Two brothers at the centre of one of the most famous murder cases in the 20th century could be free after spending 35 years behind bars for killing their parents.
The Menendez brothers are set to make their cases for parole marking the closest they’ve been to winning freedom from prison.
A California judge has dramatically reduced the Menendez brothers’ sentences, now aged 54 and 57.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were at the centre of a media firestorm in the 1990s when their case went to trial, and attention has refocused on the pair after multiple documentaries.
‘I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate,’ Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said last year.
Get personalised updates on all things Netflix
Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.
‘I believe they have paid their debt to society.’
This means the brothers, at the centre of one of America’s worst true crime sagas, could soon be free.
The brothers are up for parole because they were under 26 years old when they committed the crimes, Gascón said.
When were the Menendez’s parents murdered?
The Menendez brothers’ parents were found shot dead with a shotgun in August 1989.
Jose was shot point-blank in the back of the head with a 12-gauge shotgun. He was killed instantly but his wife Kitty Menendez tried to run but slipped.
She was shot in the leg as she tried to escape.
She was shot multiple times in the chest, face, and arm with the facial shot making her nearly unrecognisable.
Lyle Menendez dialled 911 to report the shotgun killings of their parents inside their home.
Both brothers initially told detectives that the murders were related to the Mafia or had something to do with their father’s business dealings.
Suspicions were raised after Lyle Menendez told his therapist, Jerome Oziel, that he and his brother were the killers.
While this isn’t normally admissible evidence in court, it was allowed in a trial because Menendez allegedly threatened the therapist, voiding patient-doctor confidentiality.
In 1992, the brothers were tried separately, in trials that were broadcast on TV.
The brothers plead guilty to the murders, but said it was in self-defence as they claimed their father had been abusing them for years.
The prosecution pointed to the pair’s spending habits after the deaths to suggest that inheriting their family’s wealth was the motivation.
A witness testified that Lyle and Erik both bought Rolex watches and expensive clothes the day before their parents’ funerals, which aroused suspicion.
The juries were deadlocked, and so a second trial was ordered – with Lyle and Erik tried together.
They were found guilty, and in 1996 started life sentences with no possibility of parole. Both appealed, but those were denied by the US District Court.
Initially in separate prisons, they were reunited in the same facility 2018, after over 20 years apart.
May 2023’s re-sentencing
In May 2023, attorneys for the brothers asked courts to reconsider their conviction after a man came forward and said he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14.
Then Netflix released Monsters, a drama series about the murders. The series sparked further debate and conversation over the case.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on October 4, 2024, that his office was ‘reviewing’ new evidence for the case.
On October 24, the LA prosecutor’s office announced they are petitioning courts to resentence the brothers.
The brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1996.
Their extended family members have called for their release, stressing that if the brothers were tried today with sexual abuse weighing in differently than decades ago, their conviction would not be the same.
Their case sparked worldwide interest, and was featured in the Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The nine episodes released renewed public interest in the matter, while also drawing some backlash.
Gascón said the brothers undoubtedly killed their parents, but that there is new evidence including a letter Erik apparently wrote to a cousin eight months before the killings in which he detailed the abuse.
He said the evidence could have produced a different outcome from the jury had it been shown at the time.
Will the Menendez brother’s walk free?
The state parole board must now decide whether to release the brothers from prison – and prosecutors must prove that they still pose a risk of committing violent crime again.
A panel or two or three parole hearing officers from a board of commissioners appointed by the governor will evaluate the brothers individually.
Erik Menendez will have his hearing followed by Lyle Menendez on Friday, over videoconference from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
Even if the board grants their parole, it could still be months before the brothers walk free — if at all.
If the board grants each brother’s parole, the chief legal counsel has 120 days to review the case. Then, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has 30 days to affirm or deny the parole. Only then, if Newsom affirms the parole, would the Menendez brothers be able to leave prison.
LA County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said: ‘I am not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide.
‘I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years that they should get that chance.’
Erik and Lyle did not show any emotion during most of the testimony as they appeared via livestream video.
But they chuckled when one of their cousins, Diane Hernandez, told the court that Erik received A+ grades in all of his classes during his most recent semester in college.
A version of this article was originally published on October 24, 2024
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
