The ten episode series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (read our review HERE) was such a huge success for the Netflix streaming service last fall, Netflix ordered two more seasons of the show from creators Ian Brennan and American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy. Last month, it was announced that the second season will be titled Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story – and Deadline reports that Nicholas Alexander Chavez (General Hospital) and Cooper Koch (They/Them) have been cast in the lead roles, with Chavez playing Lyle and Koch playing Erik.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will tell the story of the brothers, who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents. José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez were fatally shot in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. Erik and Lyle were not the initial suspects in the killings, though police began to investigate their involvement in the months after. Erik eventually confessed to his psychologist Jerome Oziel, who told his mistress, Judalon Smyth. Smyth would become a key witness in the brothers’ trial. During the trial, the brothers said they’d committed the murders out of self defense after a lifetime of abuse from their parents, particularly their father. They were tried separately, and both juries deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial. They were later tried together and found guilty. Erik and Lyle were sentenced to life without parole and remain incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Southern California. The first trial enthralled the nation when it was broadcast on Court TV, and it is often thought to have helped usher in the modern fascination with true crime. A judge later ruled that cameras would not be allowed in the court room for the second trial.
Soon after Monsters was announced, there was a new development in the Menendez case, as the brothers “filed documents asking for a new hearing in response to former Menudo bandmember Roy Rosselló’s claims he was molested by José Menendez at the age of 14.”
Deadline notes that Chavez and Koch were actually cast as Lyle and Erik Menendez before the writers strike began, and Murphy hasn’t been involved with Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in any capacity since going on strike.
Are you interested in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story? What do you think of Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch being cast as the brothers? Let us know by leaving a comment below.