Yes, The Menendez Brothers Really Did Play Milli Vanilli at Their Parents' Funeral

Anyone who is watching Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix is likely to find themselves shocked and confused by some of the story's more peculiar details. Some of those details might even seem so absurd that it's hard to imagine they are based on reality.

One that has some flummoxed is Lyle's eulogy for his parents following their death, which concludes with the needle drop of Milli Vanilli's "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You." The musical moment was so bizarre that many wondered whether it had actually happened. Here's what we know.

According to Robert Rand, who wrote the book the series is based on, that particular musical moment is based in reality.

“The Milli Vanilli song ‘Miss You’ was also played at the Directors Guild memorial service for Jose and Kitty, parents of the #MenendezBrothers, on August 25, 1989, 35 years ago this week,” Rand posted on X on Aug. 20.

“The choice of Lyle playing a Milli Vanilli song at his parents’ memorial—you really can’t make up,” creator Ryan Murphy added.

Another example of a remarkable detail that is true to life is the fact that the Menendez brothers' mother, Kitty, tore Lyle's hair piece off during a particularly heated argument just days before their parents were murdered. The altercation led to a moment of connection between Lyle and Erik, who realized that they didn't even know basic facts about one another, like the fact that Lyle was wearing a hairpiece.

Because of the complex nature of the Menendez brothers' story, Ryan and Ian Brennan, who produced the show with him, decided to use a Rashomon-style approach where each episode recounts similar events from a different perspective.

“Every episode shifts perspective to a certain degree, where we ask you as the audience to make the decision about what really happened,” she said. “Because we’re going off research and theories and court testimony and research that nobody else has access to.”

In spite of all the research the show did into the case, though, Ryan seems aware that the fundamental truth is not totally knowable.

“There were four people who knew really what happened, and two of them are dead,” he said.

“I don't know who I believe right now anymore, and I still struggle with it. It’s a not-knowable story," Ian added.

Monsters appears to be working hard to get as many of the facts right as possible, but many of the facts in this case are in dispute. One that's definitely not, though, is the bizarre needle drop that the brothers decided to play at the funeral.

There are likely more twists in store in every episode to come. It feels telling, though, that there have been so many shocking and specific revelations to come out of just the show's first episode.