Why a hair piece plays a key role in Netflix’s new ‘Mendendez’ series

Netflix’s limited series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” has reignited interest in the case and trial that captured public attention through the ’90s.
A fictionalized retelling of the murders of José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez by their sons Lyle and Erik Menendez in August of 1989, the series is the second installment of Ryan Murphy‘s “Monsters” anthology, which began in 2022 with the release of “Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story.”
The series follows the lives of Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez, played by Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch respectively, leading up to the murder and the subsequent trial. The many complex layers of the case left years of speculation, theories and controversy in its wake, enshrining it as one of the most infamous in true crime history.
Creators of the show, especially co-creator Ryan Murphy, have been criticized for what some call inaccuracies in the series, including repeated claims the show is full of “lies” by the Menendez family.
In separating fact from fiction, one point of interest among viewers has become the reality behind Lyle Menendez’s alleged balding and use of hairpieces. Wondering what’s true and what’s questionable? Here’s what we know.
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In “Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story,” the scene plays out at the dinner table.
In it, a 20-year-old Lyle Menendez tells his parents he wants to marry his girlfriend and the family begins to argue when they tell him he is too young for marriage.
When Lyle points out that his parents, José Menendez (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloë Sevigny) had gotten married at the same age, Kitty rips his hairpiece off in a fit of anger, revealing an almost entirely bald head underneath.
Embarrassed, Lyle runs off to the guesthouse to reattach it, followed by his brother, Erik. In the television version, the pair bond in this moment, prompting them to confess the abuse they were suffering at the hands of their father and commit to supporting each other.
In the show’s timeline, this is one of the final catalysts of the murder.
Lyle Menendez did wear hairpieces, something he admitted to in his own court testimony. As Menendez recounted on the stand, he and his mother argued about it five days before the brothers killed their parents.
He told the questioning attorney that the argument “definitely at one point had something to do with my hairpiece,” and alleged his mother was “out of control, flailing her arms and screaming” during the fight. At one point, he also said, “She reached and she grabbed my hairpiece and she just ripped it off.”
He detailed how he attached and wore the hairpiece, saying it was applied via a solvent glue on the skin. He testified that his mother tearing it off was painful, as you’re supposed to use “this blue chemical” to detach it properly.
“[My brother] didn’t know I had a hairpiece,” he said. “I was completely embarrassed in front of my brother.”
Later, he testified that he had begun to experience hair loss around the age of 14 and it was his father who had suggested the toupee. Multiple reports and the account of events in the book “The Menendez Murders” by Robert Rand allege that Menendez had become preoccupied with his hair loss and that his father told him a full head of hair would be important to his success at Princeton and beyond.
He also allegedly had to shave the area on the top of his head to properly attach the toupe, previously reported by Vanity Fair to be worth upward of $1,450 (more than $3,000 today). He allegedly owned multiple expensive pieces. Hairpieces are not allowed in jail and recent mugshots of Menendez show him sporting a completely bald head. During the trial, he was not able to wear the piece when behind bars but was allowed to during court.
While the Netflix series showed Menendez as having been almost completely bald on top of his head by this point in his life, testimony and “The Menendez Murders” indicate he was more likely experiencing thinning as opposed to an already entirely bald head at the time.
Depending on who you ask, the hairpiece incident may have been one of the “final straw” moments leading up to the murders of José and Kitty Menendez.
According to the brothers’ testimony and “The Menendez Murders,” Erik followed his brother to the guesthouse where he went to reattach the toupee after his mother pulled it off in real life.
There, the pair allegedly lamented the secrets they kept from each other and Erik confessed that his father had been sexually abusing him, an accusation both brothers made against José throughout the trial. They allegedly devised a plan for Erik to move away with his brother when he went off to Princeton for school.
The allegations of abuse, which the brothers said extended beyond just sexual, were central to the trial and were referenced heavily by the defense. Ultimately, however, both were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy and were sentenced to life without parole.