Lyle Menendez Wore a Toupée Because His Father Told Him He Should Get Into Politics

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is yet another attempt to revisit one of the most famous murder cases of the past 50 years. The series follows the Menendez brothers as we learn exactly what led them to kill their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

In one scene during the series' first episode, we see Kitty Menendez rip a toupée off of Lyle's head. After seeing the scene, many viewers wanted to better understand why Lyle Menendez had no hair even though he was just 20 years old. Here's what we know.

During the scene in question, Lyle is fighting with his parents because he wants to marry his girlfriend, and his parents say he's too young. When he suggests that they did the same thing, Kitty rips the toupée off of his head.

That scene is apparently taken from real life, at least according to the book The Menendez Murders by Robert Rand, which is the inspiration for the show.

In the book, the subject of the fight is unclear, but it was clear that the fight escalated until Kitty ripped the hair right off her son's head. "It was his toupée, and it came off like a savage scalping," Robert wrote in the book.

Lyle apparently got the toupée two years prior because his father told him that his future was in politics, and "to be successful, he'd need a thick head of hair."

Lyle's hair was apparently already starting to thin on top, and his father insisted on getting him a full hairpiece before he started attending Princeton University.

In order to get the hairpiece attached, he had to shave the crown of his head. It was attached to his head with high-strength glue.

"Removing it, carefully, took a special solvent," Robert wrote. "When Kitty tore it off, Lyle felt immense pain."

Strangely Kitty ripping Lyle's hair off led to a moment of bonding between the two brothers. According to the book, they went to the bathroom together after the incident, and Erik said, "I'm sad we're not a family," adding that he didn't know about his brother's hairpiece. "We have so many secrets."

According to the book, Erik then confessed that their father was molesting him, and both brothers later testified that they had been sexually abused by their fathers.

The two brothers reportedly then came up with a plan to stop the abuse by having Erik move in with his brother at Princeton.

That's not exactly how things go down on the show, but the core of the scene remains the same. In Monster, Erik again says that he didn't know about his brother's wig.

The two then discuss the pressure Jose put on Lyle to get the wig and have a serious conversation about the abuse they had both suffered. It was a pivotal moment, in large part because it led the brothers to prioritize each other over their parents.