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full screenErik and Lyle Menendez, who now appear before a court again. Archive image. Photo: AP/TT
The Menendez brothers, who were sentenced to life in prison for the double murder of their parents, may be released. 35 years after the high-profile case, they will again be heard in court – with the possibility of parole.
After spending over 35 years in prison for the murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez, Erik and Lyle Menendez are now set to appear in court again.
Their case has been brought up to date in the popular Netflix series “Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez” and in the documentary “The Menendez Brothers” from last fall.
In 1989, the defense described the murders as a desperate attempt at self-defense, after years of rape and psychological abuse by the father and co-dependence by the mother. Prosecutors portrayed it instead as cold-hearted murder for financial gain carried out by two spoiled boys, then 21 and 18 years old.
But now the defense presents new evidence for the sexual abuse, including a letter that Erik wrote to his uncle Andy Cano in 1988, i.e. before the murders, in which he told about them. In addition, artist Roy Rossello claims that Jose Menendez drugged and raped him as a teenager when he had a recording contract with RCA Records, where Menendez was the head.
Increased support
Support for the release of the Menendez brothers has increased, following a campaign led by, among others, Kim Kardashian. She wrote to NBC News: “The trial and punishment these brothers received was more fitting for a serial killer than two individuals who endured years of sexual abuse by the very people they loved and trusted.”
Erik and Lyle, now 53 and 56 years old, were also recently defended during a press conference by about twenty people in their family. Joan Anderson VanderMolen, sister of Kitty Menendez, says the punishment would never have been as severe today.
– The world was not ready to believe that the boys could be raped or that young men could be victims of sexual violence, she says, according to the BBC.
Place will be drawn
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón recommended in October that the brothers receive a reduced sentence, opening the possibility of parole. He has also weighed in on their good behavior in prison, where they have earned multiple degrees.
Since then, however, a district attorney with a tougher line on criminals has been voted in. Nathan Hochman takes office on December 2nd and a pre-sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 11th.
The trial in 1989 was broadcast live on television and many have made a pilgrimage to the house where the crime was committed. Even now, the interest in the brothers is enormous – and 16 seats in the court are being raffled off to the public.
THE FACTS The Menendez case
35 years ago, movie mogul Jose Menendez and his wife Kitty Menendez were shot to death in their luxury villa in Beverly Hills. They were shot with a shotgun, about ten times.
It was the eldest son Lyle who raised the alarm about the crime. At first the brothers were not suspected, and they spent the time after the murder spending their father’s fortune. However, the brothers were arrested after the police got hold of a recording where one of the brothers confesses to the murders to his psychologist.
The jury disagreed in the first trial, but the brothers were finally sentenced in a second trial in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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