The Menendez brothers may get another chance in the courtroom. And who could have predicted that? Ryan Murphy, yes, the creator behind Monsters, the Netflix show about the Menendez case.
During a Thursday press conference, Los Angeles County’s district attorney said that the Lyle and Erik Menendez case is up for resentencing. It was one of those rare press conferences that seems boring but makes people really care about a case. The brothers who were convicted of killing their parents and sentenced to life without parole may have a chance to present their case again in court, 30 years after their sentencing. Ryan Murphy’s Netflix show might have played an indirect role in reviving this case.
Murphy, who never shies away from controversy, stirred things up once again with his Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The true-crime drama that dug into the dark, complicated history of the brothers and their infamous trial. This show earned its fair share of backlash from the Menendez family. The family accused the show of “character assassination” and described it as “riddled with mistruths.” Murphys response? “Predictable at best.” In an interview with Variety, Murphy said the family’s response was “interesting because I would like specifics about what they think is shocking or not shocking. It’s not like we’re making any of this stuff up. It’s all been presented before.”
The narrative in Murphy’s series can be conflicting. He is examining the brothers’ claims of horrific abuse at the hands of their parents. The show recounts the disturbing details of sexual abuse and emotional torment. It divides viewers, some feel empathy, and some judge. That’s what Murphy was trying to do—present the story in a “contained ecosystem.” Murphy made sure to point this out in his Variety interview: “They are now being talked about by millions of people all over the world. There’s a documentary coming out in two weeks about them, also on Netflix.”
Regardless of how the Menendez family reacts, that Thursday press conference proved Murphy to be right in saying, “It’s giving these brothers another trial in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, it’s really opened up the possibility that this evidence that they claim that they have, maybe that there is going to be a way forward for them.” The brothers’ original trial was in the 1990s. The trial dragged on through two deadlocked juries before finally leading to a conviction in 1996. In the conviction, the judge didn’t allow for the evidence of sexual abuse to be presented. Will they be able to get more support from the public now?
This is evidence that Murphy isn’t just stirring up drama for drama’s sake. His series has made us ask some hard questions: Should the Menendez brothers get a new trial? Is it right to lock someone away for life without considering rehabilitation? The case of the Menendez brothers is reignited, and public opinion always sways juries. Murphy’s work has thrown the brothers back into the spotlight in a way that no one expected. If the DA’s recommendation goes through, the Menendez brothers’ story isn’t over yet.