In the 1990s, the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers who brutally murdered their parents, shocked people. Since the release of a new Netflix miniseries about the brothers in 2024, there has been a renewed interest in them and their case. And now, a Wisconsin teen, Reed Gelinskey, evidently considers them an inspiration.
The teen recently allegedly stabbed and killed his mother after watching a documentary on the brothers. Much like the Menendez brothers, the teen may find himself behind bars.
On March 6,2025, the Racine County district attorney’s office charged Reed Gelinskey with first-degree intentional homicide, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
About 10:30 p.m. March 4, police arrived at the Gelinskey home. Upon their arrival, the teen admitted to killing his mother before asking officers to kill him, prosecutors said in the criminal complaint.
“She is dead,” Gelinskey reportedly said, per the newspaper. “She is dead from what I did.”
When speaking to police, the teen said he came home from school feeling depressed with an urge to kill his parents. He admitted he had been taking his brother’s anxiety medication for about a month. The night of the murder, he claimed to have taken approximately nine pills. He claimed they didn’t help his anxiety, but he enjoyed the high, the complaint noted.
Next, Gelinskey said he looked for a hammer to kill his father with but couldn’t find one that was big enough. After dinner, his mother sat on the couch using his computer, and he decided to watch television. The teen put on a Netflix documentary about Lyle and Erik Menendez. He claimed that during the “shotgun scene” that detailed the parents’ death, he developed the plan to kill his own parents.
Around 9:50 p.m. he hid his sleeping medication and grabbed a kitchen knife, the complaint says, per the Journal Sentinel. He reportedly hid a dumbbell in his sleeve before calling for his mother’s help with finding the hidden medication. When his mother’s back was turned, he hit her twice with the dumbbell, but she didn’t fall down.
His mother, identified as Suzanne Gelinskey, fought back as her son tackled her to the ground. Eventually, he was able to stab her three times in the chest and twice in the neck.
According to the complaint, his mother asked “Why?” and he replied, “Pain.” He then reached out to a friend via SnapChat to call 911.
“This was an extremely violent, but planned offense. It’s dangerous in its nature. His original plan was not just for the one victim, but two,” Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson said in court, WISN reported.
Reed Gelinshkey’s attorney tried to argue that due to the teen’s age, “non-existent criminal history,” and the “mental health overtones” in the incident, bail should be $50,000. The court instead chose to set bail at $1 million.
The Racine district attorney said the teen will be charged as an adult, WISN reported. If convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence.
