Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez have been cast to portray the Menéndez brothers in the second season of Netflix’s anthology series Monster aka Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
According to Deadline, Koch will play the role of Erik Menéndez and Chavez will play Lyle Menéndez. In 1996, the Menéndez brothers were convicted for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
While the Menéndez brothers confessed to the killings, they have always maintained that the reason they murdered their mother and father was because of the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse they suffered at their hands over many years.
Monster continues with a second season after the success of its debut season, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which featured Evan Peters as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The second season was met with pushback by many asking if we need another documentary-style series about the brothers, considering the lack of Latine representation in Hollywood.
Both Koch and Chavez are fairly new to Hollywood. In 2020, Koch starred in two episodes of the Starz crime-drama Power Book II: Ghost. He’s also appeared in films like Swallowed opposite Jenna Malone (Donnie Darko) and They/Them opposite Kevin Bacon (Mystic River).
Chavez has spent the last two years playing the character Spencer Cassadine on ABC’s General Hospital. Last year, he won a Daytime Emmy for the role. His only other screen credit is for the Tubi Original, Crushed.
As for the actual case, new developments have emerged since the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menéndez. This past May, the brothers filed documents asking for a new hearing in their case. The move was in response to allegations from former Menudo band member Roy Rosselló who claims that when he was 14 years old, he was molested by José Menendez. The allegations were detailed in the Peacock docuseries Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.