Gypsy Rose Blanchard Weighs In On The Menéndez Brothers Case

After Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released on parole for her role in the murder of her mother, many began questioning why the Menéndez Brothersremained behind bars.

As The Blast reported, Gypsy Rose and her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, were convicted in the murder of Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who was believed to have Munchausen syndrome by proxy—a psychological disorder in which a caregiver fabricates or induces illness in a child for attention.

In contrast, the Menéndez brothers, who killed their parents after enduring years of alleged sexual abuse, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 1990s. Given the similarities between the cases, many are puzzled as to why Gypsy Rose was granted parole while the Menéndez brothers continue to serve their life sentences.

After months of being out on parole and just weeks after Ryan Murphy's "Monsters" series was released, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is weighing in on the dramatization of the Menéndez brothers' case.

On Thursday, October 10, Gypsy Rose participated in a panel titled "Thin Line Between Victim and Victimizer" during the 7th Annual Project Rebound Mural Celebration at San Francisco State University. During the discussion, she addressed the Menéndez brothers' case.

"['Monsters'] was heartbreaking because, unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that they know what happened and the events that took place by watching a TV show," she began. "And it was overdramatized. They got things incorrect so to say that people should base. Their knowledge of a case on a dramatization is very inaccurate."

"That is not the way to go about it," she added. "I stress documentaries that do a deep dive into the case or someone's life, real-life research is the best beyond anything that you can find."

After voicing her thoughts, the crowd erupted in applause, praising the ex-convict for her candid response.

Joseph "Lyle" Menéndez and Erik Galen Menéndez were convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menéndez, in their Los Angeles home on August 20, 1989. The couple was discovered in their living room, shot to death with two 12-gauge shotguns. The brutality of the scene was so shocking that investigators initially suspected mob involvement, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"It was just absolutely savage," former Beverly Hills police captain and murder investigator Russ Olson recounted in an episode of the true-crime documentary "Snapped." "You're looking at two human beings who had been ripped apart," he added.

Jose was shot at point-blank range in the back of the head, with three additional shots fired at his arms and legs. Kitty, meanwhile, was shot four times in the head and five more times in other areas of her body.

"The bodies were distorted," Olson noted in the documentary. "They had no resemblance of what you would expect a human being to look like."

During their trial, the brothers claimed that years of sexual abuse led them to make the devastating decision to kill their parents.

Ultimately, Joseph "Lyle" Menéndez and Erik Galen Menéndez were convicted of murdering their parents and are now serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, but their infamous story is experiencing a resurgence thanks to Netflix's "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story," prompting Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to reevaluate the evidence surrounding their case.

Ahead of its official premiere, Erik released a statement regarding the "Monsters" series, expressing his dissatisfaction with the portrayal of him and his brother Lyle. “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show," Erik said in a statement.

He insists that their claims of childhood abuse and the justification of self-defense in the murders of their parents have been grossly misrepresented in the project. "I can only believe they were done so on purpose," he added. "It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, the star of "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story," expressed his sympathy for the Menéndez brothers following the release of the Netflix series.

"I really sympathize with the brothers, the fact that this was the most traumatic moment of their life, and then having that put on television for the world to see," Chavez told People Magazine of the series' release. "I would imagine that would be incredibly heavy."

"Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story" is streaming now on Netflix.