In Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Cooper Koch, who portrays Erik Menendez, said to News, “I can only hope that the justice system makes the right decision. I totally stand with them and support them.”
The brothers were found guilty of killing Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, their parents, several times at close range on August 20, 1989, at the family’s Beverly Hills, California, estate. At the time, their ages were 18 and 21.
The brothers’ defense team argued throughout their trial that they killed their victims in self-defense following years of alleged sexual, emotional, and physical abuse.
The prosecution claimed that the boys killed their parents out of avarice and to prevent being disinherited.
The brothers’ first trial resulted in a mistrial, but after a second joint trial, they were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder and given life sentences without the possibility of release.
