NETFLIX – ON DEMAND – DOCUMENTARY
At first glance, the almost two-hour documentary, The Menendez brothersby Alejandro Hartmann, gives a lasting impression of… déjà vu. In this case in the recent installment of Ryan Murphy, The story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez.second season of the anthology series “Monsters”, released online on September 19 on Netflix.
The reason is that Murphy and his teams have a habit of reproducing identical scenes (particularly in court) filmed by American television. It was already like this, in 2016, with the first part of the anthology “American Crime Story”, dedicated to the trial of American football star OJ Simpson.
We thus find the original allegations and the main testimonies, including those of the Menéndez brothers, Lyle, born in 1968, and Erik, in 1970, accused of having killed their parents with a rifle one night in 1989. Their lawyers had alleged self defense. when the two sons feared for their lives after threatening to reveal the sexual abuse committed against them by their father.
Incompressible perpetuity
Initially, the two young men called the police themselves, claiming that the crime could have been committed by the mafia that was pursuing their father, José Menéndez (1944-1989). This Cuban immigrant, who started from nothing, became vice president of the Hertz car rental company and then director of operations for the RCA record label.
Police quickly discovered flaws in the two brothers’ story and became interested in their wildly expensive lifestyle after the death of their parents. A complaint revealed the confession to the murder made during recorded sessions with a psychotherapist: they were arrested in March 1990 for premeditated murder.
During her trial in 1994, brutality, harassment and repeated rapes committed by her father and covered up by her mother were detailed. The jury will not be able to rule on the verdict: the women allege mitigating circumstances; men do not accept them. We were still far from the #metoo movement; even more #metooboys.
During the documentary, some members of the jury testify. They assure that the second trial, in 1996, was a failure, deprived of many essential testimonies. Furthermore, the Menéndez case, which made headlines and excited American public opinion, was swept away by that of OJ Simpson (1947-2024), accused of the double murder of his ex-wife and her partner, on June 12, 1994. The two brothers are sentenced to life imprisonment without reduction.
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