The extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez descended on a Los Angeles courthouse Wednesday afternoon, holding a press conference to advocate for the brothers’ release from prison as prosecutors review new evidence to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents.
“I had no idea the extent of the abuse they suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did,” said Joan Andersen VanderMolen, victim Kitty Menendez’s sister. “We know that abuse has long effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand.”
“The whole world was not ready to hear that boys could be raped,” she said, adding “today we know better.”
Erik Menendez, now 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, are currently incarcerated in state prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of killing their parents, José and Mary Louise (Kitty) Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago.
The brothers were found guilty 28 years ago and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Wednesday’s news conference was the largest gathering of the extended family since the brothers’ 1996 sentencing. The brothers’ post-conviction lawyer, Mark Geragos, also joined the family at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
Geragos said society’s understanding of sex abuse has changed in the decades since the killings and subsequent trial. He said people have become more aware that men can be victims of sexual assault and abuse in that time.
“If they were the Menendez sisters, they would not be in custody,” Geragos said.
The gathering, which attracted a large scrum of press, took place less than two weeks after L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón announced his office was looking at the brothers’ case again after new evidence was brought forward.
The new evidence includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his lawyers say corroborates the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father.
“They tried to protect themselves the only way they knew how,” said Brian A. Andersen Jr., nephew of Kitty Menendez. “Instead of being seen as victims, they were vilified.”
“They are no longer a threat to society,” he continued.
Others in the family echoed similar sentiments. “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,” said Anamaria Baralt, a niece of José Menendez.
Family members directed supporters to an online petition, Justiceforerikandlyle.org, which advocates for the brothers’ release from prison.
At first, the brothers, who were 18 and 21 years old at the time of the killings, maintained to police they’d stopped by their parents’ house the night of the killings to retrieve Erik’s ID while on the way to a movie and discovered their slain parents.
However, Erik eventually confided to his therapist that he and his brother were responsible for the killings and after the therapist shared the information with his wife, the confession eventually made its way to police.
Lyle and Erik were eventually arrested for the murders and their trial kicked off an era of high-profile, televised criminal trials that captured the public’s imagination through the ‘90s.
Despite defence arguments that José had sexually molested his two sons for years and that they killed their parents out of fear, they were convicted of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors at the time contended there was no evidence of any molestation. They said the sons were after their parents’ multi-million-dollar estate. But the brothers have said they killed their parents out of self-defence after enduring a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them.
They served the first part of their sentences in separate prisons, until they were reunited in 2018 and allowed to serve their sentences in the same facility.
In recent years, many have questioned whether there might have been a different outcome for the Menendez brothers if they stood trial today, given society’s changed understanding of sexual abuse and family violence.
Earlier this month, Gascón said there is no question the brothers committed the 1989 murders, but his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether a resentencing is warranted.
The brothers’ lawyers said the family believed from the beginning they should have been charged with manslaughter rather than murder. Manslaughter was not an option for the jury during the second trial that ultimately led to the brothers’ murder conviction, Geragos previously said.
The case has gained new traction in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming the true-crime drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
— With files from The Associated Press