It’s been 35 years since José and Kitty Menendez had been killed of their California house in 1989 by their sons Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18.
Whereas there have been fictionalized variations of the case through the years — most just lately the 2017 miniseries “Regulation & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders” — the latest take is coming from Netflix, whose “Monster” collection hit massive with “The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” in 2022. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” premieres Sept. 19.
Right here’s a listing of the actual and fictional individuals behind the brand new adaptation, knowledgeable by the e-book “The Menendez Murders” by Robert Rand, the present’s inspiration.
Nicolas Alexander Chavez as Lyle Menendez
The place you’ve seen Nicolas Alexander Chavez: “Normal Hospital” (2021-24), “Crushed” (2022)
Who he’s enjoying: Lyle Menendez, the elder of the 2 Menéndez brothers, born in 1968. On the time of the killing, Lyle Menendez was suspended from Princeton for a yr after being accused of plagiarizing a paper, which he denied doing. He and his youthful brother had been tennis gamers.
The night time José and Kitty had been murdered, Lyle Menendez referred to as the police. “Any individual killed my mother and father,” he informed the dispatcher, in keeping with a transcript of the decision.
The brothers had been charged with first-degree homicide of their mother and father. They ended up having two trials. The primary was a media sensation earlier than two juries; the second was closed to cameras and earlier than one jury.
Throughout their first trial, the protection argued the brothers killed their mother and father due to sexual abuse perpetrated by their father and the worry he would kill them in the event that they spoke out. The prosecution argued the brothers had killed their father for monetary causes — they inherited an property estimated to be value between $8 to $14 million, per “The Menendez Murders.”
Their first trial resulted in two hung juries. Within the second trial, which was earlier than a single jury and freed from TV cameras, allegations of abuse had been inadmissible.
Erik and Lyle Menendez in the end had been convicted of first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in March 1996. Each brothers had been sentenced to 2 consecutive life sentences with out the potential of parole, in keeping with the Related Press.
Cooper Koch (Erik Menendez)
The place you’ve seen Cooper Koch: “They/Them” (2022), “Swallowed” (2022), “Energy E book II: Ghost” (2020), “A New York Christmas Marriage ceremony” (2020), “Lower than Zero” (2019)
Who he’s enjoying: Born in 1970, Erik Galen Menendez is the youthful of the 2 brothers. On the time of the killing, Erik Menendez was about to attend UCLA and commute from the household’s house in Beverly Hills. After his mother and father’ murders, he employed a full-time tennis coach and competed in tournaments. He was in Israel, competing, when police ordered his give up, the L.A. Instances reported on the time.
Javier Bardem (José Menendez)
The place you’ve seen Javier Bardem: “Dune” (Elements 1 and a couple of) (2021-24); “Pirates of the Caribbean: Lifeless Males Inform No Tales” (2017); “Skyfall” (2012); “No Nation for Previous Males” (2007); “The Sea Inside” (2004)
Who he’s enjoying: José Menendez, the Menendez brothers’ father. José Menendez fled from Cuba to a city in rural Pennsylvania as a youngster when dictator Fidel Castro rose to energy. He met Kitty Anderson, his future spouse, at Southern Illinois College, the place he had a scholarship. They married in 1983 and moved to New York, the place he graduated from Queens School with an accounting diploma. Hen went on to run RCA-Ariola’s file division and different enterprise ventures.
To the skin world, he was recognized for pushing his boys arduous in sports activities and schooling. The brothers allege there was extra darkness inside their California house.
At his first trial, the brothers shared tales of sexual abuse by the hands of their father. Lyle Menendez mentioned throughout his testimony that he confronted his father over the continued abuse of Erik Menendez within the days earlier than the double homicide. He threatened to to inform the police, then feared his father would carry retribution. “I believed we had been at risk,” he testified. “I felt he had no selection. He would kill us.”
Years later, in 2024, a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo mentioned he was molested by José Menendez within the 2024 Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” Peacock is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s mother or father firm.
