Who was the Menendez brothers' mom, Kitty Menendez?
Kitty Menendez, the mother of Lyle and Erik Menendez, appeared to live a life of luxury in Beverly Hills.
But on a summer night in 1989, her sons killed her and her husband Jose Menendez with shotguns, and the case went on to become one of the most shocking and sensationalized murder cases in the U.S.
Netflix's "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" series portrays the events leading up to, and after, the gruesome murders, with Chlo? Sevigny playing Kitty Menendez.
"I do want to bring dignity to her, even in her faults, and try to empathize with how she felt about the things that she complains about throughout the show," Sevigny told Harper's Bazaar earlier this year.
Sevigny stars in the Ryan Murphy-created series alongside Javier Bardem, who portrays Jose Menendez, as well as Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik Menendez.
While her sons have made headlines for decades, Kitty Menendez hasn't had much of a spotlight — until now, with the premiere of the Netflix series on Sept. 19. Keep reading for more about her.
Jose and Kitty Menendez met in college
Kitty Menendez, born Mary Louise Andersen, was born on Oct. 23, 1941 in Oak Lawn, Illinois, according to “The Menendez Murders” by Robert Rand, a journalist who has extensively covered the case since the day after the killings in 1989.
When she was a senior studying communications at Southern Illinois University, she met sophomore Jose Menendez in a philosophy class, according to "The Menendez Murders."
Jose Menendez enrolled at the university after he was awarded a swimming scholarship, according to a Vanity Fair article from 1990. Though Kitty Menendez was two years older, she fell for Jose Menendez quickly, and by the spring of 1963, they were spending all of their time together, according to Rand's book.
Jose Menendez, who was sent from his native Cuba to live with a relative in the U.S. as a teenager, told his family, who thought he was too young to get married, that “if I’m old enough to live on my own at 16, I’m old enough to get married at 19,” according to a Los Angeles Times article published in 1990.
The pair married on July 8, 1963 and by the end of the summer had moved to New York, where Jose Menendez transferred to Queens College, according to "The Menendez Murders." He earned a degree in economics and accounting, and quickly rose the ranks at several companies after graduating, according to "The Menendez Murders."
Their first son, Joseph "Lyle" Menendez, arrived on Jan. 10, 1968, and almost four years later, Erik Menendez was born on Nov. 27, 1970, according to "The Menendez Murders."
By the 1980s, Jose Menendez was named chief operating officer at RCA-Ariola, the record division of RCA Corp., where he directed worldwide operations and signed bands like Duran Duran and the Eurythmics at a salary of $500,000 a year, according to the Times.
Jose Menendez worked long hours and traveled often, and Kitty Menendez raised their two sons on a million-dollar estate in Princeton, New Jersey, according to Vanity Fair.
Lyle and Erik Menendez went to Princeton Day School and began playing tennis and soccer, at the urging of the father — and their mother attended every match and game, Vanity Fair reported.
Jose and Kitty Menendez moved to California in 1986
In 1986, General Electric bought RCA, and when Jose Menendez was passed over for a high-level position, he moved his family from New Jersey to California, according to Vanity Fair.
The uprooting caused Kitty Menendez distress, as she loved her life and house in Princeton, Vanity Fair reported.
Jose Menendez spent $950,000 on a five-bedroom house on nearly 14 acres in Calabasas, California, according to the Times.
Jose Menendez began working at Carolco Pictures, the production company behind Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo" franchise, and quickly turned the business around, according to Vanity Fair.
But his wife, however, had a difficult time adjusting to the West Coast, and her friends told the Times that if she had her way, her family would have stayed in New Jersey.
Life in Southern California also changed for Lyle and Erik Menendez as well, who fell in with a group of wealthy, privileged young boys who were suspected of burglarizing homes in the area during the summer of 1988, according to the Times.
Erik Menendez was implicated in the crimes, in which more than $100,000 worth of money and jewels were stolen, according to Vanity Fair. He was sentenced to probation and compulsory counseling, according to Vanity Fair, so his mother asked her psychiatrist for a recommendation.
Kitty Menendez got the information for Beverly Hills psychologist Jerome Oziel, who counseled the brothers and who would later become a key witness in their murder trials.
Jose Menendez was unfaithful in his marriage to Kitty Menendez
Vanity Fair reported Jose Menendez was "flagrantly unfaithful" to his wife, and that she was "devastated by his infidelity."
Karen Lam, a friend of Kitty Menendez, told Vanity Fair in 1990 that Kitty Menendez was deeply unhappy over her husband's affair, and that she had attempted suicide three times.
Kitty Menendez's former therapist Edwin S. Cox also testified during the brothers' first trial that she was suicidal over her husband's eight-year affair with a woman in New York, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1993.
Cox told jurors she saw suicide as a way to get back at her husband for the affair, and that she had become depressed and dependent on drugs and alcohol, the Times reported.
Jose and Kitty Menendez were murdered in 1989
In October 1988, Jose Menendez bought a 9,000 square-foot home in Beverly Hills, complete with a pool and a tennis court, according to the Times.
The six-bedroom home on Elm Drive would become the scene of the crime on Aug. 20, 1989, when Jose and Kitty Menendez would be shot several times in their living room with two 12-gauge shotguns.
Jose Menendez, 45, was shot at point-blank range in the back of the head, and several other times in the arms and legs. Kitty Menendez, 47, was shot four times in the head and five times across her body.
Lyle Menendez, then 21, called 911 saying he and his then 18-year-old brother Erik Menendez had just returned home from the movies to find their parents dead.
Though the killings were initially investigated as a mob hit, according to the Times, detectives eventually narrowed in on the brothers as suspects.
About seven months after the murders, Lyle Menendez was arrested on March 8, 1990, and Erik Menendez surrendered to authorities three days later.
Lyle Menendez, now 56, and Erik Menendez, now 53, were convicted of their parents' murder in 1996 after two trials, the first of which ended in hung juries. They were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jose and Kitty Menendez were buried in Princeton Cemetery in New Jersey following their memorial service at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, 1989.
Lyle Menendez testified Kitty and Jose Menendez abused their children
During Lyle and Erik Menendez's first trial, the brothers' attorneys argued they killed their parents out of fear after suffering years of abuse, mostly by their father, but at times, also by their mother, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1993.
Lyle Menendez testified on Sept. 13, 1993 that his mother "harassed him" during his adolescence with her sexual conduct, according to the Times.
He testified that his mother would wash his body "everywhere" up until he was 13, and that she would invite him into bed with her and that he would touch her "everywhere," the Times reported.
When he was 11, his mother would wear an open robe, and go topless or naked around him, he testified, according to the Times.
He also accused her of physical and emotional abuse, including beating him, kicking him and dragging him to his room by his hair, the Times reported.
The first of the brothers' two trials, in which they were tried jointly with separate juries, ended in two deadlocked juries in January 1994.
In their next trial, which was before a single jury, the judge ruled evidence and testimony about the brothers’ allegations of sexual abuse would be inadmissible, according to the Times.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in March 1996, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
