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The Los Angeles district attorney is recommending that Lyle and Erik Menendez — the Menendez Brothers — be resentenced after being convicted of murdering their parents over three decades ago. The decision could lead to the brothers being released from prison.
Los Angeles DA George Gascón in a press conference Thursday, October 24 made the recommendation to revive the case in light of newly unearthed evidence, all as the Menendez Brothers have again been in the spotlight due to the success of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” Netflix also aired a separate docuseries on the brothers, in which the brothers themselves discussed the case at length.
“After a very careful review of all the arguments that were made for people on both sides of the equation, I came to a place where under the law resentencing is appropriate, and I will recommend that to the court tomorrow,” Gascón said in a statement.
It’s up to a judge to ultimately determine what happens to the brothers, including whether they will be released from prison in San Diego, where they are currently serving a life sentence without parole. That hearing will be held November 26.
Gascón said people in his office have spent a great amount of time reviewing the case, and that the decision was not reached unanimously, with some believing that the Menendez brothers should not be released and were not molested, while others feel they should be released immediately.
Gascón specifically recommended that the life without parole provision of their sentencing will be removed, and under the new sentence they will be charged with murder for 50 years to life, but they will be eligible for parole immediately due to their age at the time of the crime.
Gascón said the DA’s office was “flooded” with information and requests because of the Netflix shows. He made clear that the murder the Menendez brothers committed were “horrible acts” and would never imply that he is excusing their behavior, but he said “I also understand how people get desperate” as a result of sexual abuse.
“They have been in prison for nearly 35 years. I believe they have paid their debt to society, and the system provides a vehicle for their case to be reviewed by a parole board, and if the parole board concurs with my assessment, it will be their decision, they will be released accordingly,” Gascón said.
The Menendez Brothers were found to have killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home back in 1989 when they were each 21 and 18 at the time. Their trials, including a first that was deadlocked and a second that ended with their conviction in 1996, were some of the first to be televised and became highly publicized. The brothers in the trial did not deny killing their parents but claimed they had been sexually molested by their father.
Such details could be viewed far differently today under a new Los Angeles law that would allow a judge to assess whether the brothers were victims of psychological or physical abuse. Gascón has also shared new evidence, including a letter from Jose Menendez that alluded to abuse, and a sworn statement from Roy Rosselló, who alleged Jose sexually assaulted him in the 1980s.
Some relatives of the Menendez brothers have publicly called for their release, while also slamming Murphy’s Netflix series as highly inaccurate and the “height of pure evil.” Relatives took specific exception to depictions of the brothers as incestuous, calling the series “absurd.”
Murphy however has defended the series, saying he had an obligation as a storyteller to depict abuse, and that though Erik Menendez has been among those to condemn it without having seen it, the show focuses on many of the acts of sexual abuse they claim to have experienced.
English (US) ·