The fate of Erik and Lyle Menendez is in the hands of prosecutors, as they get set to announce Thursday afternoon whether they recommend resentencing the brothers for the 1989 killings of their parents in Beverly Hills.
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has scheduled a 1:30 p.m. PT news conference to discuss his office’s decision.
If prosecutors do recommend resentencing, they would need court approval.
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.
FILE – Erik and Lyle Menendez are seen during their trial.
Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images
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.
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“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.”
Kitty Menendez’ sister, Joan Andersen Vandermolen, bottom left, and niece Karen Vandermolen, right, sit together during a press conference to announce developments on the case of brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Damian Dovarganes / The Associated Press
“The whole world was not ready to hear that boys could be raped,” she said, adding, “today we know better.”
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 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.
In this Oct. 20, 1995, file photo, Lyle Menendez looks up during testimony in his and brother Erik’s retrial for the shotgun slayings of their parents in Los Angeles, Calif.
Steve Grayson / UPI via AP, Pool, File)
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.
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