Erik and Lyle Menendez have spent decades in the public eye since the shocking killings of their parents and the high-profile murder trials that followed. But perhaps no year has been as significant for the brothers as this one.
They were the subject of a documentary and a popular – albeit controversial – Netflix series, and received a torrent of support from criminal justice reform advocates, including Kim Kardashian. And for the first time since being convicted in 1996 for murdering Jose and Kitty Menendez, they had a meaningful shot at freedom.
The Los Angeles district attorney, George Gascón, announced in October that he was recommending the pair be resentenced – pointing to their young ages at the time of the murders, the abuse they suffered and their behavior in prison. The decision opened the door to the possibility of their release. Everything seemed to be lining up for Erik and Lyle, who have behind bars for most of their lives, and family members were hopeful they might be home for the holidays.
But the November election, which saw Gascón ousted and replaced by the former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, brought more uncertainty as to what the future holds for the brothers. Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said he would postpone a clemency decision until the incoming district attorney had a chance to review the case. Days later, a Los Angeles judge moved a hearing on their possible release until the end of January to allow the “new administration to go through the documents”.
Hochman has not said whether he agreed with Gascón’s decision but has been highly critical of his predecessor, and said this month that he would review each brother’s case individually to determine if resentencing is appropriate.
Now Bryan Freedman, an attorney who represents a group of 24 Menendez family members who support the brothers’ release, is publicly accusing Hochman of having a conflict of interest in the case, and saying he plans to petition to move the case to the California attorney general’s office.
Freedman argues Hochman’s hiring of Kathleen Cady, an attorney who previously represented Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez’s brother, as a member of his staff presents a conflict in Hochman’s review of the case, ABC7 News reported. Andersen opposes the brothers’ release.
A spokesperson for Hochman’s office said in a statement that the conflict of interest claim was “meritless”, and criticized Freedman for raising the issue in media outlets rather than talking directly to the district attorney’s office.
“All Menendez victim family members who want the opportunity to personally speak with the district attorney before any final decisions are made have been invited to do so and these discussions should be completed in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said.
“We will look at each case separately, which is the way they actually should be handled,” Hochman had told NBC News. “We will look at each victim separately, which again is what the law actually demands us to do in reaching the ultimate decision for a resentencing.”
Hochman said he had thousands of confidential prison files to read though and would speak to “everybody who has ever touched the Menendez case in the DA’s office”.
•••
The violent killings of Jose, a former executive at RCA Records, and Kitty in August 1989 at the hands of their children almost immediately captivated the US. Lyle, 21, and Erik, 18, attacked their parents with shotguns as they watched television and ate ice-cream in their Beverly Hills home. Jose was shot five times in the back of the head, while Kitty was shot nine times, including as she crawled away.
The brothers initially said that intruders had broken in and killed their parents, but eventually confessed, saying that they had killed their parents in self-defense. They said they feared their parents were going to kill them to prevent the disclosure of their father’s long-term sexual abuse – several members of their family corroborated their accounts of abuse in court.
Prosecutors, however, argued that they were cold-blooded killers who brutally gunned down their parents to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance. They were tried twice, and testimony about their abuse was limited in the second trial, after which a jury sentenced them to two consecutive life terms each.
The case continued to fascinate and has been the subject of numerous documentaries. But in recent years, a more sympathetic view of the brothers emerged due in part to viral TikTok videos focusing on the abuse they faced.
Attention intensified in the last year and a half, particularly due to two major developments – a recently surfaced letter written by Erik before the killings that corroborated his allegations of abuse, and testimony by a former member of the band Menudo who said he was abused by Jose Menendez. The brothers filed a habeas petition in response to the new evidence in 2023 challenging their convictions as unconstitutional, but there was no movement until this year.
After the Netflix series by Ryan Murphy (which was described by the family as a “grotesque shockadrama”) and the documentary, calls began pouring into the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. The series was powerful for Erik and Lyle, said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who has followed the case.
“With the Netflix series, all the media attention, people are talking about it on social media,” he said. “All the sudden there’s a lot of public support for Erik and Lyle, support they never had.”
In October of this year, Gascón said his office would review new evidence – the letter from Erik and the allegations by the band member – and decide whether the brothers, now 54 and 56, should be considered for resentencing or a new trial. A request for resentencing can only be initiated by a judge or the prosecutor, not the defense, Rahmani said.
A large group of relatives publicly called for their release, and said they had been abused and vilified.
“It became clear that their actions – while tragic – were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father,” said Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister, at a news conference in October.
When Gascón announced his decision weeks later, he said he believed the brothers were “subjected to a tremendous amount of dysfunction in the home, and molestation”.
“They have been in prison for nearly 35 years. I believe that they have paid their debt to society.”
While in prison, they have earned college degrees and served as mentors and caregivers, he said. Family members of the brothers hailed the decision. “This decision is not just a legal matter – it is a recognition of the abuse my cousins endured,” said Karen VanderMolen, a cousin of the brothers and Kitty’s niece.
***
But it’s unclear where 2025 will take the case. Hochman, Los Angeles’s new district attorney, was critical of the timing of Gascón’s announcement, days before the election, and suggested it was a political move that put a “cloud over the fairness and impartiality of his decision”.
The new district attorney has not yet publicly taken a position on whether Erik and Lyle should be resentenced. Over the next few weeks Hochman will read through all the evidence as well as family interviews and trial transcripts, among other items, he said. The resentencing hearing will take place on 30 and 31 January.
“The precedent of whatever we do in this case will apply to future cases with requests for resentencing. We have to be consistent,” Hochman told NBC.
Family members who support the brothers have expressed concern about Hochman, pointing out that he has not yet spoken to them and instead met with the only family member opposed to their release. “We had hopes for a fair review. It is not to be,” Tammi Menendez, Erik’s wife, said.
Hochman’s recommendation would be crucial, Rahmani said.
The case will have political implications for the state’s governor, who will have the final say even if a judge and the parole board decide Erik and Lyle should be released. “He is the decision-maker here. We know that Newsom is looking to run in four years so this is going to be a big political issue,” Rahmani said.
Still, the brothers have more reason to hope than ever before.
“This was a great year for the brothers. They went from having no chance of being released to having a good chance if Gascón were re-elected to still having a chance now that Hochman defeated Gascón,” said Rahmani.
