Prosecutors in the USA have really helpful resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez for the homicide of their dad and mom after new proof emerged of sexual abuse by their father.
The brothers have been behind bars for 34 years, serving life sentences for taking pictures their father and mom of their residence in Beverly Hills, California, in a infamous case that was lately the topic of a documentary movie.
They have been sentenced in 1996 to life in jail with out the opportunity of parole for the 1989 killings.
Los Angeles County District Lawyer George Gascon stated on Thursday his workplace will advocate the brothers’ sentences be rescinded they usually be resentenced to 50 years to life.
As a result of they have been underneath 26 years previous on the time of the crimes, they are going to be eligible for parole instantly, he stated.
“I got here to a spot the place I imagine, underneath the legislation, resentencing is suitable,” Gascon advised reporters.
“It’s salient to grasp that our personal implicit and generally express bias round sexual abuse and sexual assault typically leads us to extreme injustices in our neighborhood,” he stated.
Gascon added some members of his workplace opposed the choice to advocate the resentencing.
Feared dad and mom would kill them
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot their leisure government father, Jose Menendez, and their mom, Kitty Menendez, within the den of their Beverly Hills mansion.
The brothers stated they feared their dad and mom have been about to kill them to cease individuals from discovering out that Jose Menendez had sexually abused Erik Menendez for years.
The Menendez brothers have been tried twice for the murders, with the primary trial ending in a hung jury.
Prosecutors on the time argued that there was no proof of molestation, and plenty of particulars of their story of sexual abuse weren’t permitted within the second trial.
They argued the motive for the murders was the household’s multimillion-dollar fortune.
The brothers have unsuccessfully appealed their convictions.
The Menendez case has gained new consideration lately after Netflix started streaming the true-crime drama collection, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Prosecutors are reviewing a letter, written by Erik Menendez when he was 13 years previous to his cousin, that his legal professionals say backs up the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father.
There’s additionally proof from Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, who additionally revealed in a 2023 Peacock movie that he was drugged and raped twice by the brothers’ father when he was a teen within the Nineteen Eighties.
Menudo was signed underneath RCA Information, which was headed by Jose Menendez.
These allegations are a part of the proof listed within the petition filed final 12 months by the Menendez brothers’ lawyer to overview their case.
Household assist
The brothers’ prolonged household have pleaded for his or her launch.
At a current information convention, a number of relations stated the brothers’ 1996 sentence was at a time when individuals didn’t wish to hear about sexual abuse.
“If Lyle and Erik’s case have been heard in the present day, with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, there is no such thing as a doubt in my thoughts that their sentencing would have been very totally different,” stated Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers.
However some relations assume they need to keep in jail. Kitty Menendez’s brother, Milton Andersen, 90, filed a authorized transient asking the court docket to maintain the brothers’ unique punishment.
“They shot their mom, Kitty, reloading to make sure her dying,” Andersen’s legal professionals stated in a press release. “The proof stays overwhelmingly clear: The jury’s verdict was simply, and the punishment matches the heinous crime.”
Gascon advised reporters regardless of their life sentences, the brothers labored on redemption and rehabilitation inside jail.
“I imagine that they’ve paid their debt to society,” he stated.