Jose Menendez, the Havana, Cuba, immigrant and Hollywood exec who was shot dead, along with his wife, Kitty, will have another movie and documentary based on the shocking events. Menendez: Blood Brothers on Lifetime and ID’s special Blood Ties: The Menendez Brothers will air the story of parent killers Erik and Lyle Menendez, two Beverly Hills brothers who murdered their parents in their California home. Today, the “blood brothers” are in prison serving life sentences for the killings that made headlines over two decades ago. Lifetime Television’s movie Menendez: Blood Brothers was directed by Daniel Bollag and written by Daniel and Yumiko Bollag. The chilling movie stars Courtney Love, Myko Olivier, Benito Martinez, and Nico Tortorella.
Lifetime TV’s Menendez: Blood Brothers and ID’s Blood Ties: The Menendez Brothers
If the O.J. Simpson trial was the “trial of the century,” the Menendez brothers trial was right on its tail. Shown on Court TV in 1993, the trial fascinated the public and created a media frenzy. It was dotted with several salacious details, including money, sex, lies, secrets, and murder.
Slated as a thriller based on the true story, Menendez: Blood Brothers retraces the tragic 1989 deaths of Jose and Kitty Menendez, who were shot multiple times with a shotgun as they watched television in their mansion. The assault was so brutal and so calculated that, at first, it appeared they had been murdered by gangsters.
To get a clearer picture of the brutality of the assault, Lifetime’s Blood Brothers will dramatize how Erik, 18, and Lyle, 21, shot Kitty Menendez multiple times as she tried to get away. The autopsy reports gave even more graphic details. The couple was shot around 14 times in total, which distorted the bodies, and according to the book The Politics of Child Abuse in America by Lela B. Costin, Howard Jacob Karger, and David Stoesz, the back of Jose Menendez’ head was shot completely off.
A new Lifetime movie paints the Menendez brothers as victims driven to murder by years of abuse. https://t.co/qDvLjOvfV1 pic.twitter.com/hSeykqD7gj
— Inside Edition (@InsideEdition) June 2, 2017
Did Jose Menendez Crave Sex With His Son?
According to Erik Menendez, he absolutely did. According to his statements, Jose Menendez started sexually abusing him around the age of 6. From that point on, as dramatized in Menendez: Blood Brothers , the sexual molestation continued up until his father’s death. In his confession, he told of nights when he would see his father’s shadow entering his bedroom. If Erik is to be believed, Jose Menendez forced different types of sex on his son, which Erik referred to as sex, nice sex, knees, and rough sex, according to the Los Angeles Times .
And there was more. Jose told Erik that if he ever uttered a word to anyone, he’d kill him. Lyle had his own version of events. According to him, his mother, Kitty Menendez, who he described as strange, liked for him to touch her when they were in bed together, the Los Angeles Times continued.
“When he was a young boy, Kitty would show him pictures of her in a bathing suit or lacy black undergarment. When he was 11, she would go topless in front of him, wear an open robe or go naked. Sometimes, she would ask him how she looked. It was about then, that he shared her bed and she washed him in the bathtub. There were times that Jose Menendez also was in bed with them.”
The story is engrossing, but is it true?
Prosecutors believe the motive was all about money. The Menendez brothers wanted to get their hands on the $14 million inheritance. With their parents gone, Erik and Lyle could also have the palatial home. The allegations of sexual abuse were just an afterthought that could help with their defense. However, there was one cousin who stated that she believed the allegations were true.
Like the prosecutors, many people who knew Kitty and Jose Menendez said they were loving and devoted parents, a previous Inquisitr article noted.
“Kitty Menendez was a former beauty queen, and her husband, 45-year-old Jose Menendez, a Cuban-immigrant who worked his way up to a top executive position. The opulent couple had worked so hard to provide for their boys and make a good life here in America.”
This is going to be beyond amazing! @Courtney as Kitty Menéndez? Yes, please. And thank you. @lifetimetv #MenendezBloodBrothers pic.twitter.com/jkqfZzu6gg
— Rose R Perry, JD (@SipWatchTweet) May 28, 2017
It seems uncommon, but a child’s desire to get rid of his parents by killing them happens all the time. In fact, the statistics show that at least one million parents are the victims of murder.
In addition to the Menendez: Blood Brothers Lifetime movie and Investigation Discovery’s Blood Ties documentary, the story of Erik and Lyle Menendez was played out on two previous documentaries in the past year, Oxygen’s Snapped and Reelz’ Murder Made Me Famous .
Courtney Love as Kitty Menendez in Lifetime’s Menendez Brother movie, “Menendez: Blood Brothers,” airing June 10 pic.twitter.com/Cdm1oqhzf0
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) May 9, 2017
Where Are Erik and Lyle Menendez Now?
The latest research from People states that they are both married while incarcerated. They still keep in touch regularly by prison mail. In a previous Inquisitr article, it was revealed that the Menendez blood brothers are not allowed to have “official” conjugal visits with their wives.
The word official is used since many prison stories reveal that famous inmates or inmates with money are allowed the favor of having sex with their wives even when the prison doesn’t allow conjugal visits. There are only a few prisons in the United States that allow such visits: California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, and Washington. However, the Menendez brothers are not allowed to participate since they are serving life sentences without the chance of parole.
It appears that Lifetime is redoing some of the classic true crime movies. Two movies about the Menendez brothers’ aired for years on the Lifetime Channel. Although they were not Lifetime original movies. Honor Thy Father and Mother : The Menendez Murders first aired on FOX in 1994. That same year, CBS aired Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills.
The world premiere of Menendez: Blood Brothers begins on Lifetime Television this Sunday, at 8/7 p.m. Central. A follow-up documentary titled Beyond the Headlines: Murder in the Family will air just after the world premiere. The two-hour ID special Blood Ties: The Menendez Brothers airs at 8 p.m. this Saturday.
After the movie, let us know your thoughts about this new movie. Does it top the old true crime movies based on this case?
[Featured Image by A+E Networks]