In full: The real life escape plan letter Lyle wrote to brother Erik Menendez whilst in prison

Yes, he did suggest they got plastic surgery


One big part of episode three of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix shows the two brothers being arrested and placed in prison, before it being said Lyle wrote his brother a letter detailing a potential escape plan from their cells. The Netflix series then showed a pretty strange recreation of said escape plan coming to life, which showed the actors in wigs, dressed as women and trying to bust out of jail.

Whilst it’s pretty clear the latter didn’t happen, the actual escape plan letter Lyle passed Erik Menendez whilst in prison was based on real life, and this did actually happen. Prosecutors in the trial of the brothers presented the alleged notes in evidence, which were found among papers seized from Lyle Menendez’s jail cell.

Here’s what the real letter said in full, compared to what we saw on Netflix.

Lyle and Erik Menendez escape plan letter

via Netflix

Lyle really did write his brother Erik Menendez a letter detailing an alleged escape plan from prison

The real life letter was seized from Lyle’s cell, upon suspicions the two brothers were planning to break out of jail. It’s been reported there were multiple pages of notes, and these contained diagrams of prison buildings, as shown in the Netflix series. They also contained notations about stairwells, and spoke of moving continent.

In court, it was said the notes passed between the brothers had entries such as: “Change name. Change appearance. Plastic surgeon. Need silencer. Need finances. How transfer money? How communicate overseas?”

Lyle and Erik Menendez escape plan letter

via Netflix

According to the LA Times at the time, approximately six notes in total were found, and they were handwritten in pencil on yellow legal-size tablets. It was reported the notes referred to “moving from the U.S. to Europe.”

Despite this, Lt. William Sieber, head of the sheriff’s fugitive warrant escape detail, said investigators could not conclude that the notes had anything to do with an imminent escape attempt, and they couldn’t identify the building in the drawings.

The brothers had been held in a high-security area of the jail near each other, but they were moved farther apart following the discovery of the papers, so they could not communicate while the investigation into the alleged escape attempt took place.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

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