Topics: Menendez Brothers, Netflix, Documentaries
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing
Following the release of the brand new documentary The Menendez Brothers today on Netflix, viewers have been enthralled listening to Lyle and Erik Menendez tell their own story.
The documentary follows the dramatised Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story from Ryan Murphy, which Erik Menendez slammed as a production with 'blatant lies' from his prison cell.
Today's release ofThe Menendez Brothers (6 October) marks the first time the brothers have spoken directly about their story in more than 30 years.
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The infamous brothers are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole after murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.
The two alleged during trial and still maintain that the killings were made in self defence, after confronting their father about the years of sexual, emotional and physical assault he had subjected them to.
They also state that their mother knew about the abuse but failed to protect them.
Viewers of the documentary will learn that following their sentencing, the brothers believed they'd be going to the same prison - but they were wrong.
In fact, it was their separation that led to the controversial televised interview with Barbara Walters.
Lyle, now 56, shares that the 'very unusual' interview was done in order to 'try to plead that they not separate us and show how much we did not want that to happen.'
The two brothers were incredibly close throughout their childhoods and remained so as their adult lives were just beginning - at the time of arrest, Lyle was 21 and Erik just 18.
In the interview, Walters asks if it's important to them that they remain together in prison.
Lyle answers: "Very important. That is what's gotten us through these six years," referring to the county jail they'd spent time in in the run-up to their sentencing.
Erik added: "There’s a good probability I will never see him again ... There are some things that you cannot take and there's some things that you can endure. With everything taken away it would be the last thing you can take.”
Erik then explained the moment they were ripped apart.
He said: "They put him in one van. I didn't understand why they were putting me in another van. I started screaming out to Lyle and they shut the door. It was the last time I saw him."
Lyle then shares: "Our start to prison life was tremendously painful. My brother actually went on a hunger strike to try to keep us together.”
In 2018, the brothers pleas were granted and they were put together in Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
It was announced on 3 October that potential new evidence supporting the brothers' allegations of abuse had been unearthed, and as a result, a hearing will take place on 29 November.
This could lead to a resentencing, or an entirely new trial.
Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascón, stated in a press conference: "We have been given evidence. We have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation."
He concluded: "We’ve also got evidence that was provided by the defence, by his lawyers, that one of the members of the Menudo band [Roy Rosselló] alleged that he was molested by the father.”
The Menendez Brothers is currently available to stream on Netflix.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
