The case is being re-examined – new evidence found

Kim Kardashian: They’re not monsters

Rich teenagers who murdered for Rolex watches and money or a pair of siblings who defended themselves after years of sexual abuse?

Lyle and Erik Menendez have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents.

Now new evidence has led to the case being re-examined.

On August 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez called 911.

In the conversation, the oldest Menendez brother claimed that the siblings found their parents shot and murdered in the family’s mansion in Beverly Hills in the United States.

It was later revealed that the brothers themselves fired the shots that killed José and Kitty Menendez. Only after two trials were the sibling duo sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

But now a new piece of evidence – in the form of a letter from 1988 – has caused the case to be re-examined.

– We have a moral and ethical obligation to review what was presented to us, says George Gascon during a press conference on Friday, reports BBC.

Wrote to the cousin – months earlier

Lyle and Erik Menendez say their father sexually abused them for several years – and that they acted in self-defense when they shot their parents to death.

During the trials, the brothers’ cousin Andy Cano testified that Erik Menendez had previously told about the abuse.

But the prosecutor claimed that the cousin and the brothers were lying. According to the prosecutor, the motive was in fact that the boys wanted to inherit money from their wealthy father.

Now the brothers have been in prison for almost 35 years.

Only now can the cousin’s testimony become relevant again – after a handwritten letter from Erik Menendez was submitted to the authorities as new evidence. The letter is dated December 1988, which is about eight months before the murders.

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“Worse now”

In the letter, Erik Menendez writes, among other things:

“I’ve tried to avoid dad. It still happens, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I’m awake every night thinking he might come in. I’m afraid. He is crazy. He’s warned me a hundred times not to tell anyone, especially Lyle.”

On Friday, the BBC reports that District Attorney George Gascon confirmed during a press conference that the letter will now be reviewed.

– At the moment, I cannot comment on whether we believe this new information or not, says George Gascon during the press conference.

Kardashian: They’re kind

The trials against the brothers received a lot of attention in the United States.

Now the spotlight has once again been directed at the case after Netflix released the series “Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez”.

Something that also made Kim Kardashian speak out about the case. In a debate article in NBC News, she defends the brothers.

“We are all products of our experiences. Our experiences shape who we have been, who we are and who we will be. But time changes us. I doubt that anyone dares to say that they are the same person today as they were when they were 18 years old. I know I’m not the same person,” she writes.

The influencer, reality star and actor has trained as a lawyer since 2018. She has on several occasions previously helped lifers get their sentences reconsidered.

Now Kim Kardashian writes that the brothers’ sentence was influenced by a previous ignorance about abuse of boys – and she claims that the brothers would not have received as harsh a punishment if they were sisters.

“After years of abuse and fear for their lives, Erik and Lyle chose to do what they thought was their only way out. I’ve hung out with Lyle and Erik, they’re not monsters. They are kind, intelligent and honest men”.