2024-09-20 01:20:03
It’s been 35 years since José and Kitty Menendez were killed in their California home in 1989 by their sons Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18.
While there have been fictionalized adaptations of the case over the years — most recently the 2017 miniseries “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders” — the newest take is coming from Netflix, whose “Monster” series hit big with “The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” in 2022. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” premieres Sept. 19.
Here’s a list of the real and fictional people behind the new adaptation, informed by the book “The Menendez Murders” by Robert Rand, the show’s inspiration.
Nicolas Alexander Chavez as Lyle Menendez
Where you’ve seen Nicolas Alexander Chavez: “General Hospital” (2021-24), “Crushed” (2022)
Who he’s playing: Lyle Menendez, the elder of the two Menéndez brothers, born in 1968. At the time of the killing, Lyle Menendez was suspended from Princeton for a year after being accused of plagiarizing a paper, which he denied doing. He and his younger brother were tennis players.
The night José and Kitty were murdered, Lyle Menendez called the police. “Somebody killed my parents,” he told the dispatcher, according to a transcript of the call.
The brothers were charged with first-degree murder of their parents. They ended up having two trials. The first was a media sensation before two juries; the second was closed to cameras and before one jury.
During their first trial, the defense argued the brothers killed their parents because of sexual abuse perpetrated by their father and the fear he would kill them if they spoke out. The prosecution argued the brothers had killed their father for financial reasons — they inherited an estate estimated to be worth between $8 to $14 million, per “The Menendez Murders.”
Their first trial ended in two hung juries. In the second trial, which was before a single jury and free of TV cameras, allegations of abuse were inadmissible.
Erik and Lyle Menendez ultimately were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in March 1996. Both brothers were sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, according to the Associated Press.
Cooper Koch (Erik Menendez)
Where you’ve seen Cooper Koch: “They/Them” (2022), “Swallowed” (2022), “Power Book II: Ghost” (2020), “A New York Christmas Wedding” (2020), “Less than Zero” (2019)
Who he’s playing: Born in 1970, Erik Galen Menendez is the younger of the two brothers. At the time of the killing, Erik Menendez was about to attend UCLA and commute from the family’s home in Beverly Hills. After his parents’ murders, he hired a full-time tennis coach and competed in tournaments. He was in Israel, competing, when police ordered his surrender, the L.A. Times reported at the time.
Javier Bardem (José Menendez)
Where you’ve seen Javier Bardem: “Dune” (Parts 1 and 2) (2021-24); “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” (2017); “Skyfall” (2012); “No Country for Old Men” (2007); “The Sea Inside” (2004)
Who he’s playing: José Menendez, the Menendez brothers’ father. José Menendez fled from Cuba to a town in rural Pennsylvania as a teenager when dictator Fidel Castro rose to power. He met Kitty Anderson, his future wife, at Southern Illinois University, where he had a scholarship. They married in 1983 and moved to New York, where he graduated from Queens College with an accounting degree. Hen went on to run RCA-Ariola’s record division and other business ventures.
To the outside world, he was known for pushing his boys hard in sports and education. The brothers allege there was more darkness within their California home.
At his first trial, the brothers shared stories of sexual abuse at the hands of their father. Lyle Menendez said during his testimony that he confronted his father over the ongoing abuse of Erik Menendez in the days before the double murder. He threatened to to tell the police, then feared his father would bring retribution. “I thought we were in danger,” he testified. “I felt he had no choice. He would kill us.”
Years later, in 2024, a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo said he was molested by José Menendez in the 2024 Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” Peacock is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s parent company.
Chloe Sevigny (Mary Louise ‘Kitty; Menendez)
Where you’ve seen Chloë Sevigny: “Feud” (2024); “Poker Face” (2023); “Russian Doll” (2019-22); “American Horror Story” (2012-16); “Big Love” (2006-11); “Kids” (1995)
Who she’s playing: Mary Louise Anderson, known as Kitty, the mother of Lyle and Erik Menendez. She was from Wateska, Illinois, where her parents were divorced and she was a “quiet rebel,” according to the L.A. Times.
Lyle Menendez testified that he confided in his mother about his father’s abuse. “She told me to stop it, and that I was exaggerating, and that my dad has to punish me when I do things wrong,” he said.
He also said Kitty Menendez would “beat and kick” him and his brother, and once chased him with a kitchen knife, per the book “The Menendez Murders.”
Nathan Lane (Dominick Dunne)
Where you’ve seen Nathan Lane: “The Gilded Age” (2022-23); “Only Murders in the Building” (2021-22); “Modern Family” (2010-19); “The Good Wife” (2012-14); “The Producers” (2005); “The Lion King” (1994)
Who he’s is playing: Dominick Dunne was a writer, journalist and producer who worked on such films like “The Boys in the Band” (1970) and “The Panic in Needle Park” (1971). After his daughter was murdered in 1982, he began writing about wealth and the judicial system, often writing for Vanity Fair. He wrote about the Menendez trial extensively. Dunne died in 2009.
Ari Graynor (Leslie Abramson)
Where you’ve seen Ari Graynor: “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” (2023); “Mrs. America” (2020); “The Disaster Artist” (2017); “Bad Teacher” (2014); “Fringe” (2009-10); “The Sopranos” (2001)
Who Ari Graynor is playing: Graynor is Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez’s defense attorney at both trials. Her argument during the first trial centered on the abuse she said the brothers had endured. “Abramson was small in stature but a giant in the courtroom,” Rand writes in “The Menendez Murders.” She was considered one of California’s top defense attorneys and was known for keeping clients off of death row.
After the brothers’ conviction, she said the case would “never be over” for her, “because I will never sever my ties to Erik Menendez or Lyle Menendez or their family,” per “The Menendez Murders.”
Dallas Roberts (Jerome Oziel)
Where you’ve seen Dallas Roberts: “Glass Onion” (2022); “Insatiable” (2018-19); “The Good Wife” (2010-16); “Unforgettable” (2013-15); “The Walking Dead” (2012-13); “The L Word” (2006-09)
Who who he’s playing: Jerome Oziel, the psychiatrist to whom Erik Menendez confessed about the killings in 1981. Later on, Oziel gave police the evidence necessary to arrest Erik and Lyle for murdering their parents after the judges ordered he do so.
Leslie Grossman (Judalon Smyth)
Where 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 playing: Judalon Smyth, a former client of Jerome Oziel’s who became his lover. Smyth ultimately tipped the police off to recordings Oziel had of Erik Menendez’s confession.
Jason Butler Harner (Les Zoeller)
Where you’ve seen Jason Butler Harner:“Sugar” (2024); “Next” (2020); “Ozark” (2017-18)
Who he’s playing: Zoeller was a detective with the Beverly Hills Police Department from 1972-2002 and worked on cases like the Billionaire Boys Club Ponzi scheme, among others, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1996. Zoeller died in 2021.
