- 6 months ago
The Netflix series didn’t reveal the whole truth.
In this video, we’re uncovering 16 surprising and shocking facts that Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story didn’t include. From untold courtroom revelations to overlooked family history, these details paint a fuller picture of the infamous case.
Which of these facts surprised you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments!
In this video, we’re uncovering 16 surprising and shocking facts that Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story didn’t include. From untold courtroom revelations to overlooked family history, these details paint a fuller picture of the infamous case.
Which of these facts surprised you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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PeopleTranscript
00:00I'm telling you now, that whole defense was fabricated.
00:04And it was done artfully, but it was fabricated.
00:07And if I were an immoral person, I would have fabricated it much the same way.
00:12Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:14And today, we're breaking down the real-life details that didn't make it into Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's true crime miniseries, Monsters, the Lyle and Eric Menendez story.
00:22I feel like I've known you forever, Eric, and that I'm going to know you for the rest of my life.
00:28All my love.
00:30Tammy.
00:31Lyle and Eric were almost caught immediately.
00:33You're not chickening out, are you?
00:36You bought the guns.
00:43No.
00:43We'll get into Lyle and Eric's quote-unquote alibi a little later.
00:47For now, just know that this alibi was masterfully constructed,
00:51and prevented the brothers from immediately being pegged as suspects in their parents' 1989 deaths.
00:56Are you having trouble hearing me?
00:58The 9.50 screening of Batman.
01:00Yeah, but it's 10.40 now.
01:02I know, but that's the one that we want to see.
01:04Can you help me out here?
01:05My girlfriend is in there.
01:06Tell her the last half is the best.
01:08Interviewed for the 2024 Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers,
01:12the two retrospectively expressed disbelief that they weren't apprehended right at the crime scene.
01:17This might have actually occurred,
01:18had the responding police officers thought to test Lyle and Eric's hands for gunshot residue,
01:23which would have almost assuredly proven their guilt in that moment.
01:27The brothers wouldn't be marked as suspects until 1990,
01:30when their mob-slaying theory began to run dry.
01:33It should have been a police response, and we would have been arrested.
01:37We had no alibi.
01:39The gunpowder residue was all over our hands.
01:43Under normal circumstances, if they give you a gunpowder residue test,
01:46we would have been arrested immediately.
01:48The brothers were separated following their arrest.
01:50Wait, why isn't the other van following us?
01:52Where?
01:54I thought we were going to Folsom.
01:55You're going to Folsom.
01:57The brothers are going someplace else.
01:58As the audience sees at the very end of Murphy's Monsters,
02:02Lyle and Eric Menendez were broken up and sent to separate prisons
02:05following their 1996 sentencing of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
02:10The two brothers would not see each other face-to-face again until 2018,
02:14when Lyle was transferred to the same prison as Eric.
02:17Jesus Christ, you can't live in that.
02:21Well, he was about to.
02:23Now get in.
02:25However, one thing Monsters takes creative liberties with
02:29is the fact that immediately after being arrested,
02:31the duo were imprisoned separately at the Los Angeles County Jail.
02:35This is as opposed to being confined within feet of each other,
02:38as Murphy's miniseries depicts.
02:40When did you get back to L.A.?
02:42A couple hours ago, cops picked me up at LAX.
02:46The Menendez family was friendly with O.J. Simpson.
02:49Nobody does it better than her.
02:51Nobody does it better.
02:55Hurts leads the others by far.
02:58One of Monsters' most surprising scenes has nothing to do with the Menendez brothers' heinous crime,
03:03or the sordid family secrets they claim pushed them to do it.
03:07The closing minutes of Seismic Shifts, the miniseries' eighth episode,
03:10hint at the fact that the infamous O.J. Simpson murder case was about to overshadow the media circus
03:15surrounding the brothers.
03:16Hey, O.J.?
03:19O.J.?
03:21Yeah, who is that?
03:23I'm Eric.
03:25Eric Menendez.
03:26Simpson was, in reality, friendly with the brothers in prison,
03:29but had encountered the Menendezes before.
03:32Jose Menendez, at one point a high-powered executive at Hurts Global Holdings,
03:36had invited Simpson to dinner at his home on several occasions.
03:39The disgraced football player and movie star had memorably starred in a popular advertising campaign
03:45for the car rental company.
03:46Hurts the superstar.
03:49You know it.
03:50Pam Bozanich's controversial argument.
03:52I'm telling you now, that whole defense was fabricated.
03:56And it was done artfully, but it was fabricated.
03:59And if I were an immoral person, I would have fabricated it much the same way.
