Menendez Brothers Speak From Prison in Netflix Documentary Trailer

Erik and Lyle Menendez phones from Donovan Correctional Facility in official Netflix trailer The Menendez BrothersStreaming October 7, the documentary features new interviews with the brothers as they reflect on their parents’ murder nearly three decades ago and the sensationalized trial that followed.

“Everyone is wondering why we killed our parents,” Erik says in the trailer. “Maybe now people can understand the truth.” Director Alejandro Hartmann’s documentary intersects the Menéndez brothers’ first-hand accounts with commentary from prosecutor Pamela Bozanich, their cousin Diane Vander Molen and other experts from the 1996 trial for the murders of José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez. The brothers are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In the trailer, Erik says, “Lyle was the only person who ever protected me. What happened that night is very well-known, but there’s a lot that’s not been told.” Looking back on the trial, Bozanich says she knew all along that their motive for murder was “simple greed.” The brothers have maintained that it wasn’t about wealth at all, but rather years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. “Two kids don’t do this crime for money and there are people who don’t think I should spend the rest of my life in prison,” Erik says, with Lyle adding, “We’d rather lose the murder trial than talk about dirty family secrets.”

Both brothers and experts featured in the documentary comment on the sensationalism surrounding the murder trial, which has since morphed into a growing movement of Menéndez defenders on TikTok. But even as a new generation forms its own opinions about the case, as one expert puts it, “there’s no evidence that they’re not guilty.” Bozanich is particularly irritated by this, saying, “I’m telling you now that it’s all fake — and if you don’t know it’s fake, it pisses me off.”

The Menendez Brothers comes right after Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Historywhich aired on Netflix last week. The series recreated scenes from the night of the murder and the events that followed. It also included some creative liberties taken by Murphy, including a seemingly incestuous plotline that drew backlash from viewers as well as Erik Menéndez and his wife Tammi.

“I thought we were past the lies and disastrous portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in the horrific and blatant lies that run rampant throughout the show,” Erik wrote in a statement shared by Tammi on social media. “I can only believe they were done on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say that I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this without ill intent.”

Following the release of the series and the statements that followed, actor Cooper Koch — who played Erik in Monsters — visited the two brothers in prison alongside Kim Kardashian. Koch and Kardashian spoke to a group of about 40 inmates, according to the Hollywood ReporterTheir conversation reportedly focused on prison reform and also featured Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Anti-Recidivist Coalition founder Scott Budnick.