Actor who played Erik Menendez calls on Menendez brothers to be resentenced saying they are 'victims'
Monsters star Cooper Koch has told LADbible why he believes Lyle and Erik Menendez should be resentenced.
Following the premiere of the second season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's Monsters anthology on Netflix, which tells the story of how Erik and Lyle killed their parents, discussion over the brothers' sentencing is once again making headlines.
Back in August 1989, the brothers fatally shot their parents José and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home. Lyle and Erik would initially claim they were at the movies when the killings took place, before later being arrested in 1990.
A series of high profile trials would follow, with the prosecution claiming the brothers brutally shot their parents for financial gain, while the defence argued it had been an act of self defence following years of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of their father.
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The brothers were later sentenced in 1996, with both receiving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Lyle and Erik have since filed appeals, none of which have been successful at the time of writing.
However, the harrowing details of José's alleged abuse, depicted on-screen in Monsters, has since led to an outpouring of sympathy for the brothers.
Following the series premiere, actors Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez spoke exclusively to LADbible about their thoughts on the case and whether or not they deserve to be resentenced.
Koch, who has since visited Erik Menendez in prison alongside Kim Kardashian, has now shared his support for the brothers, revealing that he believes the case should be re-heard.
"I think that they are victims, and I do believe that they should have a chance to be resentenced and to have the opportunity to get parole," he said. "I stand with that."
Chavez has been similarly empathetic towards Lyle and Erik, adding that he also believes their allegations regarding child sexual abuse.
"I’d say there can be no doubt that that they are victims, at least in some sense, these boys murdered their parents," he said.
"They have witnessed and been through something so horrific that the rest of us, like in our darkest nightmares, wouldn't even want to imagine."
Koch and Chavez aren't alone in believing the case should be looked upon in a more compassionate manner either, with a recent petition calling for the brothers to be freed gaining over 300,000 signatures.
Both actors have also responded to Erik's criticisms of the series, with Koch telling LADbible: "I support what he said, and I understand why he feels that way. I can't imagine what it would be like to have your life be televised for millions of people to see in a dramatised fashion. I sympathise with that as well."
"I can only respond with sympathy and empathy in that I can only imagine how difficult it is to have the most traumatic moment of your life put up there on the screen for everyone to see," Chavez added on USA Today.
Topics: Menendez Brothers, Netflix, Originals, True Crime, US News
Brenna Cooper