04:04Bozanich, the fiery litigator for the prosecution in the Menendez brothers' lengthy trial,
04:09has made no secret of her contempt for Lyle and Eric.
04:12The lawyer, who kept a relatively low public profile in the years since her involvement in
04:16the case, resurfaced for the aforementioned Menendez brothers' documentary.
04:20Bozanich was unapologetic in stating her belief of the brothers' guilt,
04:24as well as her criticism of Leslie Abramson, the lawyer for the defense.
04:27If I told you what I really thought of Leslie Abramson, I would be sued.
04:31Because she, I think, has lost all her money, and I'm not giving up my house.
04:36However, one surprising element left out of both Monsters and the Netflix doc?
04:41Bozanich's incendiary argument that, quote,
04:43men lacked the proper equipment to be assaulted and taken advantage of.
04:47Suffice it to say, her statement has aged extremely poorly,
04:51and led to renewed backlash against Bozanich in 2024.
04:55Your beliefs are not facts.
04:57They're just beliefs.
04:58And by the way, all you TikTok people, I'm armed.
05:01We got guns all over the house, so don't mess with me.
05:04Discussion of abuse was limited at the brothers' second trial.
05:07When there's a camera in the courtroom, it changes the dynamic of everything.
05:12Everyone thought that this should be just a matter for the jury rather than for a national audience.
05:17Those familiar with the Menendez brothers' trial are likely all too aware of Leslie Abramson's
05:22much-discussed abuse excuse.
05:24That is to say, Abramson argued that Lyle and Eric Menendez did not deserve the death penalty
05:29or even a lifelong prison sentence owing to their father Jose's alleged abuse.
05:34Judge Stanley Weisberg's position was abundantly clear.
05:37The presiding judge over the Menendez trial,
05:39Weisberg sought to avoid another hung jury in the brothers' second trial.
05:43The teachers and coaches and family and friends were never on the stand in the second trial.
05:48They hadn't heard any of my family testifying.
05:52None of the relatives, none of the evidence had been admitted.
05:54How did he accomplish this?
05:56By barring cameras from the courtroom, ensuring that another media frenzy would not occur,
06:01and crucially, limiting testimony about Lyle and Eric's abuse claims.
06:05By restricting what the jury could deliberate on, Weisberg was able to secure a conviction.
06:10When the judge decided what evidence we could consider,
06:13we were given either first-degree murder as an option or no crime whatsoever.
06:20We voted unanimously to convict.
06:22Disturbing photos of Lyle and Eric appeared in the first trial.
06:25Well, there is such a picture.
06:28But unfortunately, it only lives in Eric's mind now.
06:31And I doubt very much that Jose Menendez was very troubled by it during his lifetime.
06:37Leslie Abramson's abuse excuse dominated the headlines during the Menendez brothers' first trial,
06:42which took place from 1993 to 1994.
06:45The harrowing details of the brothers' abuse were enough to send the jury into what Judge
06:49Weisberg referred to as being, quote, hopelessly deadlocked.
06:52They are sneaky.
06:53After all, they are exploiting weak little children.
06:58And they hide it.
06:59Because they know the rest of us don't think much of that.
07:01Among those harrowing details were photos of Lyle and Eric as children without clothes on.
07:07The two accused Jose of capturing the grotesque snaps, which was denied by the prosecution.
07:12It seems worth noting then that the photos had been held onto by Kitty,
07:16despite the fact that the defense could not prove that Jose had been behind the camera.
07:21Eric and Lyle didn't immediately leave the house.
07:24As depicted on the Netflix adaptation of the Menendez case,
07:27Lyle and Eric committed their infamous crime and head straight to the movies to start in on their alibi.
07:31This is pretty close to the events of August 20th, 1989,
07:35but is noticeably streamlined from what actually occurred in real life.
07:38In reality, the two brothers didn't head straight for the movies after taking their parents' lives.
07:43In fact, due to the noise caused by their actions,
07:45they actually stayed at home,
07:47expecting that a neighbor or bystander would call the police as a result.
07:51Slower, please.
07:54Thanks.
07:55Enjoy the show.
07:56Eric was a tennis champion.
07:58Eric, you watched a movie and you decided to kill your parents.
08:02Most people don't do that.
08:05One of the most stomach-churning monster scenes
08:07has nothing to do with the grisly crimes or dark family secrets at all.
08:11That would be when Jose berates Eric in the middle of a tennis game.
08:15That is, not just verbally.
08:16The elder Menendez takes it upon himself to storm onto the court
08:19and publicly embarrass his son in truly cringeworthy fashion.
08:23What have we been working on?
08:26Jesus!
