Los Angeles prosecutors are recommending that Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills home, giving the brothers a possible path to freedom after 34 years in prison.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced his decision in a Thursday news conference. “We are going to recommend to the court that the life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they would be sentenced for murder,” which would be a sentence of 50 years to life, he said. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crime, they would be eligible for parole immediately. “I believe they have paid their debt to society,” Gascón added, although the final decision will rest with the judge.
The case, which began on Aug. 20, 1989, saw Lyle and Erik Menendez fatally shoot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home. The brothers, aged 21 and 18 at the time, used shotguns purchased days before. Prosecutors alleged financial gain as the motive, while the defense argued the brothers acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.
The initial trials—broadcast with cameras in the courtroom—ended in mistrials. In a 1996 retrial, in which much of the abuse evidence was excluded, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and received consecutive life sentences without parole.
Interest in the case was reignited this fall with the release of the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and a documentary on the Menendez brothers. Gascón stated his office has been evaluating new evidence, including allegations from a former Menudo band member who claimed he was molested by Jose Menendez, and an unearthed letter from Erik to a cousin detailing alleged abuse, written eight months before the murders.
Nearly two dozen family members gathered at a news conference last week advocating for the brothers’ resentencing. “Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive their father’s cruelty,” said Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen. Anamaria Baralt, Jose Menendez’s niece, added that their continued incarceration serves no rehabilitative purpose, expressing hope for the family’s healing.
However, not all relatives support their release. Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez’s brother, maintains that his nephews were not abused and argues they acted out of greed.
