Hollywood's Infamous Menendez Brothers

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Author: Makaylah Chavez

The story of the Menendez brothers is one so infamous, that it broke the internet when a documentary about it came out on Netflix. So let's take a look back to where it all started- The summer of 1989. On August 20, 1989, Kitty and Jose Menendez were shot to death. Spoiler alert, their children killed them. So why is this true crime story so popular?

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Jose Menendez was a prime example of a rags to riches story: Immigrating from Cuba to working in the movie business in L.A. His sons, Lyle and Erik were destined to be something great with all the pressure their father put on them. Jose was so hard on them in order to push them to be their best that it actually made the boys never feel good enough in what they did.

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So what was the effect of this pressure on the young boys? They ended up killing both their parents with 15 rounds from 2 shotguns. However, when questioned, Lyle and Erik both claimed they only came home to retreive an I.D to go watch a movie, only to find their parents dead bodies waiting for them instead. But their griefing period wasn't your typical crime story one- quite the opposite actually. The men went out on exotic vacations, purchased expensive cars, bought restaurants and clothes and personal trainers, etc. But their wild spending and new luxurious life wasn't enough to find them guilty. Thankfully, Erik, the younger brother, was required to see a therapist after being involved in illegal acts and ended up confessing to the murder of Jose and Kitty during one of those therapy sessions. The therapist also got Lyle to confess to the murders, as well. The boys claimed they did it to put their mother out of her misery. What do you think?

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The story was covered from all types of media for the reason that it was an intriguing account. Just think of the headlines. Two rich, handsome, young men kill successful parents out of self defense and revenge. Lyle and Erik claimed their father emotionally abused them from all his pressure, and claimed that Jose even molested them since childhood. They also claimed Kitty, their mother, was a drug addict and alcoholic and never helped the men in the abusive situations. They argued that they acted in self defense after growing up in such an abusive and hostile environment. This was such a controversial story that it took two trials. The first trial, that lasted four months and was televised, could not come to an agreement on the verdict. The second trial came to the conclusion that the Menendez brothers were guilty. They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.

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So, why is this story so popular, especially now? Here's the answer. It was the perfect story of Hollywood drama, psychological abuse, and revenge. And who doesn't love a good old revenge story?