NBC is taking ripping headline crimes to the next level by ordering the latest iteration of Law & Order to a series. The eight-episode season will be taking on the 1996 Menendez Brothers trial.
The show is jumping on the true crime bandwagon, joining television shows such as The People v. O.J. Simpson and Netflix’s documentary series Making a Murderer and the podcast series Serial.
The show is jumping on the true crime bandwagon
The crime in question is the 1989 killing of Jose Menéndez and his wife Mary by their two children, Joseph and Erik. On August 20th, the brothers shot each parent with a shotgun, and proceeded to live a lavish lifestyle before they were arrested in March 1990.
What followed was a lengthy trial process that delayed the criminal trial until 1992. The highly publicized trial ended with a pair of deadlocked juries. The case was retried, and the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life in prison, without parole.
The first season of the television show will be produced by the franchise’s creator, Dick Wolf, and will be written and executive-produced by René Balcer, the showrunner for the original Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. It will join Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit on NBC and as well as Wolf’s four shows set in Chicago: Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice.