Netflix true crime: Details for The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and Jailbreak: Love on the Run

Streaming giant Netflix has a reputation amongst true crime fans, thanks to their outstanding documentaries and series. With original shows such as American Murder: Laci Peterson, Unsolved Mysteries, Worst Roommate Ever, Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Netflix leans hard into true crime content.

Here's some good news for those of us who watch these kinds of shows: there are two more true crime series coming up this month on Netflix!

First up will be the next chapter in the Monsters series. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will take a deep dive into the 1996 case of the Menendez Brothers, who were accused of killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

The brutal killings occurred in 1989, when Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18. Jose was shot six times, Kitty ten, and it would later be disclosed that Lyle had to go out to his car to reload the shotgun before shooting his mother a final time.

Initially, the brothers claimed that they were not home when the murders were committed, but eventually, the truth came out. They have always claimed that their motive was lifetime mental, sexual and physical abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents, particularly Jose.

The prosecution however, stated that the true motive was money (the Menendez family was very wealthy). Whatever the true motive, the nation was captivated by the crime and by the subsequent trials.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan

The limited series will make its debut September 19, and stars Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), and Chloe Sevigny (American Horror Story) as Jose and Kitty. Newcomers Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch portray Lyle and Erik, and Nathan Lane, Ari Graynor and Leslie Grossman also appear.

Jailbreak: Love on the Run is a documentary that tells the story of Vicky White, a well-respected corrections officer, and Casey White (no relation), a violent criminal awaiting a capitol murder trial.

On the morning of April 29, 2022, Vicky, who was at the time the assistant director at Lauderdale County Jail in Alabama, checked Casey out for what she claimed was a scheduled psych evaluation. She escorted him in shackles to a police vehicle, and drove off.

While fellow officers found this a bit strange, because inmates are always supposed to be escorted by two officers when leaving the premises, nobody challenged Vicky, likely because of her position of authority. When the two failed to return, everyone initially feared that Casey may have forced Vicky into helping him escape, but they soon discovered that was not the case.

When an investigation showed that Vicky had recently sold off her property and purchased some suspicious items, it was discovered that Vicky had been granting Casey special favors, and that the two were in a relationship. Soon, a nationwide manhunt was launched for the two, and the story eventually came to a tragic end.

Jailbreak: Love on the Run will premier on Netflix September 25.