There’s an indisputable fact about Lyle and Erik Menendez: The brothers killed their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, on Aug. 20, 1989, in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion. But what was the motivating factor behind the murders? Was it greed, as prosecutors contended, or was it retaliation after years of abuse at the hands of their parents, as the brothers alleged? It is a question that the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” attempts to answer by dramatizing events and showing different points of view — from the parents, the brothers and those in the family’s circle or some just outside of it.
While the latest iteration of Ryan Murphy’s true-crime anthology series is based on the historical events of the case, including the brothers’ trials ( the first ended in a mistrial ), it also insinuates an incestuous relationship between Lyle and Erik, something that the brothers say is untrue. Last week, Erik’s wife Tammi Menendez posted a statement on social media from him about the series and how the brothers were depicted, calling it “inaccurate” and that Lyle’s depiction was a “caricature” that was “rooted in horrible and blatant lies.” It was followed by another statement on Wednesday from members of the Menendez family, who expressed support for the brothers and called the series a “grotesque shockadrama.
” The statement also disputes the idea of an incestuous relationship, which Murphy said was a .