Lyle Menendez.
TheMenendez Brothersare the focus of a new Fox Nation docuseries featuring an interview withLyle Menendezin prison.
In a clip fromMenendez Brothers: Victims or Villainsshared with PEOPLE, Lyle says at the time of his trial, he believed prosecutors were cognizant of the sexual abuse that he and his brother claim they suffered.
“I think looking back 34 years now on the trials, Erik and I and our family thought we were going into a manslaughter case with a district attorney that understood the traumatic impact that sexual violence creates in a person,” Lyle says in the clip. “And we ended up with the same sentence as a serial killer.”
Erik, left, and Lyle Menendez.VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty
VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty
The four-part series, streaming on Fox Nation, also features interviews with the brothers’ attorney Mark Geragos and prosecutor Pamela Bozanich. It will also feature contributions fromRosie O’Donnell, who interviewed Lyle and Erik in prison in 2023,Adam Carollaand formerSNLcast memberDarrell Hammond.
The Menendez brothers do not dispute that they killed their parents, but instead have tried to explain why it happened. The exclusive interview with Lyle includes him discussing sexual violence that he says he faced.
“I know as an adult that that sexual violence in a household creates a space in which otherwise non-violent people can do the unthinkable,” Lyle says.
Prosecutors did not buy the abuse claims during the trials, pointing to the fact that when they confessed to the killings in therapy, they didn’t mention the alleged abuse.
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But in an interview withCBSthat aired earlier in March, Lyle revealed why they didn’t share those claims.
“Just shame,” he claimed. “Just not wanting it to be public.”
Lyle Menendez.Kim Kulish/Sygma via Getty
Kim Kulish/Sygma via Getty
In that 2023 series, former Menudo member Roy Rosselló alleged that Jose, who was an RCA Records executive, drugged and raped him in the 1980s. The petition also includes a letter that attorneys claim Erik sent to his cousin months before the shooting that detailed Jose’s abuse.
During over three decades in prison, the Menendez brothers have remained hopeful that a release is possible. But they still remain behind bars.
“Every day we watch people parole,” Lyle tells Fox Nation. “And 34 years later, you know, Erik and I are still waiting.”
source: people.com
