In the lucrative world of true crime entertainment, the 1989 murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their adult sons Lyle and Erik still loom large.
Three decades since the brothers' televised trial captivated the nation, they've been the subject of multiple made-for-TV movies, documentaries, a "Saturday Night Live" parody, podcast episodes, and, most recently, Ryan Murphy's controversial Netflix series "Monsters."
But amid a sea of Menendez content, Alejandro Hartmann's new Netflix documentary has one thing most Menendez docs don't: both brothers telling their story in their own words.
"The Menendez Brothers," released on Netflix in October, features more than 20 hours of interviews conducted with Lyle and Erik during their incarceration at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility outside San Diego.
It's the first time the brothers have both spoken about the case for the same project in almost 30 years, when they sat down together with Barbara Walters in 1996 soon after being convicted of murder in their second trial.
Through additional interviews with other family members and people involved in the brothers' trials (including Pamela Bozanich, the lead prosecutor in the first trial who still refutes the brothers' claim that they killed their parents in self-defense after years of abuse), the documentary paints a holistic portrait of a case we may think we already know everything about — while opening the door for the viewer to come to new conclusions.
"I just wanted to tell the story with the most wide open eyes," Hartmann told Business Insider, "having the prosecutor and having different opinions because I wanted to hear those opinions too."
Below, Hartmann breaks down how he got the brothers to open up to him, and if he thinks Lyle and Erik should be freed.
'The Menendez Brothers' director says being a foreigner helped him offer a fresh perspective on a decades-old case
Hartmann, who is from Argentina, wasn't particularly familiar with the infamous murder case when he signed on to direct. But he said his lack of prior knowledge enabled him to approach the project without bias.
He also used his outsider status to woo Lyle Menendez, whom he knew would be the more difficult brother to secure for an interview. (Erik had previously participated in a 2017 A&E docuseries "The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All.")
After connecting with Lyle by first approaching his wife, Hartmann wrote Lyle an email explaining his background as a non-American and hinting that he might have a different perspective on the case than Lyle expected.
It helped seal the deal. "That was a big thing for him to eventually accept, to be part of the documentary and eventually to talk with me," Hartmann told BI. Lyle then encouraged Erik to connect with Hartmann, too.
The director said the key to gaining the brothers' trust was gradually developing a genuine rapport. "Sometimes I gave him my opinion, which is something that I normally don't do with my interviewees," Harmann recalled of his conversations with Lyle about his case.
It also helped that Hartmann could take his time. "I didn't have a deadline, so I had all the time in the world to talk to Lyle," the director said. Lyle, by virtue of serving a life sentence in prison, seemingly also had a lot of time to talk.
He's seen some of 'Monsters,' but he's not comparing his doc to the scripted series
While there have been noteworthy dramatized adaptations of the case before — Edie Falco was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as defense attorney Leslie Abramson in "Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders," which aired on NBC in 2017 — none have made quite as big a splash as "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," the Netflix series from creator Ryan Murphy.
The series racked up over 30 million views in the first two weeks of its release, topping Netflix's streaming chart. According to Nielsen data, it's been viewed for over 2 billion minutes.
Hartmann said he had no idea a high-profile scripted series about the case was also in the works when he began working on the documentary, let alone that it would be on the same streaming service and released weeks before his documentary. He eventually read the news in a trade publication when the series was publicly announced.
While he's since watched a few episodes of "Monsters," Hartmann wasn't rankled by all the noise surrounding the dramatized series based on the same crime as his new documentary — he'd been through it before.
"In two other documentaries I did, they made scripted series" of the same story, he said. "And it made a lot of noise, because people sometimes think that the case is well-reflected. Some other people think that it's not well-reflected. And that will happen always."
When asked about projects like "The Menendez Brothers" and "Monsters" bringing new attention to the case, Hartmann acknowledged that the renewed interest could benefit the brothers, but noted that he couldn't speak for them and hadn't spoken to them for over a year beyond a few emails. (Production on the documentary wrapped in 2023.)
He now believes the Menendez brothers should be freed
Though Hartmann didn't have an opinion on the case heading into the project, he's since formed one: He believes the brothers should be released.
(Days after our interview, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced on October 24 that he would review new evidence and recommend resentencing the brothers, which could lead to their immediate release after decades in prison. A follow-up request for comment sent to Hartmann and Netflix amid the news was not returned.)
"I understand and I believe them about the abuse they suffered, but they committed a crime," Harmann said.
"I think they deserve the punishment," he continued. "But I think 30 years might be enough."
Regardless of whether the brothers are ultimately resentenced and released from prison, Hartmann is grateful that his documentary and "Monsters" are bringing more attention to the sexual abuse of children.
"If people are talking about that, I'm really happy," he said, "and I think that's good for society."
"The Menendez Brothers" is now streaming on Netflix.