US prosecutors have recommended a new sentence. Lyle and Erik Menendez for the murder of their parents after new evidence of sexual abuse by their father emerged.
The brothers have been behind bars for 34 years, serving life sentences for shooting their father and mother in their home in Beverly Hills, California, in a high-profile case that was recently the subject of a documentary.
They were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said Thursday that his office will recommend that the brothers' sentences be rescinded and that they be resentenced to 50 years to life in prison.
Because they were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they will be eligible for parole immediately, he said.
“I've come to a place where I think, under the law, a new sentence is appropriate,” Gascon told reporters.
“It is important to understand that our own implicit and sometimes explicit bias around sexual abuse and assault often leads to serious injustices in our community,” she said.
Gascon added that some members of his office opposed the decision to recommend a new sentence.
They were afraid that their parents would kill them
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they shot and killed their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in the study of their Beverly Hills mansion.
The brothers said they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent people from finding out that Jose Menendez had sexually abused Erik Menendez for years.
The Menendez brothers were tried twice for the murders, and the first trial ended with a hung jury.
Prosecutors at the time argued that there was no evidence of sexual abuse and many details in his sexual abuse story were not allowed at the second trial.
They argued that the motive for the murders was the family's multimillion-dollar fortune.
The brothers have unsuccessfully appealed their sentences.
The Menendez case has recently gained new attention after Netflix began streaming the true crime drama series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Prosecutors are reviewing a letter, written by Erik Menendez when he was 13 to his cousin, that his lawyers say supports allegations that his father sexually abused him.
There is also evidence from Roy Rossello, former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, who also revealed in a 2023 Peacock film that he was drugged and raped twice by the brothers' father when he was a teenager in the 1980s.
Menudo signed with RCA Information, directed by José Menéndez.
These accusations are part of the evidence listed in the petition filed last year by the Menéndez brothers' lawyer to review their case.
Acquainted support
The brothers' extended family has called for their release.
At a recent news conference, several family members said the brothers' 1996 sentencing came at a time when people didn't want to hear about sexual abuse.
“If Lyle and Erik's case had been heard today, with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, I have no doubt that their sentence would have been very different,” said Anamaría Baralt, cousin of the siblings.
But some family members think they should remain in jail. Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Andersen, 90, filed a procesal brief asking the court to uphold the brothers' flamante punishment.
“They shot his mother, Kitty, reloading to ensure her death,” Andersen's lawyers said in a statement. “The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury’s verdict was fair and the punishment fits the heinous crime.”
Gascón told reporters that despite their life sentences, the brothers worked on redemption and rehabilitation inside prison.
“I think they have paid their debt to society,” he said.
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