True crime’s popularity brings real change for defendants and society. It’s not all good

By TRAVIS LOLLER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In 1989, Americans were riveted by the shotgun murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion by their own children. Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison and lost all subsequent appeals. But today, more than three decades later, they unexpectedly have a chance of getting out.

Not because of the workings of the legal system. Because of entertainment.

After two recent documentaries and a scripted...