Although in the Netflix series, “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez”, the central theme is the murder of José and Kitty Menéndez and the trial of the brothers on charges of murder, but another story also tells a story that happened in real life and shocked the world.
Among the list of characters appearing in the plot is Dominick Dunne, who is actually a person in real life. He gained fame for being a famous “Vanity Fair” reporter who wrote about the Lyle and Erik Menéndez case and participated in the trial. In addition, with his work he managed to influence public opinion.
Who is Dominique Dunne and why is she featured in the Netflix series ‘Monsters’?
In the seventh episode of the story it is revealed that the columnist had a daughter named Dominique Dunne, who was actually becoming a popular actress and had a tragic death at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. Although no further details are given in the series, it turns out that it was a true crime and this is his story.
Dominique was a girl who started her career in 1970 and worked on projects like “Family” and “Breaking Away”, but most importantly “Poltergeist”, a horror film where a family begins to experience paranormal phenomena in her house. .
Unfortunately, at the age of 22, she was a victim of femicide at the hands of her ex-boyfriend John Sweeney, who strangled her to death in 1982, the year the aforementioned film was released.
Her ex-boyfriend Dominic was sentenced to prison and later released
The criminal revealed in official statements that he visited Dominique to try to reconcile their relationship. However, there was a fight that ended with the girl being strangled. When the police arrived, he confessed to murdering her and then tried to kill himself.
Although Dominique was taken to a hospital, she did not regain consciousness and brain scans confirmed she had no brain activity, so her parents decided to take her off life support after 5 days.
At his trial, John was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and spent two and a half years in prison, but after that he was released on parole, which the Dunne family said was completely unfair.
After his daughter’s death, Dominic wrote a detailed article for Vanity Fair about his family’s experience trying to get justice for their daughter in court. This led him to specialize in true crimes, such as that of the Menéndez brothers.
Unfortunately, the journalist died in 2009, at the age of 83, but his work continues to be admired and remembered by new generations.
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Source: univision
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
