Menendez Brothers: Misjudged?, a special documentary from ID, will examine the notorious courtroom trial of Lyle and Erik Menendez in the 1990s, where they confessed to killing their parents. This Sunday, August 7, 2022, at 9:00 p.m. ET, the exclusive will air on Investigation Discovery and Discovery+.
“The spectacular trial of the Menendez Brothers was shown live on Court TV thirty years ago, and the entire country watched it. Now, a whole new generation is discovering their story for the first time thanks to TikTok and social media. The 911 call, the crime scene images, and the Rolexes were among the details of the murder that remained etched in our collective memory.”
It also continues:
“The popular storyline, which claims that two lads from Beverly Hills killed their parents out of avarice and then made up a fantastic story to get away with it, continues to make people laugh all around the country. However, as Gen Z learns about the case three decades later, they witness the tale of two boys who endured horrifying abuse at the hands of their mother, father, and the media. Did we make a mistake?”
The unique documentary will examine the case from a brand-new perspective that is entirely different from others currently available because it was one of the most high-profile and prominent cases of the 1990s. According to the narrative, Menendez Brothers: Misjudged? will likely revisit the situation, depicting Erik and Lyle as abuse victims, and will reexamine the thrilling spectacle of a trial that kept the country on edge for years.
Continue reading to find out more about the case and the reasons the Menendez brothers acted in the way they did in 1989, many years ago.
Why did Jose and Kitty Menendez’s children, the Menendez brothers, kill them?
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Menendez Brothers case captivated the news, mostly due to the brazenness with which Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered their parents Jose and Kitty in their home.
On August 20, 1989, the two brothers ambushed their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills estate while they were watching TV on the couch and fired 15 shots at them with the shotguns they had just bought. Lyle (21) showed to have better shooting skills than Erik (18), who claimed to have fired first: He fatally shot Kitty in the face and also hit Jose in the back of the head.
The eldest brother was the one who very conveniently concocted a fib to 911 in order to alert them of the find they had made after arriving home from the movies. He called the police and exclaimed in a frenzied voice,
“Our parents were murdered!”
The Menendez brothers then used the wealth of their family to engage in extravagant travel, parties, and purchases that their parents would not have otherwise permitted.
The Menendez Brothers reportedly suffered abuse for years
Erik and Lyle testified that both of their parents severely abused them physically, emotionally, and sexually during the 1993 joint trial, which electrified the country before ending in a mistrial. There was plenty of physical evidence and family members who backed up their claims, but the prosecution insisted that the homicides were committed for financial gain.
The Menendez brothers each had to go through their own trial because the jury was unable to reach a verdict. During this trial, they were both found guilty and were sentenced to two different jails for life in 1996.
Rob Rand Wants the Menendez Brothers to Receive Justice
Erik, who is now 51 years old, testified about the trauma they experienced, which eventually led them to murder their birthmothers.
“I murdered my two closest friends. My dad was the best. You know, after killing someone, how much rage is too much? I cherished my parents. That is actually my prison. I am excited to pass away.”
He said, “To further explain,”
53-year-old Lyle apparently discussed the act he did decades ago in an interview from 2017. He stated:
“No amount of tears or guilt has been able to change the fact that I am the child who actually killed his parents. I agree with that. You know, it’s common to let a few key experiences in your life define who you are, but that’s not who you are overall. Your life is everything you are.”
Menendez Brothers: Misjudged? will be broadcast on ID on August 7, 2022, at 9 p.m. ET. Watch to learn more about the scandalous Beverly Hills case from the 1990s.