Dick Wolf to Tackle Menendez Brothers Case with Law & Order True Crime Series

Dick Wolf is adding true crime to the Law & Order banner with an event series based on the famed Menendez brothers' case in the works at NBC.

The network announced on Wednesday that Wolf is working on an eight-episode series that will explore the three trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted in 1996 for murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. The Menendez brothers were tried separately but had two trials with hung juries before the third reached a guilty verdict. The brothers, aged 21 and 18 years old respectively at the time of the crime, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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"We've been talking with Dick about how to create an event series coming out of the Law & Order ripped-from-the-headlines brand. This case captured the public's attention like nothing before it as it examined taboo issues such as patricide and matricide in gruesome detail, all against a backdrop of privilege and wealth," said Jennifer Salke, President of NBC Entertainment in a press statement. "We will recreate the cultural and societal surroundings of both the murders and trials when people were not only obsessed with the case but examining how and why these brothers committed these heinous crimes."

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The announcement follows the finale of FX's very successful true crime event series from Ryan Murphy, American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson. Wolf believes that a Menendez event series is the natural next step for the Law & Order brand.

"Bob [Greenblatt], Jen and I have been focused the natural evolution of the Law & Order brand for the last several years and are excited to extend the franchise with a scripted limited anthology series that focuses on a high-profile trial. There is no shortage of compelling real-life criminal cases, and the Menendez trial was more scintillating than most crime fiction."

NBC has not announced a production or possible premiere date at this time.