The true story of Netflix series Monster: Who were the Menendez brothers and what happened?

It is the show everyone is talking about.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was debuted on Netflix on Thursday, September 19 and already has become one of the streaming service’s most-watched series.

Ryan Murphy’s latest true crime instalment logged 12.3 million views between its debut and Sunday, September 22, taking the No 1 spot on the streamer’s most-watched UK TV list for that week.

The series also ranked in the Top 10 in 89 other countries and tells the tale of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who brutally shot and killed their parents .

The show stars Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as the two brothers, and Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as their parents .

But how much of the series is true? And what actually happened to the pair? Here is what we know.

Who are Lyle and Erik Menendez?

Lyle and Erik Menendez are brothers who killed their parents by gunning them down on August 20, 1989 . Husband and wife José and Kitty Menendez were shot multiple times at close range at their mansion in Beverly Hills.

The brothers, who were 21 and 18 at the time, initially told police they found their parents dead when they arrived home but a series of events led police to suspect the pair and they were both eventually arrested and tried for the murders.

Is Monsters a true story?

Yes, it is based on real-life events. Netflix creators say the true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers and looks at different viewpoints in the series.

How were the brothers caught?

Police originally looked down the lines of mafia involvement because of the brutal nature of the killing, and the fact the family was worth a lot of money.

But officers were left confused by the spending spree the brothers embarked on following the death of their parents.

Lyle bought multiple Rolexes, Erik hired a tennis coach with a price tag of $60,000 per year, and both leased waterfront condominiums in pricey areas. Together, they spent $1m in just half-a-year, it is reported .

Erik ended up confessing to the crimes during a session with his psychologist, Jerome Oziel, who then told his mistress, Judalon Smyth. Smyth ultimately went to the police with this information, leading to the brothers' arrests.

What happened in the trials?

The brothers claimed they committed the murders in self defence after years of alleged physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. They both claimed their dad sexually abused them from the ages of around six.

They said they feared their father would kill them after they threatened to expose him. But the prosecution argued they wanted to kill their parents in order to inherit their money.

The pair were first tried for the murders individually, with one jury for each brother. However, both juries were deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial, and the pair were later tried again together.

During their second, joint trial, the judge excluded most of the evidence of abuse from their defence case.

A jury found them guilty and the pair were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in 1996.

They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Where are the brothers now?

Lyle and Erik were sent to separate facilities initially. After years of Lyle repeatedly requesting a transfer to a prison closer to his brother, he was eventually relocated in 2018 to the Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where he and Erik are both serving out their life sentences to this day.

The pair and their families have repeatedly called for a retrial, with their family backing their claims of abuse.

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