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Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez learned that they will be resentenced 35 years after they were convicted of killing their parents.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon announced in a press conference on Thursday, October 24, that the brothers could be eligible for parole immediately, pending a resentencing hearing.
“We are going to recommend to the court that the life without the possibility of parole be removed and that they will be sentenced for murder. Because there was two murders involved that would be 50 years to life,” Gascon said. “However, because of their age, under the law because they were under 26 years of age at the time that these crimes occurred, they will be eligible for parole immediately.”
He continued, “They went to prison for life without the possibility of parole. …Even though they didn’t think that they would ever be let free, they engaged in a different journey: a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.”
Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and a recent documentary stirred up a renewed interest in the brothers’ case. They were sentenced to life in prison in 1989 for brutally killing both of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez. However, in May 2023, Erik and Lyle’s attorneys filed a habeas petition to request they be allowed to submit new evidence – a letter that Erik, 53, allegedly wrote to his cousin Andy Cano. In the letter, Erik went into detail regarding the sexual abuse he and Lyle, 56, suffered at the hands of their father.
“I found a letter that Erik Menendez had written to his cousin Andy Cano in November of 1988, nine months before Jose and Kitty Menendez were killed,” Randy Rand, one of the producers of the documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, told KTLA in September. “And in that letter, Erik Menendez complains about the ongoing sexual abuse by his father.”
On October 3, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gascón announced that Erik and Lyle’s case was back under review, and a hearing was set for November 29 regarding whether they could be resentenced.
“Today, what I wanted to be very clear, we have not conceded one way or the other, we are not saying that there was anything wrong with the original trial,” Gascón said during a press conference. “We have been giving evidence, we have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation.”
Gascón continued, “If the habeas would be granted, you would get a new trial. If they are resentenced, the judge under California law has the ability to recall and sentence them to a wide range of options.”
On October 16, the Menendez brothers’ family announced a coalition to advocate for a resentencing for Erik and Lyle.
“Like so many others, I struggled to process the events of that fateful August day and the loss that I felt over time. It became clear that there were two other victims there on that day, my cousins, Lyle and Erik,” the brothers’ cousin, Annamaria Baralt said during a press conference. “If Lyle and Erik’s case were heard today with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, there is no doubt in my mind that their sentencing would have been very different.”
The following week, Gascón revealed that his office was divided on whether or not Erik and Lyle should be resentenced.
“I have a group of people, including some that were involved in the original trial, that are adamant that they should spend the rest of their life in prison and that they were not molested,” Gascón explained on October 22. “I have other people in the office that believe, actually, that they probably were molested and they deserve to have some relief.”
English (US) ·