Menendez brothers, convicted of killing parents, defended by relatives as they fight for freedom

The relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez — popularly known just as the Menendez brothers — are standing up for the two men convicted of shooting both their parents to death in their Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, mansion in 1989.

Joseph Menendez, who goes by his middle name Lyle, and his brother, Erik, shot their parents, Jose and Mary "Kitty" Menendez. They were both convicted in the murders and ordered to serve life in prison in 1996, but they have recently been seeking reduced sentences.

"We are virtually the entire extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez. We are 24 strong and today we want the world to know we support Erik and Lyle," their family wrote in a statement that Erik's wife, Tammi Menendez, posted to X on Thursday in response to a new series about their lives and crimes. "We individually and collectively pray for their release after being imprisoned for 35 years. We know them, love them, and want them home with us."

Their group statement comes in response to a new Netflix show called "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," which premiered on Netflix last week. 

MENENDEZ BROTHER, WHO GUNNED DOWN PARENTS, SLAMS NEW SHOW FOR ‘DISHONEST PORTRAYAL’

Erik and Lyle Menendez listen during their trial in the 1990s. (Ted Soqui/Sygma)

"Monsters" is advertised as a "true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills."

But the Menendez brothers' family members describe it as "a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods, but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations," they said in their statement posted to X. 

"We know these men. We grew up with them since they were boys."

— The Menendez family

"Our family has been victimized by this grotesque shockudrama. Murphy claims he spent years researching the case but in the end relied on debunked Dominick Dunne, the pro-prosecution hack, to justify his slander against us and never spoke to us," the statement reads. "The character assassination of Erik and Lyle, who are our nephews and cousins, under the guise of a ‘storytelling narrative’ is repulsive. We know these men. We grew up with them since they were boys. We love them and to this very day we are close to them."

Lyle, left, and Erik, right, are pictured in recent mugshots from 2023. After years apart, they were moved into the same housing unit at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego in 2018, according to the New York Daily News. (California Department of Corrections)

Erik Menendez published his own statement through Tammi on X prior to his family's message, saying the show creates "a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show." 

"It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women," Erik said in his statement shared by Tammi. 

THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS: MONSTERS OR MISUNDERSTOOD?

Menendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November, 1989.  (Ronald L. Soble / Los Angeles Times)

Lyle's family members posted a separate reaction to the show on Facebook.

"So these ‘writers/creators’ got up in the morning, ate their cornflakes, and went to an office where they decided to lie about rape survivors who have suffered every single day of their life. The professionals did this for money. How ironic," they wrote on a public Facebook page where they speak on Lyle's behalf while he is in prison.  "Never forget: There was more evidence of abuse in the first trial than there is in most successful child abuse prosecutions."

LYLE MENENDEZ, WHO SHOTGUNNED PARENTS TO DEATH WITH BROTHER, PLANS FOR LIFE AFTER PRISON AMID NEW APPEAL

His family went on to describe the show as "the most awful fictional mini series" that they "have ever seen."

Trial of the Menendez brothers in Los Angeles - Lyle Menendez with his attorney : Jill Lansing. Los Angeles, 9th March 1994.  ( Ted Soqui/Sygma)

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The brothers' attorneys have argued they should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, in which case they already would have been released from prison.

A separate documentary about the brothers titled "The Menendez Brothers" is scheduled to premiere on Oct. 7. The film promises to "offer another perspective — that of the brothers themselves, provided in all-new audio interviews," according to a press release. It will also detail the brothers' allegations that their father sexually assaulted them.

Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.