Lyle and Erik Menendez have as soon as once more turn out to be a significant focal point as they proceed to serve life sentences with out parole for the 1989 homicide of their mother and father, José and Kitty Menendez.
Their case gained renewed consideration first by means of Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, adopted by a Netflix documentary that featured beforehand unreleased telephone name recordings between the brothers and director Alejandro Hartmann from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, the place they’re incarcerated.
With this renewed focus, new proof, and an upcoming court docket listening to, Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53, might have an opportunity at freedom. For readers to remain up to date on the Menendez brothers’ case, HollywoodLife has compiled all the important thing info under.
Is the Menendez Case Being Reopened?
Erik and Lyle’s resentencing listening to has been scheduled for December 11. The date was set on October 30 by Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Michael Jesic, after prosecutors submitted a advice for the brothers’ resentencing. Los Angeles County prosecutors have really useful that the brothers obtain a brand new sentence of fifty years to life. As a result of they have been underneath 26 years previous on the time of the crimes, they might be eligible for parole instantly underneath a California legislation that went into impact in 2018.
The Menendez brothers beforehand had a court docket listening to set for November 29, 2024, in keeping with Selection, which adopted the invention of proof suggesting that their father, Jose, sexually abused his youngsters.
“Now we have been given proof, together with a photocopy of a letter allegedly despatched by one of many brothers to a different member of the family, discussing being the sufferer of molestation,” Los Angeles District Lawyer George Gascón shared, per the outlet. He additionally talked about, “We’ve obtained proof supplied by the protection, together with claims from a member of the Menudo band who alleged he was molested by the daddy.”
In accordance with the Los Angeles District Lawyer Workplace, Gascón said in October 2024, “I strongly help clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who’re at present serving sentences of life with out chance of parole. They’ve respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and labored to create new applications to help the rehabilitation of fellow inmates.”
Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band sensation Menudo, spoke out within the 2023 Peacock documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, the place he alleged that he was abused by the music government when he was 14.
Will There Be a Retrial?
It’s at present unclear if the brothers will face a retrial, however choices for resentencing and attainable clemency have been set into movement by Gascón. Nevertheless, he was lately unseated by former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who took workplace on December 2.
Hochman revealed his preliminary plan for the case, telling CNN, “I must evaluate the confidential jail recordsdata for every brother, the transcripts from each trials, and converse to the prosecutors, legislation enforcement, protection counsel, and the victims’ relations. Solely then can I decide. If for some motive I would like further time, I’ll ask the court docket for that point.”
He added, “If I ask for a delay, it received’t be a delay for delay’s sake as a result of I feel the Menendez brothers, the sufferer relations, the general public should have a call finished as quickly as it may be finished in an intensive method.”
In accordance with the Newsom’s workplace, “The Governor respects the function of the District Lawyer in making certain justice is served and acknowledges that voters have entrusted District Lawyer-elect Hochman to hold out this accountability.” The assertion additionally famous, “The Governor will defer to the DA-elect’s evaluate and evaluation of the Menendez case prior to creating any clemency selections.”
On Monday, November 25, 2024, a court docket listening to was held, however a choose dominated to delay the listening to initially scheduled for December 11. Newly elected Los Angeles County District Lawyer Nathan Hochman requested further time to evaluate the case. Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Michael Jesic rescheduled the listening to for January 30 and January 31, 2025.
Hochman has been adamant that the brothers have lied, which led him to beforehand informABC Information, “In the event that they sincerely and unequivocally admit for the primary time in over 30 years, the total vary of their legal exercise and all of the lies that they’ve advised about it,” then he’d think about recommending a resentencing. The brothers are scheduled for a resentencing listening to on April 17 in Los Angeles.
Why Did the Menendez Brothers Kill Their Dad and mom?
The truth that the brothers—then 21 and 18—dedicated the crime was by no means unsure in the course of the trial, however their motivation has divided opinions over the many years.
Through the proceedings, the brothers claimed they have been abused all through their childhood by their mother and father. At their first trial, their lawyer, Leslie Abramson, argued that they killed their mother and father in self-defense, fearing that their mother and father would kill them in the event that they disclosed the years of alleged molestation that they had suffered at their father’s arms. She advised The Washington Publish in 1996, “These aren’t murderers. These are troubled children in a really troublesome and grotesque house atmosphere, and so they cracked.” On the time, many believed the motive was their mother and father’ inheritance cash.
If you happen to or anybody you already know has been sexually abused, name the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A skilled employees member will present confidential, judgment-free help in addition to native assets to help in therapeutic, recovering and extra.
If you happen to or somebody you already know is fighting substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Companies Administration (SAMHSA) Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
