity of this issue by passing bills that protect survivors.
The True Story Behind Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story Is Crazier than Fiction
37 years after his failed screenplay, Erik’s teenage fantasy is finally getting the Hollywood treatment.
The probability of the Menendez brothers receiving a retrial had increased over the years and more than ever in 2023 when new evidence came to light. Former Menudo band member Roy Rosselló alleges that José Menendez drugged and sexually abused him when he was 14 years old. A letter that Erik wrote to his cousin Andy also surfaced, describing the sexual abuse inflicted by his father eight months before the tragic night occurred. According to theLA Times, the brothers filed a petition in 2023 asking the court to revisit their case.
In an interview withPEOPLE, Mark Geragos, the brothers' lawyer, discussed the possibility of the brothers' convictions being overturned.
“The judge can do basically three things. The judge can deny it, the judge can order the DA to respond, or the judge can do what he did, which was issue an order for the DA to informally respond, which they have taken very seriously over the last 15 months because we’ve presented evidence to them.”
Geragos added that the brothers are cautiously optimistic and that this case would’ve had a different outcome today.
“I tried this case today, 99 times out of 100, it’s a voluntary manslaughter. Twenty years, 30 years, the culture moves, and I think more enlightened or evolved, and people start to realize that maybe there was a feeding frenzy at the time, and on a more sober reflection, that they didn’t get a fair trial.”
However,Los Angeles defense attorney Neama Rahmani believes their release chances are very unlikely. In the same interview with PEOPLE, Rahmani called this evidence a Hail Mary.
“This isn’t enough, in my opinion. A corroborating note or the fact that a victim abused someone else, this is not the type of evidence that typically results in a habeas petition being granted.”
The future of the Menendez brothers is currently in the hands of the California justice system, and their chance of freedom is in deliberation.The hit seriesMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storyis currently streaming onNetflix.
