“Monsters” Star Cooper Koch Says He Hugged Menendez Brothers During Prison Visit

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of killing their parents Jose and Kitty

Cooper Koch, the actor who played Erik Menendez in Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, said the Menendez brothers are “upstanding individuals” after he visited them in prison.

Koch and Kim Kardashian visited Lyle and Erik Menendez at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego on Saturday, Sept. 21, according to Variety.

Koch said when he met Erik, the two men “just looked at each other, and immediately embraced. He was so kind," he said, adding, "Lyle, too.”

“I got to hug both of them and just be in their presence,” he said, per the outlet.

The two brothers became household names in 1989 when Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18, armed with 12-gauge shotguns, burst into the den of their family home in Beverly Hills, Calif., and fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, while the couple watched TV.

The killings, according to the brothers, came after years of alleged sexual abuse by their Hollywood executive father. They claimed the mistreatment was ignored by their mother.

Related: Do the Menendez Brothers Have a Chance of Getting Out of Prison? Lawyer Says They're 'Cautiously Optimistic' (Exclusive)

However, authorities said the two brothers’ motive was greed, and cited the lavish spending spree the brothers went on after the slayings.

In 1996, three years after their first trial ended in a deadlock, the siblings were convicted of the first-degree murder of their parents and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The State Law Firm describes a deadlock as a hung jury, when members aren't able to come to a unanimous decision.

Koch said the brothers deserve to have a new trial.

“They committed the crime when they were 18 and 21 years old, and at the time, it was really hard for people to believe that male-on-male sexual abuse could occur, especially with father and son,” he said.

“It was really hard for people to understand that the story that they were telling was true, and this theory that they killed their parents for money is just bonkers. But it was easier for people at the time to sort of swallow that story. But now, after 35 years, we have so much more evidence of child sexual abuse and male-on-male sexual abuse that I think they do deserve to be retried.”

On Friday, Sept. 20, the day after the series aired, Erik slammed the show saying it was “rooted in horrible and blatant lies” about him and Lyle, and slammed Murphy for airing false information.

"I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent," Erik said.

Related: Kim Kardashian and Monsters Star Cooper Koch Visit Erik and Lyle Menendez in San Diego Prison

Koch spoke to Erik about his dislike of the show during the prison visit, per Variety.

“I told him that it makes sense that you would feel this way,” Koch said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to have the worst part of your life, such a traumatic and tragic thing, be televised for millions of people to see in a dramatized Hollywood TV way. I just said, ‘I understand, I get it, and I stand with you.’ ”

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Koch said he ended up at the prison with Kardashian when she had lunch with his stylist and they texted him.

"It was a video of Kim being like, ‘I love you in the show. You’re so amazing,’ ” Koch said.

He said he then spoke to Kardashian who asked him “all these questions about Erik and about the brothers."

Koch said Kardashian was planning to visit the brothers in prison and “asked me if I wanted to go with them. It all happened very quickly.”

Kardashian’s sister Khloé and mom Kris Jenner also went for the visit, Variety reports. The group was there to talk about prison reform.

Koch said the two brothers have done a lot of good work in prison. “They’ve done so much work in their prison,” he said. “Erik teaches meditation and speech classes, and they’re doing this Greenspace project to improve the prison grounds. It was just amazing.”

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