Chloe Sevigny (Mary Louise ‘Kitty; Menendez)
The place you’ve seen Chloë Sevigny: “Feud” (2024); “Poker Face” (2023); “Russian Doll” (2019-22); “American Horror Story” (2012-16); “Massive Love” (2006-11); “Youngsters” (1995)
Who she’s enjoying: Mary Louise Anderson, often called Kitty, the mom of Lyle and Erik Menendez. She was from Wateska, Illinois, the place her mother and father had been divorced and she or he was a “quiet insurgent,” in keeping with the L.A. Instances.
Lyle Menendez testified that he confided in his mom about his father’s abuse. “She informed me to cease it, and that I used to be exaggerating, and that my dad has to punish me after I do issues incorrect,” he mentioned.
He additionally mentioned Kitty Menendez would “beat and kick” him and his brother, and as soon as chased him with a kitchen knife, per the e-book “The Menendez Murders.”
Nathan Lane (Dominick Dunne)
The place you’ve seen Nathan Lane: “The Gilded Age” (2022-23); “Solely Murders within the Constructing” (2021-22); “Fashionable Household” (2010-19); “The Good Spouse” (2012-14); “The Producers” (2005); “The Lion King” (1994)
Who he is is enjoying: Dominick Dunne was a author, journalist and producer who labored on such movies like “The Boys within the Band” (1970) and “The Panic in Needle Park” (1971). After his daughter was murdered in 1982, he started writing about wealth and the judicial system, usually writing for Vainness Honest. He wrote concerning the Menendez trial extensively. Dunne died in 2009.
Ari Graynor (Leslie Abramson)
The place you’ve seen Ari Graynor: “Profitable Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” (2023); “Mrs. America” (2020); “The Catastrophe Artist” (2017); “Unhealthy Instructor” (2014); “Fringe” (2009-10); “The Sopranos” (2001)
Who Ari Graynor is enjoying: Graynor is Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez’s protection legal professional at each trials. Her argument in the course of the first trial centered on the abuse she mentioned the brothers had endured. “Abramson was small in stature however a large within the courtroom,” Rand writes in “The Menendez Murders.” She was thought of one among California’s prime protection attorneys and was recognized for preserving shoppers off of dying row.
After the brothers’ conviction, she mentioned the case would “by no means be over” for her, “as a result of I’ll by no means sever my ties to Erik Menendez or Lyle Menendez or their household,” per “The Menendez Murders.”
Dallas Roberts (Jerome Oziel)
The place you’ve seen Dallas Roberts: “Glass Onion” (2022); “Insatiable” (2018-19); “The Good Spouse” (2010-16); “Unforgettable” (2013-15); “The Strolling Lifeless” (2012-13); “The L Phrase” (2006-09)
Who who he is enjoying: Jerome Oziel, the psychiatrist to whom Erik Menendez confessed concerning the killings in 1981. In a while, Oziel gave police the proof essential to arrest Erik and Lyle for murdering their mother and father after the judges ordered he accomplish that.
Leslie Grossman (Judalon Smyth)
The place you’ve seen Leslie Grossman: “American Horror Story” (2017-24); “Love, Victor” (2020-22); “Santa, Inc.” (2021); “The Good Place” (2017-18)
Who she’s is enjoying: Judalon Smyth, a former shopper of Jerome Oziel’s who grew to become his lover. Smyth in the end tipped the police off to recordings Oziel had of Erik Menendez’s confession.
Jason Butler Harner (Les Zoeller)
The place you have seen Jason Butler Harner:“Sugar” (2024); “Subsequent” (2020); “Ozark” (2017-18)
Who he is enjoying: Zoeller was a detective with the Beverly Hills Police Division from 1972-2002 and labored on instances just like the Billionaire Boys Membership Ponzi scheme, amongst others, the Los Angeles Instances reported in 1996. Zoeller died in 2021.