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Can the Netflix Documentary Get the Menendez Brothers Pardoned ? · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You know, so with the Menendez brothers, everybody's got to
• 0:02
  take right even now. Yeah, so we're diving into the stack.
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  You brought the articles, the new documentary. It's a time
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  capsule this case. It is. It is not just the crime,
• 0:11
  but how we saw justice back then, abuse the media.
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  It's crazy how different things were in eighty nine.
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting you say time capsule, because that summer in
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  that Beverly Hills mansion, it became a touchstone for us,
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  that initial shock, you know, money hiding this potential darkness.
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  It got everyone's attention way before the trial.
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  Speaker 1: Oh for sure. But let's back up a second. For
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  anyone who wasn't glued to the TV like some of us,
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  two successful parents shot in their own home. It's easy
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  to see how that story took hold at first exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Jose and Kitty Menendez right, found shot to death, and
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  their sons Lyle and Eric just overcome with grief. Seemingly.
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  It was like something out of a movie, which is
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  why I think it blew up so fast. The media
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  loved it, Oh.
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  Speaker 1: Totally, life imitating art, especially in Beverly Hills. Yeah, but
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  then the trial starts and here comes court TV. Now,
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  This was huge back then for those who remember, groundbreaking totally.
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  Speaker 2: It wasn't just about the Menendez brothers anymore. It was
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  our living rooms were the courtroom. Basically.
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  Speaker 1: That's so great.
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  Speaker 2: People planning their days around testimonies, arguing legal strategy at work.
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  It was the show to watch because of that NonStop coverage.
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  Speaker 1: And that's what's so interesting, because you've got this horrific crime,
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  a double murder, right, but then there's this spectacle happening
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  at the same time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and that's what makes this case so important still,
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  the jokes, the merch even just how Lyle and Eric looked,
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  I know, right, all that mixed up fascination, but also
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  a weird detachment some people, it seemed like the seriousness
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  of it all. It was almost beside the point compared
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  to the entertainment.
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  Speaker 1: Which is something we still deal with, right, true crimes
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  everywhere now. Yeah, and the Menendas case with Court TV
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  putting all that footage online, hmm, it's like they created
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  the playbook almost totally.
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  Speaker 2: A whole new generation is discovering this, forming opinions based
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  on what a few minutes of video social media comments.
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  Speaker 1: It really makes you think.
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  Speaker 2: It raises some big questions about how we consume this
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  kind of stuff, the responsibility of the people making it
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  and us watching.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a case study and how true crime became
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  what it is, all starting with that media explosion back
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  in eighty nine. So we've got this gripping crime, this
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  media circus unlike anything before it. And then the trial
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  takes a turn and it's the brother's defense that becomes
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  the story.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's when everything changes, right it does. It's not
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  who doing it anymore, it's what led to it, the defense.
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  They just dropped this bomb. Years of alleged abuse by
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  the very people they're accused of killing.
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  Speaker 1: It really did shock everyone, courtroom, the media, everyone watching
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  at home.
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  Speaker 2: I bet suddenly the story slipped completely. Lyle and Eric,
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  these rich kids right now, they're the victims trapped in
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  this awful.
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  Speaker 1: It made you think about what was going on, buying
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  closed doors, what we don't see exactly.
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  Speaker 2: I can't imagine being on that jury. You're deciding these
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  guys fates, and it's just gotten so much more complicated,
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  and you got to remember what it was like back then,
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  talking about abuse. It happened, but not like today, not
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  as openly anyway, Right, this case. It kind of forced
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  people to deal with stuff that made them uncomfortable. Family secrets,
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  the possibility that someone's hurting.
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  Speaker 1: And that's a debate that's still going, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Oh?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, can someone be both a victim and we'll do
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  something horrible? Is there ever an excuse even if something
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  terrible happened to you?
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  Speaker 2: Huge questions and no easy answers. But that's what's kept
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  people coming back to this case. It's morally messy. You're
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  in the gray areas and the documentaries the Menendez Brothers monsters,
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  they dive into all that alleged abuse they do.
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  Speaker 1: It makes you rethink everything.
