Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced Thursday his office was officially recommending brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Gascon said earlier this month that his office was reviewing new evidence that could lead to a new trial or resentencing in the infamous case. In a follow-up interview, he said he did not think the brothers posed a danger to society.
“After very careful review of all arguments made from people on both sides of this equation I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow,” Gascon said.
He said he would ask for the men be resentenced to a life sentence with the possibility of parole and, given their ages at the time of the murders, become eligible for parole immediately.
A hearing scheduled for late November to determine the next steps has been canceled, Gascon said.
He cited the brothers’ rehabilitation while behind bars, including receiving educations and creating programs for their fellow inmates as proof they are not a threat.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society,” Gascon said, saying it will be up to a parole board to decide whether or not the brothers be released — as long as the court agrees to the resentencing.
Erik, 53, and Lyle 56, were convicted in 1996 after a second trial for the shootings of their parents at their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time at the time of the murders. Their attorneys argued they acted in self-defense, believing their parents would kill them if they exposed their father’s years of alleged sexual abuse.
After the first trial ended in a deadlocked jury, evidence and testimony from the brothers regarding the abuse were not admitted. They were both convicted in the second trial and are currently serving life sentences without parole in San Diego.
The 2024 review from Gascon’s office centered on a letter written by Erik months before the murders, detailing the abuse allegations against Jose. Roy Rosello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, has also recently come forward to say he was assaulted as a teen by Jose when the latter was an executive at RCA Records.
Gascon said it was not in dispute that the brothers killed their parents, but that the latest evidence could change the public perception of the case.
A number of high-profile criminal justice advocates have joined more than a dozen members of the Menendez family in calling for their release.
“I had no idea the extent of the abuse they suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did,” Kitty’s sister, Joan VanderMolen, said at a press conference earlier this month. “We know that abuse has long effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand.”
“They tried to protect themselves the only way they knew how,” added Brian Andersen Jr., a nephew of Kitty’s. “Instead of being seen as victims, they were vilified.”
The case, which was one of the most watched of the 1990s, has seen renewed interest following the release of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” on Netflix.
