Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the trial I did not believe the abuse excuse. I watched the trial pretty closely.
The series is VERY graphic in discussing the abuse in the Eric and attorney scenes. WOW.

Ugh, episode 4. Ugh.

Oops, meant the long dialog in episode 5. The Hurt Man.

Anonymous wrote:Even if they were abused I don’t believe you can justify killing their abusers in the manner in which they did. It was completely premeditated and not in self defense.

Psychological abuse, Stockholm’s syndrome, codependency, family secrets and enabling all in one.

Can’t believe the parents weren’t murdered earlier.

Anonymous wrote:During the trial I did not believe the abuse excuse. I watched the trial pretty closely.
The series is VERY graphic in discussing the abuse in the Eric and attorney scenes. WOW.

Ugh, episode 4. Ugh.

what i think is that the boys could have just left. they were adults. you don't get to kill your parents, abuse or not.

sorry, they belong in prison.

Anonymous wrote:During the trial I did not believe the abuse excuse. I watched the trial pretty closely.
The series is VERY graphic in discussing the abuse in the Eric and attorney scenes. WOW.

Same, I thought the abuse story was fabricated back then, but I believe it now.

Anonymous wrote:Even if they were abused I don’t believe you can justify killing their abusers in the manner in which they did. It was completely premeditated and not in self defense.

I think serving time for murder is deserved. But 30 years is plenty of time for 2 people that suffered years of rape and abuse from their father.

Even if they were abused I don’t believe you can justify killing their abusers in the manner in which they did. It was completely premeditated and not in self defense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching the special on TV?

Monsters, 2024 mini series, Netflix

+ am on episode 3 of 6 or 7.

It is well done, all characters are revealing themselves. I assume witness statements were taken long ago, helpfully along the same lines of questioning as the Netflix series is presenting. If not then trials back then were shoddy and just didn’t easy angle to wrap up.

I’m not reading news on the true story yet. If in the 1980s I was a toddler or in elementary school.

I went back and read the stories by Dominick Dunne in Vanity Fair. Fascinating, especially the one called Nightmare on Elm Drive.

I watched Monsters, not expecting to get into it, but I thought it was pretty good. Javier Barden is great in the role of the father.

I do think they were sexually and emotionally abused as well as spoiled and emotionally stunted by their upbringing and not very bright. They burglarized houses and Lyle cheated in school so they were not honest and it's also likely they were taught not to care about honesty and morality and that they could finesse their way out of all troubles.

I think the parents were all about money and that was about it for their values. The sons obviously hated them.

I think both familial sexual abuse and male sexual abuse is more candidly talked about now and taken seriously. At the time I found it hard to believe but I don't anymore.

I don't think they should have killed their parents or excuse them for it, but I don't think they had the maturity or sense to get away from them. They had lesrned helplessness and were dependent and taking life lessons from movies like The Billionaire Boys Club.

Generational trauma theme

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching the special on TV?

Monsters, 2024 mini series, Netflix

+ am on episode 3 of 6 or 7.

It is well done, all characters are revealing themselves. I assume witness statements were taken long ago, helpfully along the same lines of questioning as the Netflix series is presenting. If not then trials back then were shoddy and just didn’t easy angle to wrap up.

I’m not reading news on the true story yet. If in the 1980s I was a toddler or in elementary school.

During the trial I did not believe the abuse excuse. I watched the trial pretty closely.
The series is VERY graphic in discussing the abuse in the Eric and attorney scenes. WOW.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching the special on TV?

Monsters, 2024 mini series, Netflix

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching the special on TV?

Which one?
Netflix now one?

There's a new A&E series that Eric participated in, and I find it very compelling. He says that he and his brother honestly thought their dad was going to kill them when they plotted out and killed the parents. He said he had broken down and told Lyle about what his dad had been doing to him--and still was, and Lyle had confronted the father. He said this had never happened before, and the dad was making very threatening overtures, and they were legitimately scared to death of him.

While I don't feel like it excuses murder, I feel like the boys got screwed on their retrial by a judge with political motivations for ensuring they were convicted. I think they should have the possibility of parole. Hell, their whole family save maybe one uncle supported the boys even at the time of trial. A very sad case.