Warning: This post contains spoilers for “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
In a shocking scene during the first episode of "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," Kitty Menendez, portrayed by Chloë Sevigny, rips a hairpiece off of the head of her son Lyle Menendez, played by Nicholas Chavez.
The scene comes as her other son, Erik Menendez (Cooper Koch), is explaining the events leading up to the 1989 murder of his parents to his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel.
Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot multiple times in the family room of their Beverly Hills, California, home on Aug. 20, 1989, and their sons were charged with their murder seven months later.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murder in 1996, and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What did a toupee have to do with the murder of a wealthy businessman and his wife just five days later? Keep reading for the true story behind Lyle Menendez's hairpiece.
Did Lyle Menendez really have a toupee?
In "Monsters," Lyle Menendez was arguing at the dinner table with his parents over wanting to marry his girlfriend. Because he was just 20 years old, his parents said he could not get married.
"You don't get to say that when you did the same thing when you were my age!" Lyle Menendez, portrayed by Nicholas Chavez, responds in the show, alluding to the fact his parents got married months after they met in college.
Kitty Menendez then comes over and rips the hairpiece off of his head.
The scene is based off of real-life events, according to the book "The Menendez Murders" by Robert Rand, which inspired the show.
On Aug. 15, 1989, just five days before Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot and killed, Kitty and Lyle Menendez got into an unspecified argument, according to "The Menendez Murders."
Kitty Menendez screamed and flailed with clenched fists at her son, who raised his arms to defend himself, according to the book. Kitty Menendez then ripped the hair right off of her son's head.
"It was his toupee, and it came off like a savage scalping," Rand wrote.
According to the book, Lyle Menendez had to shave the crown of his head to be fitted for the hairpiece, which was attached with high-strength glue.
"Removing it, carefully, took a special solvent," Rand wrote. "When Kitty tore it off, Lyle felt immense pain."
The toupee led to a breakthrough between the brothers
According to "The Menendez Murders," Lyle Menendez got the toupee two years earlier when his father told him his future was in politics, and "to be successful, he'd need a thick head of hair."
At that time, Lyle Menendez's hair was already starting to thin on top, and his father insisted he get a full hairpiece ahead of attending Princeton University, according to "The Menendez Murders."
Erik Menendez, who saw what happened between his mom and brother, said he needed to speak with his brother, according to the book.
The pair ran out to their guesthouse, where Lyle Menendez reattached his hair in the bathroom, and then approached his brother in the bedroom.
"I'm sad we're not a family," Erik Menendez said, according to "The Menendez Murders," before starting to shake and sob. "I never knew about your hair. We have so many secrets."
Erik Menendez then confessed to his brother that his father was sexually molesting him, according to "The Menendez Murders." Both brothers later testified that their father had sexually abused them for years during their first trial in 1993.
According to "The Menendez Murders," after Erik Menendez told his brother, Lyle Menendez came up with a plan to stop the abuse: Erik Menendez would move with him to Princeton. His little brother quickly agreed to the deal.
The real-life events are slightly different from what was depicted in "Monsters."
After Kitty Menendez yanks her son's hair piece off in the show, Erik Menendez rushes to comfort his brother in the guesthouse, and confronts him about not telling him he had a toupee.
Lyle Menendez explains he got it about three or four years ago, and his younger brother asks why he didn't say anything about it.
"Because I didn't want you to know, that's the f------ point, Erik! Nobody's supposed to know," he answered.
Lyle Menendez explains that his father, Jose Menendez, made him get the hair piece, and then the brothers had a serious conversation about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father.
Erik Menendez recounts the conversation to his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, who asked what he told his brother.
"Just that I loved him," he answers. "And that from now on, I was going to choose my brother over my parents."
