Netflix's 'The Menendez Brothers' Drops As Their Case Gets Second Look

LOS ANGELES, CA — Just days after Los Angeles prosecutors announced that the notorious Menendez brothers case was being renewed after 35 years, Netflix dropped a new two-hour documentary about the case on Monday, Oct. 7.

"The Menendez Brothers" began streaming at 3 a.m. Eastern time on Monday.

Last year, the Menendez brothers' attorneys filed court papers seeking to have their convictions overturned. A prosecution response is due by Nov. 26, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced last week.

Lyle and Erik Menendez have been behind bars ever since they were convicted for the 1989 killing of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers were convicted in a second trial after the first ended with two deadlocked juries.

Back then, prosecutors alleged that the brothers murdered their parents so that they could assume control of the Menendez wealthy estate. Lyle and Erik denied this assertion and shared that they had been sexually assaulted repeatedly by their father. The brothers spoke of their abuse through tears in the nation's first televised high-profile case, captivating and polarizing viewers everywhere.

While the brothers dispute the prosecution's original allegations that the murders were financially motivated, they openly admit to opening fire on their parents.

"In a new documentary, The Menendez Brothers, director Alejandro Hartmann pores over decades of material surrounding the crime and the subsequent trial. What emerges may not answer the many questions that still surround the case, but it does offer another perspective — that of the brothers themselves, provided in all-new audio interviews," according to a Monday news release from Netflix.

Renewed interest in the case was spurred by a wave of Tik-Tok users who made videos calling for the brothers' release from prison while slamming 1990s media and the prosecutors themselves for minimizing or flat-out denying the issue of sexual abuse among young boys.

Then came the Netflix shows. First, Ryan Murphy's "Monsters" dramatized the killings of Kitty and Jose in late September. After the brothers and many others condemned the show, alleging inaccuracies, a new docuseries dropped on Monday with new evidence and perspectives from Erik and Lyle.

In court papers filed last year, two new pieces of evidence were documented that corroborate the brothers' stories of prolonged sexual abuse. New evidence includes a letter written by Erik to one of his cousins in early 1989 talking about the sexual abuse just eight months before the August 1989 killings.

In the letter, Erik writes in part, "I've been trying to avoid dad. It's still happening Andy, but it's worse for me now. I can't explain it. ... I never know when it's going to happen and it's driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind."

Then came recent allegations by a former teenage member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo that he was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez, who was an RCA executive.

Gascón on Thursday said his office is reviewing that new evidence.

READ MORE: Prosecutors To Review New Evidence In Menendez Brothers' Murder Case

"None of this information has been confirmed. We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information," he said Thursday. "But we're here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side..."

And just three days ago, adding more public buzz was Kim Kardashian. The reality star and aspiring lawyer called on the courts to free the Menendez brothers in an essay for NBC News.

"We are all products of our experiences," she wrote on Instagram. "They shape who we were, who we are, and who we will be. Physiologically and psychologically, time changes us, and I doubt anyone would claim to be the same person they were at 18. I know I’m not! You think you know the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez. I certainly thought I did."

With the case back in the spotlight, the two new Netflix shows offer opposing and conflicting sides of a story that many say is still incomplete.

Gascón will make the final decision on whether the case will be heard again. The brothers are currently serving a sentence of life in prison without parole, though they have repeatedly appealed their convictions over the years.

The brothers' lawyer said he believes the new evidence in the case is more than enough for a judge to "set aside the result" of the brothers' trial and overturn their conviction.

"They have now served 35 years," Mark Geragos said. "In those 35 years that they have served in prison, they have been model prisoners. They have worked tirelessly in the face of literally no expectation that they would ever get out to reform not only themselves but the environment in which they find themselves."

Patch Editor Paige Austin contributed to this report.