Robert F. Kennedy‘S Monster Series showed Erik Menendez Give OJ Simpson Legal advice in prison – but did they really know each other?
In the penultimate episode, which aired on Thursday, September 19, Erik is seen watching news coverage of Simpson’s infamous Bronco chase. Simpson was eventually arrested and taken to the same prison as Erik, with their cells right next to each other.
“I guess it’s hard not to think that people are going to stop paying attention to us and just focus on you,” Erik (Cooper Koch) admitted to Simpson (Trae Ireland). During the cameo, only Simpson’s voice was heard, and Ireland, as the deceased football star, made no physical appearance at all in the series.
Erik and Lyle Menendez first made headlines in 1989 when their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, were found dead in their home. Lyle and Erik were arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder. Three years later, the brothers were tried separately, claiming that years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse led them to shoot their mother and father.
Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images; FX Fans of television shows based on true events can look forward to some highlights in the fall schedule that are straight from the headlines. FX presents Ryan Murphy’s latest miniseries entitled American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez. Based on the podcast “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.” (…)
The case ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision. A retrial began in 1995, but most of the evidence related to the abuse could not be used as a defense. Erik and Lyle – now tried together – were eventually found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996. They continue to appeal the verdict, but the appeal was denied.
Simpson has now been named as the main suspect, after his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death outside their Los Angeles home in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in 1995 after a high-profile criminal trial, but was found responsible for the deaths of Brown Simpson and Goldman after their families sued him in a civil suit. The former athlete died of prostate cancer in April at the age of 76.
While Erik and Simpson’s conversation on Monsters came as a surprise to some, the Menéndez brothers have spoken about forming a friendship with Simpson while they were both behind bars. Keep scrolling to find out everything they said about their pasts – which began before their respective arrests:
When did the Menendez brothers meet OJ Simpson?
In the 1970s, Lyle and Erik’s father helped secure an endorsement deal for Simpson while he was playing running back for the Buffalo Bills. Simpson became a regular guest at the Menéndez home, and Lyle and Erik even received autographed footballs from the NFL player.
“(José) happened to be the head of a company that was just getting into advertising and they had the novel idea of entrusting a sports hero with it,” Lyle recalls to People in 2017. “More people knew OJ for that (the TV commercial) than anything else. Before that happened… happened.”
He added: “OJ Simpson came to our house several times. I never imagined that we would later meet in prison, where we are accused of murder. That’s for sure.”
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How did they get back together because of their individual legal problems?
After Simpson’s arrest, he was placed in the same cell as Erik in the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail. Lyle and Erik had already been in jail for more than four years, awaiting retrial when Simpson was charged with involvement in the murder of his ex-wife and Goldman.
Accordingly Robert Rands book 2018 The Menendez MurdersErik Simpson gave advice on his legal strategy and how to deal with the overwhelming media coverage of his trial.
“When you cry, think of those tears,” Erik wrote. “Hold them tight, because you are crying for your children, you are crying for everything you are losing.”
The documentary series 2018 The Menendez murders: Erik tells all claimed that it was Erik who put Simpson in touch with his lawyer Johnnie Cochran. Lyle, for his part, also interacted with Simpson, with them having more than 100 conversations while waiting in the prison attorney’s office to meet with their respective attorneys. Lyle reportedly advised Simpson to plead guilty in order to accept a plea deal.
“I told him I thought the public would understand,” Lyle Rand said in an interview for The Menendez Murders. “I expressed my concern that (the lawyer) Robert Shapiro didn’t let him tell the truth. I said I knew it was obviously not planned and that he had lost his temper in the heat of the moment.”
Did Erik and Lyle think that OJ’s trial influenced the outcome of their retrial?
“OJ’s verdict had a very negative impact on our case,” said Erik in The Menendez murders: Erik tells all while suggesting that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office needed a win after Simpson’s acquittal. “Because this verdict was so shocking, there was a sense that an extreme injustice had occurred and now we have to make amends to every defendant that comes to trial. We were the next defendant.”
The Netflix series “Monsters” has been criticized for the way it portrays Lyle Menéndez and Erik Menéndez – particularly for inaccurate details about the events leading up to their murder case. The miniseries, which was released on September 19, centers on Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch), who were convicted of the 1989 murder of (…).
How was their friendship portrayed in Netflix’s Monsters?
Viewers saw a conversation between Erik and Simpson after the athlete was taken to prison. Erik advised Simpson not to rely on Shapiro. Simpson, meanwhile, was not actually on screen, and the series instead just let Us Hear Ireland speaking through the neighboring cell.
“I’ll tell you what, I’m not staying here long. Because I didn’t fucking do it. You know? Nicole beat me,” the fictional Simpson said on the show. “I’m getting a bunch (of lawyers).”
Erik advised Simpson to consider a settlement, adding, “I heard Robert Shapiro is your lawyer? I just wanted to tell you that he was our lawyer too. Actually, you should be careful of him because he kind of screwed us over. I could have stayed in London and probably wouldn’t have faced the death penalty. But he was the one who told me to come home.”
