Erik Menendez claims the Netflix show contains many falsehoods about the imprisoned brothers, but is the criticism fair?

For a case as contentious as the Menendez brothers, it’s no surprise the new show about it, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, has raised its own controversy. The real Erik Menendez said in a statement that the dramatized Netflix anthology contains “vile and appalling character portrayals” and “blatant lies” about himself and his brother, Lyle. However, showrunner Ryan Murphy insists the criticism isn’t justified.

Days later, Murphy defended the nine-episode series, which details the events surrounding the Menendez brothers’ arrests, trials, and convictions for murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in August 1989. While Monsters has been one of Netflix’s most-watched shows since its September 19 release, it has also sparked debate over its depiction of sensitive details from the case, including the brothers’ claims they were sexually abused by their father.

“The thing that I find interesting that [Erik] doesn’t mention in his quote is, if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts, and in the film form, center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully, and we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it,” Murphy told Entertainment Tonight.

But just how accurate is Monsters in its interpretation of the Menendez brothers and their infamous crimes? Here are the answers to some of the most burning questions you might have after watching.

How were the Menendez brothers caught?

The first episode of Monsters is centered around an emotional meeting between Erik and his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, on Halloween 1989. Erik confesses to Oziel that he and Lyle killed José and Kitty on August 20, 1989. Oziel tells his then-mistress, Judalon Smyth, who later tips off the police about tape recordings of Oziel’s sessions with the brothers, leading to their arrest.

According to court records, Erik and Oziel did meet that Halloween, and the therapist said this is when Erik “revealed in detail the planning and the execution of the crime.” Lyle and Erik were arrested in March 1990 and held in custody on charges of first-degree murder.

Audio recordings of Oziel and the brothers—including one with Lyle’s admission of guilt—were ruled as acceptable evidence because Lyle and Erik had threatened the psychologist. This eliminated any claim to privacy through patient-therapist confidentiality.

Were the Menendez brothers molested by their father?

Following the brothers’ arrest, Erik’s attorney Leslie Abramson helps formulate their defense strategy. Lyle and Erik assert they committed the crimes in self-defense over fears their parents would kill them first if the brothers publicly revealed the sexual abuse they both experienced at the hands of their father, José.During their trial, the brothers detailed their allegations in court testimony, with Lyle also suggesting his father was physically abusive. More than a dozen family and friends corroborated their statements.

However, a judge in the brothers’ joint retrial determined the defense failed to show sufficient evidence of José’s sexual abuse, and their experiences have never been definitively proven. Lyle and Erik were convicted of two counts each of first-degree murder in March 1996.

The Menendez family did go shark-fishing before the murders

Miles Crist//Netflix
Actors Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez portray Erik and Lyle Menendez in Monsters.

To help illustrate the brothers’ claims of self-defense, Monsters shows Lyle and Erik scared of going on a shark-fishing trip with their parents on August 19, 1989—the day before the murders. In the memorable final scene, the brothers sit by themselves on the boat and resolve to kill José and Kitty, while the latter talk offscreen.

The sea excursion did occur, and Lyle testified in court he and his brother believed the trip “was how [our parents] were going to kill us.” According to The Los Angeles Times, the brothers remained in the bow of the boat for hours, where they ended up cold and soaking wet. The family returned home later that night.

Lyle and Erik had a huge spending spree

In contrast to the brothers’ defense, prosecutors argued their crimes were premeditated and motivated by money—particularly after José had discussions about writing Lyle and Erik out of his will. The second episode of Monsters shows the siblings going on an exorbitant spending spree in the days following the murders.

Court testimony from October 1995 confirms the brothers did spend a significant amount of money in the aftermath of José and Kitty’s deaths. A jewelry saleswoman said the brothers purchased three Rolex watches totaling around $15,000 only four days after the murders. The brothers’ former tennis coach testified Erik hired him as a personal trainer with a $60,000 salary and also purchased a jeep.

The brothers also discussed purchasing a $900,000 condominium, according to testimony from a real estate agent.

Did Lyle Menendez really have a toupee?

In the series, the brothers begin to seriously ponder the idea of killing their parents after a tension-filled exchange in which Kitty forcibly rips a hairpiece off Lyle’s head in front of José and Erik.

Lyle did wear a toupee in real life. In fact, Vanity Fair reporter Dominick Dunne wrote in March 1994 the hairpiece “became a constant prop in the trial, almost as important as the two missing Mossberg 12-gauge shotguns the brothers used to blow away their parents.”

According to the L.A. Times, José had purchased the hairpiece for Lyle in 1987 as a way to preserve the political career he envisioned for his then-teenaged son. Furthermore, Lyle testified the confrontation with Kitty was true and that he cried in pain and embarrassment that his younger brother had found out about the toupee.

Erik Menendez did co-write a screenplay called Friends

Netflix
Charlie Hall portrays Craig Cignarelli, a friend of Erik Menendez, in Monsters.

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A key supporting character in Monsters is Erik’s friend Craig Cignarelli, who wears a wire in an attempt to get the younger Menendez brother to confess to the killings and later testifies at the siblings’ trial. Cignarelli discusses a key piece of evidence: a movie screenplay he and Erik had written called Friends about a teenager who kills his parents.

The Friends screenplay was real, and Kitty even helped type it, according to the L.A. Times. The plot focused on 18-year-old Hamilton Cromwell, who kills five people—including a former girlfriend and both of his parents—after learning he stands to inherit $157 million from the family will.

Despite Cignarelli’s observation that the screenplay’s opening scene “happened to coincide with what happened on the night of the murders,” it was never directly proven the two were related. Erik and Lyle maintain the killings weren’t financially motivated.

Did a Menendez juror have a heart attack?

Because of the nature of their crimes, Lyle and Erik were eligible for either life in prison without parole or the death penalty. In the final episode, Monsters depicts a female juror vehemently recommending capital punishment for the brothers before suffering an apparent heart attack.

According to an April 1996 interview with CourtTV reporter Mary Jane Stevenson and a juror in the brothers’ second trial named Lesley Hillings, a similar incident did happen. A juror had a heart attack during first deliberations and was replaced, Stevenson said. “This juror tells me she most likely would have voted for death. So had she not had her heart attack, it seems Lyle Menendez most likely would have gotten the death penalty,” Stevenson said.

Lyle and Erik were ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Did Lyle and Erik have a sexual relationship?

Monsters hints somewhat salaciously that Lyle and Erik’s relationship might have been incestuous by showing the brothers kissing in one early scene then showering together during the sixth episode, though the latter is framed as an imaginary sequence.

Journalist and researcher Robert Rand, who wrote the 2018 book The Menendez Murders about the case, said the suggestion Lyle and Erik had a sexual relationship is false. However, similar rumors were present at the time of their trial.

“I believe the only physical contact they might have had is what Lyle testified, that when Lyle was 8 years old, he took Erik out in the woods and played with him with a toothbrush—which is what José had done with him,” Rand told The Hollywood Reporter. “And so I certainly wouldn’t call that a sexual relationship of any sort. It’s a response to trauma.”

Murphy addressed these controversial scenes and echoed Rand, suggesting they are merely based on theories that existed during the trial. “If you watch the show, what the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case,” Murphy said. “Dominick Dunne wrote several articles talking about [the incest] theory. We are presenting his point of view, just as we present Leslie Abramson’s point of view. And we had an obligation to show all of that, and we did.”