A 15-year-old Wisconsin boy accused of killing his mother claims he was inspired by a Netflix documentary about the Menendez brothers.
Reed Gelinskey will be tried as an adult for the March 4 killing of his mother, Suzanne Gelinskey, at their home in Caledonia, Wis., according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint says Gelinskey sent a photo of his deceased mother lying on her back to a girl on Snapchat, which led to her call the Caledonia Police Department. When officers arrived at the Gelinskey home, the complaint states that he was sitting on the front stoop of the house in bloody clothing while holding onto a knife.
“She is dead,” he told officers, according to the complaint. “She is dead from what I did.”
Just before the killing, Gelinskey told officers he was watching the Menendez brothers documentary, about the 1989 double murder, on Netflix.
“Gelinskey stated he then developed the plan to kill his parents. He stated it came to him while he watched the ‘shotgun scene,’” referencing the beginning of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story — a recreated scene depicting Lyle and Erik Menendez gunning down their parents in their California living room.
The complaint says Gelinskey “felt depression and an urge to kill his parents” and that he had been taking his brother’s anxiety medication for about a month.
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Gelinskey told officers that he hid his sleeping medication and asked his mother to help search for it. When she turned her back, he allegedly “struck his mother over the head with a dumbbell in an attempt to knock her out so he could stab her with the knife.”
He then shoved his mother to the floor and jumped on top of her with the knife in his hand, the complaint states.
He allegedly stabbed his mother five times, three in the chest and twice in the neck, according to the complaint.
“Gelinskey stated his mother asked him, ‘Why?’ and he replied, ‘pain,’” the complaint reads.
Suzanne Gelinskey was found unresponsive “on the ground in the foyer near the front entrance with apparent stab wounds and blood-soaked clothing,” according to the complaint.
“Gelinskey stated he searched the home for a hammer because he was going to kill his father when he came home from work but could not find one large enough,” the complaint adds.
Reed Gelinskey’s father, Ryan Gelinskey, appeared at his son’s Friday court hearing by Zoom but did not make any statements.
Gelinskey has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and faces life imprisonment if convicted.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and Gelinskey’s bail was set at $1 million. He was also allowed monitored contact with his father.
Erik and Lyle Menendez have remained in prison for 30 years following the shotgun killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, on Aug. 20, 1989, in their Beverly Hills mansion, which captured the public’s attention.
Prosecutors argued the Menendez brothers killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ lawyers never disputed that the pair killed their parents, but argued that they acted out of self-defence after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.
After an initial mistrial, the brothers were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Los Angeles County prosecutors recommended resentencing for the brothers in October 2024, arguing that they had demonstrated good behaviour and rehabilitation in prison. They have support from their family, and lawyers have presented new evidence of the sexual abuse the brothers allege they suffered at the hands of their father.
In February, lawyers for the Menendez brothers said California Gov. Gavin Newsom had ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they were released after nearly three decades in prison for the 1989 killing of their parents.
The state’s legal standard for parole is whether an inmate poses an unreasonable risk to public safety. That must be determined before the governor can make a decision on commutation.
On March 10, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he’s asking the court to withdraw the previous district attorney’s motion for resentencing for the Menendez brothers, calling their claims of self-defence “lies.”
“We are prepared to go forward” with the hearing regarding their resentencing case, Hochman said at a news conference Monday. “However, we are asking the court to withdraw the previous district attorney’s motion for resentencing, because we believe there are legitimate reasons and the interests of justice justifies that withdrawal.”
The resentencing hearing is set for March 20 and 21.
— With files from The Associated Press