The actors portraying Lyle and Erik Menendez in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story are sharing their insights on the real-life brothers.

Created by Ryan Murphy, Netflix premiered the latest installment of its Monster anthology series on September 19, receiving both praise and significant backlash.

Cooper Koch, left, and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, cast members in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” pose together at the premiere of the Netflix series at the Egyptian Theatre, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in… More Chris Pizzello/AP Photo
The series features an impressive cast, with Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny starring as parents José and Kitty Menendez, while newcomers Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch take on the roles of Lyle and Erik.

Lyle, who was then 21, and Erik, then 18, admitted they killed their entertainment executive father and their mother, but said they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent the disclosure of the father’s long-term sexual molestation of Erik.

The brothers shot their father, José, and their mother, Kitty, a total of 14 times, reloading the gun during the attack in their Beverly Hills home.

Initially, the brothers blamed the mob for their parents’ killing, citing their father’s connections, but the brutal nature of the crime suggested to law enforcement a more personal and emotionally driven motive.

In their first trial in 1993, Lyle and Erik faced charges for the 1989 murders of their parents. The trial resulted in deadlocked juries, unable to determine if the brothers were guilty or acted out of fear, leading to a mistrial on January 28, 1994, and paving the way for a second trial in 1995.

Prosecutors argued there was no evidence of molestation because the judge excluded abuse evidence from the second trial in 1995. They claimed the sons were motivated by a desire to inherit their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate, which was not the case.

Chavez and Koch shared their thoughts on the infamous case with Vanity Fair, with Chavez holding a distinct opinion.

“I came to a really unique conclusion, but I’ve also come to the conclusion that I don’t really want to share what that is with anyone, and that I really want to keep that part of my artistry and my interpretation to myself,” Chavez said.

In contrast, Koch candidly expressed his views on the brothers’ murders of their parents and their allegations of abuse against their father, Jose.

“I believe both of them. I believe everything that they said on the stand to be true,” Koch said. “He’s [Erik] very shy, very closed-off and tense in the mouth. All of those behaviors further support the claim that he was sexually abused by his father.”

Newsweek reached out to both Koch and Chavez’s team.