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  Speaker 2: They want you to re examine what you think you
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  know about the brothers about that night.
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  Speaker 1: But it's not just documentaries. Right even before this true
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  crime boomed, this case it's stuck with people. And then
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  there's Kim Kardashian. Oh yeah, you don't see that every
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  day someone that famous, Yeah, getting involved.
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  Speaker 2: What she did, she's definitely brought more attention to it,
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  and she's been pretty vocal right about law, criminal justice totally.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, she visited Eric in prison, even wrote that whole
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  thing about their sentences, how it should be look at
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  again because of the abuse.
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  Speaker 2: It's really interesting when you think about it, is that's
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  the power of fame, I guess, but also maybe some
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  problems with it too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Like on the one hand, she's got this huge platform,
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  so more people are hearing about this case again, maybe
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  thinking about it differently.
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  Speaker 2: And it's reaching a whole new audience, people who weren't
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  even born when the trial happens.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. But then is it right should someone famous get
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  to influence things like that? What about bias in the system?
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  Does that become a factor.
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  Speaker 2: It's a valid concern. It makes you think about how
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  these things should work. Who has the power to change narrative?
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  Speaker 1: And what's so powerful now I think is hearing from
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  Lyle and Eric themselves, you know, years later, totally their side,
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  but they think about it all now. It adds this
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  whole other dimension.
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  Speaker 2: It's what makes that the Menendaz Brothers documentary so compelling.
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  You see where they're at now, the regrets and they
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  admit to some pretty shocking stuff even about that night.
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  Oh like what, well they could have been caught right
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  then if things had gone a little differently, I.
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  Speaker 1: Know, right, it's wild considering how much they've planned it
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  all out exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Eric talks about the gunpowder on their hands, how he
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  thinks if the cops had pushed harder that night right there,
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  he would have broke it. He even says, we had
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  no alibi. The gunpowder residue was all over our hands,
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  and if they would have just pressed me, I wouldn't
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  have been able to withstand any questioning.
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  Speaker 1: Wow and Lyle, He admits he wanted to hide the
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  abuse no matter what. I deeply did not want to
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  talk about anything that had happened in our past. My
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  main concern was trying tooid that at all costs. Yeah,
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  it makes you wonder if they'd said something then right away,
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  would it be different now?
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  Speaker 2: Impossible to know, but it definitely makes you think about
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  their lawyers, about how the public wood reacted back then.
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  Fascinating how those choices still matter so.
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  Speaker 1: Much, especially with this news the DA looking into the case. Again.
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  This isn't just history anymore. It's like true crime in
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  real time. Right.
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  Speaker 2: It shows you how much this case still resonates. The
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  documentaries Ki Kardashian, and it's not just the Menendez brothers either.
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  There's new stuff like that book The Menendez Murders and
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  the series Menendez plus Menudo Boys Betrayed. Apparently there's some
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  pretty disturbing allegations in those. Even the DA said, we
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  have a moral and ethical obligation to review what is
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  being presented to us.
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  Speaker 1: So what's it mean? Could Lyle and Eric actually go free?
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  Speaker 2: Too soon to tell? Could be months even years for
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  this review and no guarantees, right right, there's a whole
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  legal process. Maybe this new stuff, it'll lead to appeals
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  like they had bad lawyers or something, maybe even asking
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  for clemency. Who knows.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot to wrap our heads around. We started
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  with what seemed like an open and shutcase. Now it's
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  abuse allegations, the media storm for decades, and now maybe
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  the legal system's got to figure that out all over again.
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  Speaker 2: And at the heart of it, are Lyle and Eric victims?
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  Are they guilty or could they be both? That's what's
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  so hard about this case. It's not just about the
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  law anymore. It's about how we all of us deal
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  with these really complicated things abuse justice. What we choose
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  to believe.
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  Speaker 1: Makes you think, when we dig into these true crime stories,
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  you know, these stark contents things, what's our responsibility? We're fascinating, sure,
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  but these are real people with real lives that changed forever.
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  That's something to keep in mind even after this deep
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  dive is over.