The First Trailer For ABC's Menéndez Brothers Documentary Treats Murderers Like Rock Stars

The trailer's rock and funk soundtrack undercuts the seriousness of the brothers' crimes.

The first trailer for ABC’s documentary special on Erik and Lyle Menéndez — the brothers who shot and killed their parents in 1989 — was released Monday, and it’s uncomfortably peppy.

Judging by the trailer for “Truth and Lies: The Menéndez Brothers ― American Sons, American Murderers,” ABC has given the horrifying story of the murders of Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menéndez the glitzy Hollywood treatment.

The trailer pairs clips from the brothers’ trial and sound bites from Lyle in prison with rock and funk music, taking the focus away from the seriousness of their crimes in the process.

After two trials in the 1990s, the Menéndez brothers were convicted of murdering their parents and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. At the time of the murders the brothers were 18 and 21, and had claimed they were sexually and verbally abused by their parents.

ABC says the special will uncover “hidden clues of the Menéndez family’s descent into hell including never-before-seen home movies and photos from the family vault and the testimony from members of the Menéndez inner circle,” according to People.

“Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers — American Sons, American Murderers” is set to air Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, on ABC.

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