Killing your own parents… Wow… Sure sounds like a bizarre, psychic act that you probably can’t imagine. Still, the Menendez brothers believe they had a good reason to kill their parents.
‘The perfect picture’
In 1989, the two Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle, murdered their father José and mother Kitty. From the outside, the family seems like the perfect picture. They have a huge house in wealthy Beverly Hills. Erik and Lyle both play tennis at a high level, which is also what their father José demands. José was an important businessman, president and spokesman. He worked very hard for his family and always wanted to be the best at everything. Giving up was not an option and they always had to win, with everything. José started yelling at them and didn’t mind hitting his sons sometimes if they didn’t win… Fierce!
Such was the life of the Menendez brothers
Since Erik was 6 years old, José started massaging Erik after playing tennis. Later in the lawsuit, Erik says that his father Erik massaged his sensitive spots and later his father also wanted to take a shower with him. This also started with Lyle. At some point the ‘objects’ and ‘mouth sessions’, as the brothers call them, started. The brothers had to kneel in front of their father and perform oral sex on him. Erik secretly put cinnamon in his father’s coffee to make his semen taste less bitter. Somehow they knew it was wrong, but they had to do it to survive. This abuse took place for years. When the brothers found out that their mother knew this all along and did nothing about it, the brothers were sure that this was not normal in a family.
The murder
Erik watched a movie with his best friend in which the parents of a rich family were murdered. Since then, Erik thought it was a good idea to kill their parents. Erik wanted to do it quickly and Lyle wanted to prepare it well. They decided to get guns with a fake ID and wanted to take action on a Sunday when the cleaning lady was not there. They provided alibis and prepared themselves. Around 9:30 p.m., they drove onto their property, grabbed their guns and quietly walked into their house. José and Kitty were watching a series on the couch with ice cream when the two brothers walked into the living room armed. Without hesitation, they pointed their guns at their parents and shot them. Not once, not twice, but dozens of times. After shooting their father in the head, they walk back to the car. There, Lyle decides to reload his gun again to shoot his mother in the head, to make sure she is no longer alive. Intense! After this, they changed clothes and went to see a movie at the cinema so that there was proof that they were not home at that time. They also went to other places, just so they could be ‘seen’.
Research
Around half past twelve they drive home, hoping that someone has called the police or at least someone has noticed. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the brothers. They now have to act as if they found them like this themselves, so they walk in unsuspectingly. They immediately call the police and shout and cry that someone has killed their parents. When the police and ambulances arrive at the chilly house in Beverly Hills with ambulances screaming, the brothers immediately blame the mafia. Erik says that his father had many enemies and that it was probably the mafia that did this.
When the police investigate, many things are already wrong. The brothers said that there was a lot of smoke when they entered the living room, which is not possible. Judging from the gunshot wounds, they were shot around 9:30 am, while the brothers only called the police at 12:30 am. There was a large hole in the glass, so if there was smoke it would have been right after the crime as the smoke would leave through the glass within a few minutes. So it is actually impossible that there would be smoke at the time the brothers came in. Wow… not that smart. The brothers haven’t told anyone, but because Erik keeps having the same nightmares, he decides to go to a psychologist. He accidentally tells them that they are guilty of the murder of their parents and tells everything that happened those years before. The mistreatment, the pressure, the abuse and everything around it. The psychologist promises not to share it, but has ensured that there is evidence by secretly recording Erik’s confession.
Arrested
The tape leaked. The brothers are arrested for the murder case. Since they have not yet admitted, there is no proof that they really killed their parents. They go to prison and are both assigned a lawyer. The lawyer gets Erik to confess. It is now important for them to tell everything as honestly and in detail as possible so that the lawyer can show everyone in the lawsuit that their parents are the monsters, not the Menendez brothers. After a few years the trial takes place. They were well on their way, but because Lyle asked people to do things for him during his prison time, no one actually believes their story anymore. For example, he asked his girlfriend if she could tell in the lawsuit whether his father abused her and he met a girl who he thought was in love with him, so he shared important and personal information with her. As a result, it was decided in 1996 that they would receive life imprisonment… Wow.
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Netflix documentary
Many people agree, but many more disagree. The documentary ‘Monsters, The Erik and Lyle Menendez story’ can now be seen on Netflix. Their entire lives are re-enacted by actors. This caused a lot of anger. All of TikTok is talking about the case and believes that the brothers should be freed. People believe that the brothers had the right and did this for self-protection. There may be a new lawsuit soon..Exciting!
What do you think? Do the Menendez brothers deserve life in prison? Are you curious about the whole story, on screen? Then watch the documentary on Netflix now.
