George Gascón, the Los Angeles county district attorney, has recommended that the Menéndez brothers be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their parents, a step that is expected to lead to their release.
Gascón said during a news conference on Thursday that the pair should be resentenced, and that life without the possibility of parole be removed, after the office reviewed new evidence in the case. They will be eligible for parole immediately because of their ages at the time of the murder, he said.
“After a very careful review of all the arguments made … I came to a place where I believe that, under the law, resentencing is appropriate and I’m going to recommend that to a court tomorrow,” Gascón said.
A judge will have the final say in a case during a hearing next month.
The development is a major victory to the brothers and their supporters who said that they killed their parents in self-defense after years of sexual, physical and psychological abuse by their father. Prosecutors had argued that they were driven by greed and a desire to inherit a multimillion-dollar fortune.
Gascón said he believed the brothers’ account of abuse. “I do believe the brothers were subjected to a tremendous amount of dysfunction in the home, and molestation,” he said.
“They have been in prison for nearly 35 years. I believe that they have paid their debt to society.”
Erik and Lyle Menéndez were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Kitty. The violent killing of the prominent entertainment executive and his wife in Beverly Hills attracted international attention and drew renewed interest in recent years thanks to a new Netflix show and documentary series.
During the pandemic, the case reached a new audience thanks to viral TikTok videos that offered a more sympathetic view of the brothers and created a new network of supporters. Kim Kardashian has become an advocate for the brothers, and argued in a recent essay that the case is more complex than it appears and that Erik and Lyle “chose what they thought at the time was their only way out – an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare”.
The district attorney highlighted the brothers’ behavior in prison. Since they were first incarcerated, they have earned college degrees and served as mentors and caregivers in prison.
“Even though they didn’t think they would ever be let free, they engaged in a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation,” Gascón said.
Cousins of Erik and Lyle spoke at Thursday’s press conference and praised the district attorney for his action, describing it as a “day filled with hope” for the family.
“This decision is not just a legal matter – it is a recognition of the abuse my cousins endured,” said Karen VanderMolen, Kitty’s niece.
Gascón had announced earlier this month that his office would review new evidence and decide whether the case should be considered for resentencing or a new trial. The new evidence included a letter written by Erik before the killings that his attorneys say corroborates his account of sexual abuse as well as allegations from a former member of the boy band Menudo who said that José Menéndez had sexually abused him.
“There is no question they committed the killing. The question is to what degree of culpability should they be held accountable to given the totality of the circumstance,” Gascón told CNN earlier this month. He suggested the state exhibited implicit bias in a manner that may have affected how the case was presented, citing a comment from one prosecutor “how men cannot be raped”.
The district attorney had announced earlier this week that he planned to expedite his decision due to the public interest in the case. His own office remains divided about whether or not the brothers should be released, Gascón said. He made his decision just an hour before the press conference, he told reporters.
