The Menendez brothers, who murdered their parents, are the chilling subjects of Netflix’s new true crime docuseries

Following the runaway success of the first Monster, focused on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Netflix has ordered two more instalments and turned the series into an anthology that will tell “stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society.” The first season currently stands as Netflix’s third most popular English-language series ever of its first 28 days of release.

The latest season will focus on the Menendez brothers, who were found guilty of murdering their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez, in 1996 and are currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. While the prosecution suggested that the brothers killed their parents for the multimillion-dollar inheritance, the brothers claimed that they murdered José and Kitty in fear of their father killing them after they threatened to publicly reveal their father’s sexual, emotional and physical abuse.

Two family members, Diane Vander Molen and Andy Cano, testified during trial that both Lyle and Erik admitted to them that José was sexually abusing them during different parts of their lives. Vander Molen shared the information with Kitty, who supposedly labelled Lyle’s claims as lies, and it was never spoken about again. However, in the recent Peacock docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, Roy Rosselló of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo also claimed that he was sexually assaulted as a teen by José.

Despite the success of the first series, it was soon condemned by many viewers who felt it was exploitative. Families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims also spoke out, saying the series was re-traumatising.