Prosecutors have recommended that Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills home, providing the brothers with a chance at freedom after 34 years behind bars.
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Although prosecutors do recommend resentencing, they will now need court approval.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, speaking in front of a press conference, said “resentencing is appropriate” in the case and that he will make his recommendation to the judge.
“I believe the brothers were subject to a tremendous amount of dysfunction in their home and molestation,” he said, adding he believes there is no excuse for murder.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society,” he continued, saying he believes the brothers worked on redemption and rehabilitation inside prison, but “the final decision will be made by a judge.”
Gascón said he will file his recommendation for resentencing Friday and will recommend a sentence of 50 years to life, with the opportunity for parole. He noted that some members of his office oppose the decision and may be in court as the case proceeds.
Because of their age at the time of the murders – they were both younger than 26 – under current law they would now be eligible for parole.
Gascón said a hearing could be scheduled in the next 30 to 45 days and if resentencing is approved the case will go before a parole board, who would review the matter and consider the brothers’ rehabilitation. They would then make a judgement about release.
Erik, now 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle, have been incarcerated in state prison after being convicted of killing their parents, José and Mary Louise (Kitty) Menendez, more than 35 years ago.
Last week, members of their extended family descended on a Los Angeles courthouse, holding a press conference to advocate for the brothers’ release from prison as prosecutors review new evidence.
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. The news conference was the largest gathering of the extended family since the brothers’ sentencing.
“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.
“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, 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.”
Not all Menendez family members, however, support resentencing. Attorneys for Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Kitty Menendez, filed a legal brief asking the court to keep the brothers’ original punishment. “They shot their mother, Kitty, reloading to ensure her death,” Andersen’s attorneys said in a statement Thursday. “The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury’s verdict was just, and the punishment fits the heinous crime.”
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.
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 mistress, 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.
— with files from The Associated Press
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.