08:26This becomes even more of a head-scratcher
08:29once you realize that Eric was a nationally-ranked tennis player,
08:32ranking as high as 44th in the U.S.
08:35Just weeks prior to that fateful night,
08:37Eric had reached the second round of the boys' 18 singles
08:40in the 1989 Boys' Junior National Championship.
08:43Was your father physically abusive, Eric?
08:52Eric wrote his cousin a letter about what Jose allegedly did.
08:55During the events of Kill or Be Killed, the series' fourth episode,
09:10Lyle Menendez opens up to Leslie Abramson, Eric's lawyer,
09:13about the abuse that he claimed to have suffered at his father's hands.
09:17At one point, Lyle shares that Eric wasn't the only one who was aware of Jose's reign of terror.
09:22When his cousin, Diane Vandermolen, came to live with the family for a time,
09:25he confessed to her as well.
09:27I told my cousin she was living with us,
09:31and I wanted to sleep in the basement with her so that my dad couldn't come down there.
09:38A letter written by Eric eight months before August 20th and addressed to Andy Cano,
09:43another cousin, seemingly alludes to his father's ongoing abuse.
09:46Per the letter, Eric wrote,
09:48Eric and Lyle didn't see each other for over 20 years.
10:05Monsters' final scene quite literally shows the brothers going their own ways,
10:13unaware that they would be sent to different correctional facilities
10:15following their July 2nd, 1996 sentencing.
10:18This was per California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's real-life decision
10:23to separate the brothers, and things remained this way until February 2018.
10:27It was at this point that Lyle was moved from Mule Creek State Prison
10:40to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where Eric was also held.
10:44The two were individually imprisoned until April, when the Menendez brothers were reunited.
10:49Eric and Lyle had not met face-to-face since their sentencing.
10:52Wait, why isn't their van following us? Where?
10:56I thought we were going to Folsom.
10:58You're going to Folsom.
10:59The brothers are going someplace else.
11:01The brothers bought luxury condos.
11:03Where's transportation goes?
11:05Well, you have the limousine.
11:07Right, but for both of us.
11:10You're asking for a second limousine?
11:13Yeah, that'd be great.
11:14One thing that Monsters makes clear and gets factually right
11:17is that the Menendez brothers went on a wild spending spree
11:20in the aftermath of their parents' deaths.
11:22Although it can be argued that their spending habits
11:24were in line with the lifestyle they were used to,
11:27those same habits did nothing to help their case.
11:30Did you just order a grilled cheese and tap water?
11:33Yeah.
11:35How many shrimp do you have?
11:37Like an actual number.
11:39Among their many investments, besides a full-time tennis coach for Eric
11:42and a steak in a buffalo wing restaurant for Lyle,
11:45were luxury condos in Marina del Rey, California,
11:48not far removed from the family's now-empty Beverly Hills mansion.
11:51Eric and Lyle reportedly spent over $700,000 before their 1990 arrest.
11:57Look, another TCBY.
11:59It's a freaking gold mine.
12:02See, this is exactly what I want to do with Mr. Buffalo.
12:05Everywhere that there's a TCBY, there should be a Mr. Buffalo across the street.
12:08Eric and Lyle respectively got married in prison.
12:11Oh, and here's the best part.
12:14Eric's got a girlfriend.
12:16I'm not sure how it would work.
12:18I'm not sure how these feelings have taken me over in the way that they have.
12:22Despite viewer criticism that Murphy implied a fabricated romantic relationship between Eric and Lyle,
12:27they did not get married to each other.
12:29In fact, Lyle is now onto his second marriage,
12:32having divorced Anna Erickson, his wife of almost five years after having an affair.
12:37Yes, while imprisoned.
12:38The elder Menendez brother has been married to Rebecca Sneed since 2003.
12:42Who are these women who want to date these psychopaths?
12:45What does she get out of it?
12:46Well, this one's not getting conjugal visits, if that's what you mean.
12:51Meanwhile, Eric has been married to Tammy Ruth Sackerman since June 12th, 1999,
12:55when the couple wed in a waiting room at Folsom State Prison.
12:58Recalling their wedding night, Sackerman has shared that,
13:01Our wedding cake was a Twinkie. We improvised. It was a wonderful ceremony until I had to leave.
13:06That was a very lonely night.
13:08I feel like I've known you forever, Eric, and that I'm going to know you for the rest of my life.
13:14All my love.
13:15Tammy.
13:16Dr. Ozeal lost his medical license.
13:19I know that it's very last minute, but is there any way that I could see you today?
13:24It's fucked.
13:25Uh, looks like I have a two o'clock, if that works for you.
