Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story delves further into the brothers’ relationship, featuring a heartbreaking scene in which Kitty Menendez rips off her son Lyle’s wig to expose his bald head.
It’s one of the many ways parents bully Lyle and Erik, and a moment that brings the brothers closer together. In episode 3 of the Netflix series, the Menendez brothers are sent to prison, where Lyle struggles to maintain his wig.
By the time of their second trial, he’s being scolded by his defense attorneys for ordering a $2,500 wig, despite their dwindling funds. And earlier in Monster Season 2, we learn why Lyle had a wig in the first place — it was at the request of his father, Jose.
But, given that co-creator Ryan Murphy has been criticized by true crime fans — and even the Menendez family — for “inaccuracies” in the show, this detail has raised questions about whether or not it’s the truth.
Did Lyle wear a wig?
Lyle Menendez wore a wig because he began losing his hair as a teenager.As he revealed in his testimony, five days before he and Erik shot Kitty and Jose in 1989, he and his mother had an argument over her wig.
“She was completely out of control, waving her arms and screaming at me and telling me that I was going to be the cause of her father’s death,” he said. At one point, Lyle said she lunged at him and he covered her face. “She reached over and grabbed my wig and ripped it off,” he said.
When asked how the wig was attached—another detail described in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story—Lyle replied, “It’s attached with solvent cement.” He described it as “painful,” as you have to “use this blue chemical to get it off.”
Elsewhere in his testimony, Lyle explained how he began to notice he was losing his hair from around the age of 14.
Lyle also described how it was actually José Menendez who pushed him to get a wig around the age of 19, because he thought it would be a “good idea” for his appearance at Princeton.
The situation seems different than in the Netflix series, however, due to the severity of the hair loss. In season 2 of Monster, Lyle is shown completely bald at this age.
Netflix
However, in his testimony he revealed that it “wasn’t very visible” but that they had to “shave” the entire area where the wig would be placed.
After the argument, Lyle said the situation brought him closer to Erik. While putting the wig back on, Erik allegedly confided in Lyle that their father continued to sexually abuse him.
“It was clear that he was coming to me, that he wanted me to do something about it, and that was true because my father never denied it when I told him about it,” he said.
The theory suggests that Lyle lost his hair due to stress
Although genetics plays a significant role in hair loss, a The main theory as to why Lyle began losing his hair at such a young age is due to stress caused by alleged abuse at home.
As said According to one Reddit user, “Lyle Menendez was losing his hair due to abuse. This is a huge difference that the boys overlooked… It wasn’t just that his hairline was receding, but that it was falling out in clumps due to stress.”
NetflixThe series features a scene in which Lyle can be seen losing clumps of hair.
Pointing to the dozens of witnesses who testified for the defense, another said: “Many of the behaviors observed by teachers, coaches, friends and family members were consistent with those of child sexual abuse victims.”
The list includes hair loss at age 14, as well as “extreme dissociation; bedwetting as a teenager; hypersexualized behavior at a young age; playing with stuffed animals until age 17; extremely high anxiety; sensitivity to touch; and frequent night terrors and nightmares.”
It’s important to note that none of this has been proven and is simply speculation, but it does reinforce the belief of many in the true crime community that Lyle and Erik were victims of abuse.
Lyle could only wear the hairpiece for tryouts
Although Lyle was not allowed to wear a wig in prison, he was allowed to do so during the trials. To this day, hairpieces are not allowed in prison.
A&EErik and Lyle Menendez reunited in 2018
Today, Lyle embraces his bald look, with recent photos — including the profile picture on the Facebook account run by family members — showing him without the wig.
Erik and Lyle Menendez are both serving life sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, California. They are currently 53 and 56 years old, respectively.
As shown in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, they were separated after being convicted of first-degree murder. They were only reunited in 2018, when their request to reunite was granted.
They’re both fighting to have the first-degree murder charge re-evaluated, with the goal of getting it down to manslaughter. If you want to know more, check out what a series of legal experts had to say about the appeal. You can also take a look at what happens at the end of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
