Dominick Dunne’s tragedy casts its shadow over the Netflix story of Lyle and Erik Menendez

Who was Dominique Dunne?

Dominique Ellen Dunne was born on November 23, 1959, the youngest child of writer, journalist and producer Dominick Dunne and ranch heiress Ellen Griffin Dunne. As a member of a showbiz family (in addition to her father’s film experience, she had family connections to celebrities such as Joan Didion and Gary Cooper), Dominique began acting at an early age. She played her first role in the 1979 television film Diary of a teenage hitchhiker.

After a series of supporting roles in a number of popular television series of the 1980s, Dunne got her big break when she joined the cast of Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg’s horror hit in 1982. poltergeistDunne played Dana Freeling, the eldest child of a middle-class California family who is tormented by vengeful spirits. poltergeist was supposed to be a huge success, but Dunne died before production of the first sequel began Poltergeist II: The Other Sidea tragedy that contributed to Poltergeist’s reputation as a “cursed movie.”

What happened to Dominique Dunne and who is John Sweeney?

Throughout 1981 and much of 1982, Dominique Dunne was in an abusive relationship with John Thomas Sweeney, a sous chef at a Los Angeles restaurant whom she met at a party. Sweeney was possessive, jealous, and eventually became violent toward Dunne. On at least two occasions—less than a month apart—Dunne was forced to flee from Sweeney and stay with her mother. It was the second violent incident, on September 26, 1982, in which Sweeney choked Dunne, that led to her breaking off the relationship and having the locks on her house changed.

On October 30, 1982, Sweeney called Dunne’s home phone and was at her front door 10 minutes later. Dunne agreed to speak with Sweeney on her porch while her V Co-star David Packer, with whom she was texting, remained inside. Packer then heard screams and a thud outside and called the police (who inexplicably told him that Dunne’s house was outside their jurisdiction). When he went outside to investigate, Packer saw Sweeney kneeling over an unconscious Dunne. When the police finally arrived, Sweeney told them, “I killed my girlfriend and I tried to kill myself.” We see this chaotic moment in Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.

Another scene viewers get to see is the heartbreaking medical aftermath of Sweeney’s attack. In the days following the attack, Dominique Dunne never regained consciousness and was declared brain dead, having been deprived of oxygen by Sweeney’s chokehold. Her mother and father had to make the decision to withdraw life support. She died on November 4, just weeks before her 23rd birthday. Sweeney was eventually found guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison.

What does Dominick Dunne have to do with the Menendez brothers?

Outside of flashbacks, neither Dominique Dunne nor anyone else involved in her tragic death play a major role in Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezwith one major exception. Dominique’s father, Dominick Dunne, is a central character in the series, and the actor who plays him, Nathan Lane, appears fifth in the credits. That’s because the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez can’t be properly told without the story of Dominick Dunne.