Les Frères Menendez

I waited to watch this documentary instead of the Monsters series that came before it as I'm generally more fascinated to hear from the actual people involved in the case, rather than actors pretending they were there. This documentary is certainly intended to be more sympathetic to the brothers, however I still like the fact it uses real footage of the trial, the media reporting at the time, that you get to hear from actual jurors and the brothers themselves. You can go back and forth about what the documentary left out; those who don't believe the brothers will criticize it that it's too sympathetic to them, equally those who do believe them can point out to more testimony and evidence of their abuse that the documentary didn't show.

Regardless which side of the fence you come down on, I find it very difficult one can argue that their second trial allowed them a fair opportunity to put forward a defense. To not allow numerous testimony from family members, doctors, photos, letters etc that could potentially show how they were abused for years which is central to the defense's explanation of what influenced their actions that night feels incredibly prejudicial. Whether the jury then accepts this version of events is a separate matter, but surely the point of the judicial process is that they have the opportunity to hear the evidence for it. Certainly I think there was political pressure to not allow another acquittal of a high profile defendant for murder with OJ Simpson being acquitted just a week prior to much of the public's disgust. These two factors I think greatly taint their second trial and the inevitable verdict from it that they've now served 34 years for.

The prosecutor Pamela comes off as very unlikable towards the end as well. It's fine if she doesn't believe them, and while I agree TikTok in general is a stain on society, to facetiously joke you'd use a firearm in defense against "TikTok people" as you in the same breath rubbish the Menendez's defence of using a firearm against their alleged abuser is a staggering lack of self-awareness. She also dismisses the social media 'campaigns' for them to be released, which, youthful exuberance and folly aside I'm sure hold little legal grounds, but she does so by acting incredulous that that would make a mockery of the justice process. "Why don't we hold TikTok trials or a poll" she says with indignation, but apparently she's fine with a judge not admitting the majority of a defense's evidence and unfairly influencing the outcome of a trial.

I'm not sure how much legal basis there is for them to have another trial since they already had an appeal denied. I'm sure there are legal minds already exploring options with this case in the spotlight again, so the saga might yet continue in the coming years. Society today is certainly more acknowledging of sexual abuse victims, and how grooming and power dynamics affects how they react to their abuse. If you accept they were abused, and there's certainly much testimony and evidence to support it, then 34 years in jail from a tainted second trial in the 90s when abuse against boys/men was largely ignored feels like an injustice.

Having watched the other Netflix show on the Menendez Brother in Monsters, I walked away still feeling like I wasn't sure what really happened. We can all have an opinion but I hope not everyone watches that show and thinks they can without a doubt know what happened because they filled in so many wholes with speculation it's marred the true facts.

This documentary was very good in hearing from the brothers as well as other important figures during the trials. It also highlights without a doubt that the second trial was a farce and that the brothers deserve in the very least an appeal. I believe they were both sexually abused and although this is no means a reason to murder your parents, I feel if they had of had a fair second trial, they would have received a manslaughter conviction. This means, and I agree, they have paid their dues to society and should be released. This is my opinion but the law must make a decision on their outcome, which is in discussion now. I hope this time they hear all the testimonial evidence from the relatives and finally give these boys a fair hearing.

Finally, a complete revelation of the facts. When children (or anyone) are subjected to systematic psychological and sexual abuse, they are emotionally and mentally dysregulated.

People asking, "why don't they leave, why don't they tell the police?"...do not understand how psychological control works. Their family was a cult of 4. These brothers were completely irrational, illogical...mentally unwell.

Of course they were! Anyone who had lived their torturous childhood would be the same.

This documentary includes corroborating stories to support the disgusting abusive nature of their father, and the lack of care from their mother.

Sometimes with this type of abuse there is only one way out. If you have not experienced it personally, you wouldn't understand.

Like many people I'm sure, I came to this off the back off the recent Netflix drama 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' and I wanted to know more on the factual side behind the case. While the latter was well made and entertaining (if that's the right word, when the details are considered), I wish I'd just gone straight to this as there's none of the keep you guessing ambiguity of the drama which given what's at stake and having now seen both, seems quite unfair to the brothers. There's nothing fancy here, it's a meat and potatoes crime documentary of the like we've all seen many times before. But it gets the facts across and conveys the injustice of the 2nd court case well.

Judge Stanley Weisberg is corrupt and should be in prison. After having watched the actual trial he was biased from the very start of the first trial. He showed great preference to the prosecution, he would object to nearly every one of the defence's questions and block them and let the prosecution ask ridiculous questions and make atrocious statements. Not to mention he removed all of the abuse testimonies and evidence from the second trial. And there was a lot of evidence of abuse. As for the documentary itself, it was good however after having watched the actual trial it missed out so much of the abuse that these brothers especially Erik endured at both the hands of their parents. There was so much evidence, in the form of photos, medical reports and not to mention the various testimonies from doctors, coaches and family members. I felt that the documentary missed this out. It speaks volumes that not one person other than his paid secretary was a character witness for the father. They were abused in many ways by both parents and I hope that they are free soon. They have served enought time, they deserve a chance at a life.