Following the surprise success of “Dahmer,” Ryan Murphy returns to Netflix on September 19 with “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” the second installment in his true crime anthology series.
After murdering their parents in 1989, the Menendez brothers became household names in the early 1990s when their criminal trial was broadcast nationally. Erik Menendez’s legal team, led by attorney Leslie Abramson, argued the murders were self-defense against the brothers’ abusive father, Jose Menendez, and their complacent mother, Kitty Menendez. Pam Bozanich, one of the prosecutors, argued the motive was financial gain, which was reinforced by the Menendez brothers’ lavish spending of the family fortune after the murders.
The first trial ended in a hung jury. The Menendez brothers’ case was held over until 1995, when they were called for a retrial. The second trial attracted less attention because cameras were banned in the courtroom. After the trial, Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 2, 1996.
Find out below who Lyle Menendez, Erik Menendez, Kitty Menendez, José Menendez and the rest of the actors will play in connection with the infamous trial.
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Jose Menendez
Photo credit: Getty/ABC YouTube
Javier Bardem plays José Menendez, a wealthy businessman and violent father of Lyle and Erik Menendez. José Menendez and his wife Kitty Menendez were murdered by their sons on August 20, 1989.
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Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menendez
Photo credit: Getty/ABC YouTube
Chloë Sevigny plays Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, the mother of Lyle and Erik Menendez. The Menendez brothers’ defense argued that Kitty Menendez was an alcoholic and drug addict who tolerated physical abuse at the hands of her husband. Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered her on August 20, 1989.
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Lyle Menendez
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Nicholas Chavez (“General Hospital”) plays Lyle Menendez, the older brother of Erik Menendez. The two became household names after thousands of Americans watched their murder trial in the early 1990s. On July 2, 1996, he and his brother were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of their parents.
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Erik Menendez
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Cooper Koch (“Swallowed,” “They/Them”) plays Erik Menendez, the younger brother of Lyle Menendez. Before his crimes, Erik Menendez was a tennis prodigy and was at one point ranked 44th in the United States. On July 2, 1996, Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of their parents.
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Dominic Dunne
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Nathan Lane will play Dominick Dunne, a Vanity Fair journalist who covered the Menendez brothers murder trial extensively.
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Leslie Abramson
Photo credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Netflix | Lucy Nicholson-Pool/Getty Images
Ari Graynor (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) plays Leslie Abramson, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney and lead attorney for Erik Menendez, who argues that the Menendez brothers’ crimes are justified because of their parents’ abuse.
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Jerome Oziel
Photo credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Netflix | Court TV
Dallas Roberts (“Glass Onion”) plays Dr. Jerome Oziel, Erik Menendez’s therapist and personal confidant.
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Judalon Smyth
Photo credit: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images | Court TV
Leslie Grossman (“American Horror Story”) plays Judalon Smyth, a former lover and patient of Erik Menendez’s therapist Dr. Jerome Oziel. After Oziel confided in Smyth that Menendez had confessed to murdering his parents, she reported it to the police, leading to Menendez’s arrest.
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The Zoellers
Photo credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic | Court TV
Jason Butler Harner (“Ozark”) plays Les Zoeller, the Beverly Hills detective who leads the investigation into the Menendez brothers’ murder case.
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Carlos Baralt
Photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images | Court TV
Enrique Murciano (“The Night Agent”) plays Carlos Baralt, the uncle of Lyle and Erik Menendez and brother-in-law of José Menendez.
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