Cooper Koch tuned into the Netflix documentary on Erik and Lyle Menendez, The Menendez Brothers, that launched after his scripted sequence Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. And whereas the actor who performed Lyle Menendez within the Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan restricted sequence was complimentary of the doc, he additionally questioned why the brand new proof that’s now below evaluate by the Los Angeles District Lawyer’s workplace wasn’t included within the two-hour function.
“I assumed they did an amazing job, I assumed they overlooked a few items of knowledge that may have been nice to have in there, which is the 2 items of recent proof which have come out, which is the letter that Erik wrote to his cousin Andy,” Koch mentioned throughout a Tuesday go to to Watch What Occurs Dwell. “After which additionally, a member of Menudo [Roy Rosselló] got here out about additionally having been sexually molested by José Menendez.”
Menendez cousin Andres “Andy Cano” testified in 1993 in the course of the first Menendez trial, which led to a hung jury for Erik and Lyle, who had been on trial for the 1989 Beverly Hills murders of their dad and mom, José and Kitty Menendez. When Cano took the stand, he testified that Erik had informed him that he was being molested by José.
The letter talked about by Koch, nevertheless, wasn’t found till 2018 — many years years after the brothers’ 1996 conviction of their second trial. Trial journalist Robert Rand came across the letter after Cano’s loss of life, when Rand was invited to the home to sift by means of Cano’s belongings by his household. “And inside quarter-hour, I discovered this letter, and I checked out it and I mentioned, ‘Oh, my God, this could possibly be actually essential to the case,’” Rand not too long ago informed The Hollywood Reporter of the brand new proof, which helps the brothers’ self-defense claims of ongoing abuse from their father.
The letter was written when Erik was 17 years previous in December 1988, about eight months earlier than the killings, and by no means dropped at the mid-Nineties trials.
The opposite piece of proof talked about by Koch entails new witness Rosselló, who got here ahead after the trials to allege that he was sexually abused as a youngster by José within the early Nineteen Eighties. Rosselló was a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, which had been signed to RCA Information the place José was a prime govt on the time.
Rosselló got here ahead with the allegation within the April 2023 Peacock docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. His declare, together with the Cano letter, had been each included within the habeas corpus petition filed by Erik and Lyle’s attorneys the next month, in Might 2023, that’s now below evaluate. L.A. District Lawyer George Gascón has set a listening to for Nov. 29 to share their determination on if the brand new proof may result in a resentencing of the Menendez brothers, now of their 50s, who’re at the moment serving life in jail with out parole.
When chatting with THR about The Menendez Brothers documentary, Campfire Studios producers Ross Dinerstein and Rebecca Evans defined why they didn’t embody the brand new proof of their function, saying they had been leaving that as much as the attorneys at the moment preventing with the habeas petition.
“All of it has come all the way down to their legal professionals greater than something, and the way they’re coping with the brand new proof, how they’re coping with the brand new habeas petition. That’s the place I really feel just like the crux of the combat is absolutely taking place,” Evans informed THR. “The habeas was filed in 2023, and so for us, after we had been making the documentary, we felt like, we’re not right here to litigate a case. We’re not right here to current proof, or new proof in that manner, alongside the attorneys.”
Including of the Rosselló allegation, “I felt like, that is Erik and Lyle’s story. It’s probably not a narrative in regards to the different man within the Menudo case. I believe these are issues audiences will study in litigation and the information, however we actually needed to give attention to the brothers.”
Additionally throughout his look on Andy Cohen’s Bravo late-night present, Koch spoke about assembly the incarcerated Menendez brothers in particular person on the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility on a go to brokered by Kim Kardashian, who has been advocating for the brothers’ launch, to debate jail reform earlier than Monsters launched.
When beforehand speaking about that assembly with THR, Koch spoke of the second when he locked eyes with Erik, the brother he portrayed for Monsters. “We walked within the [prison’s] gymnasium, and the primary person who I noticed was Erik. And we locked eyes, and he smiled and I smiled, and we hugged one another. And it was actually, actually highly effective and emotional. It was an incredible expertise. And he — each of them had been so sort, and so they’re so regular.”
Koch mentioned Erik was complimentary of what he heard about his praiseworthy efficiency within the fifth episode, “The Damage Man,” the place Koch detailed a lifetime of abuse in a 33-minute monologue and informed THR of their discussions in regards to the sequence. He additionally mentioned he hopes the brothers obtain a resentencing.
“They’ve accomplished a lot wonderful work in jail,” he mentioned. “Erik teaches meditation. He teaches speech lessons. They’re each unimaginable individuals. I believe again then, individuals simply didn’t consider that sexual abuse between males was one thing that you might consider and the better tablet to swallow was that they killed their dad and mom for cash. However now, after a lot time, I believe persons are extra open to understanding that one thing like that did occur.”
Menendez attorneys Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner, in the meantime, are internet hosting a press convention forward of the November listening to, on Wednesday, with almost two dozen Menendez members of the family, in addition to Hollywood buddy and advocate Rosie O’Donnell, in what the attorneys described as a “highly effective present of unity.”