13:31L. Jerome Ozeal, who is depicted as the Menendez family's therapist before focusing on just Eric,
13:36was embroiled in a number of scandals of his own.
13:39Some of these were unearthed by Leslie Abramson during the brother's trial,
13:42and included the fact that his license was on probation when the family had hired him.
13:46Hello, it's Jose Menendez.
13:49Well, my sons tell you they are not to be trusted.
13:52They are liars, they are fabulists, they are sociopaths, and I need you to know that, okay?
13:58This was due to a blatant conflict of interest in which Ozeal had exchanged therapy for construction
14:03work on his house.
14:04In 1997, the year following the brother's sentencing, Ozeal surrendered his license voluntarily
14:09rather than admit culpability for a number of illicit deeds.
14:12These included, among other misdeeds, revealing confidential patient information to Judelon Smith,
14:18as well as assault on her and two other women.
14:21He said my mom was a witch who was going to poison me.
14:25He used the word thorns to hypnotize me.
14:28So whenever he would say thorns, my mind would just go blank.
14:31Dr. Vickery tampered with evidence, at Leslie Abramson's suggestion.
14:35I've hired Dr. William Vickery.
14:38He's a forensic psychiatrist, and I want you to start meeting with him to talk about what happened
14:42and why.
14:42No, no, no more shrinks.
14:44I can't.
14:45Early on in Monsters, Eric Menendez meets with Dr. William Vickery, a forensic psychiatrist
14:50and colleague of Abramson's.
14:51Vickery's reputation endured substantial damage as a result of the case.
14:55In November 1993, the mental health professional was set to testify on the brother's behalf,
15:00but upon meeting with Abramson beforehand, the lawyer was distressed to find that Vickery's
15:04notes had the potential to hurt their defense.
15:06I've spent most of my life building my body up, trying to eat right, and low fat, and
15:13carbo-loading, and now this stuff.
15:16Eric, you're just wasting your money here.
15:18Abramson asked Vickery to edit his notes to remove the most damning parts.
15:22Vickery complied, and this went unnoticed until April 1996, when Abramson accidentally
15:27submitted Vickery's original notes to the court.
15:30Eric and Lyle's subsequent request for a mistrial, filed after this had come to light,
15:34was unsuccessful.
15:35My job is to help you get to the bottom of all this, but trust me when I say I cannot
15:41do that unless you start being honest with me, like really honest.
15:47Eric and Lyle appeared in the background of a trading card.
15:50Someone recently discovered an old NBA trading card, and in the background of the card, you
15:56can see the Menendez brothers sitting courtside.
16:00Did you know that the Menendez brothers made their mark not only on pop culture, but on
16:04sports history too?
16:05To be clear, this wasn't because of their athletic accomplishments.
16:08No.
16:09Eric and Lyle's contribution to sports comes in the form of a totally unplanned, totally
16:13left-field coincidence.
16:14You push into the background.
16:16Those are the real Menendez brothers.
16:19Yes, this photo was taken a couple of days after the Menendez brothers murdered their parents.
16:24The brothers, in their months-long nearly million-dollar spending spree, were photographed at a New
16:29York Knicks game, and ended up in the background of a trading card featuring the Knicks then
16:33point guard Mark Jackson.
16:35This wasn't unearthed until nearly 30 years later, when Steven Zurantz, a true crime fan
16:40and amateur investigator, was searching for proof that the brothers' post-crime escapades
16:44had happened as described.
16:45They took a picture at the basketball game, and that became the NBA card.
16:50Wow.
16:50Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
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17:06Misconduct allegations against Jose Menendez have surfaced.
17:10While there was little doubt that Lyle and Eric Menendez were responsible for taking their
17:19parents' lives, speculation and debate persist to this day as to the why of it all.
17:24The two sides are represented on Netflix's Monsters.
17:27Either you believe that the brothers did what they did because of abuse and trauma, or
17:30it was because they feared they would be denied a substantial inheritance.
17:34Regardless of individual beliefs, the former camp was validated by 2023 claims from Roy
17:39Rossello, formerly of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, who claimed that Jose Menendez had
17:44assaulted him at the age of 14.
17:47Today, the allegations are being denounced by Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Anderson.
17:52What was your reaction when you heard about this, sir?
17:55I think that's absurd.
17:56Which part of Monsters' The Lyle and Eric Menendez story shocked you the most?
18:00Let us know in the comments.
18:01I don't believe a word you are saying if I am the jury.
18:09Have a great day.
18:16I don't believe a word you are saying if I am the jury.
18:21I never know what a word you are saying.
18:23I don't believe a word.
18:24I think that's true.
18:25I don't believe the word you are saying there is a cure.
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