After more than three decades behind bars for the 1989 slayings of their parents, brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez have a chance at freedom.
Outgoing Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that he recommends that the brothers receive a new sentence of 50 years to life. Because the men were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately, he said.
Now, a judge is set to hear new evidence in their case that could lead to them walking out of prison.
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot their entertainment executive father, José Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989.
But they claim that they feared their parents were about to kill them to stop people from finding out that their father had sexually abused Erik for years.
Last year, attorneys for the brothers filed new evidence that reportedly sheds light on the alleged abuse as family members, human rights advocates and even celebrities have urged the DA’s office to release the men.
Interest in the case has also surged in recent months, thanks to two Netflix programs, a documentary and a fictionalized version of the story, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, as well as the re-release of an updated in-depth book on the killings.
Here’s what we know about the case – and what could happen next on the Menendez brothers’ potential path to freedom:
The murders of José and Kitty Menendez
On August 20, 1989, José and Kitty Menéndez were watching TV in their Beverly Hills mansion when their two sons, Lyle and Erik, walked into the room carrying 12-gauge shotguns and opened fire.
Police sources told the Los Angeles Times that a gun barrel was thrust into José’s mouth after he’d already been shot four times, and a final blast blew off the back of his head.
Kitty, who was shot 10 times, attempted to crawl away while her sons reloaded, before receiving a fatal blast to the cheek. Hours later, the older brother, Lyle, called 911, sobbing to the dispatcher: “Somebody killed my parents!”
Previously, the brothers claimed they had gone to watch Batman the night their parents were killed.
But they had actually dumped the guns somewhere off of Mulholland Drive, then driven to a movie theater and bought tickets to a film they didn’t watch before returning home to the crime scene.
The brothers’ first high-profile televised trial ended in a hung jury.
Their lawyers argued that they acted in self-defense because they had been sexually abused by their parents. But prosecutors said the abuse never happened and the brothers were seeking their parents’ fortune, which was valued at about $15m at the time.
In 1996, the brothers were convicted following their second trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What led to the DA’s decision?
Gascón said the brothers have worked on redemption and rehabilitation inside prison, despite their life sentences.
“I believe that they have paid their debt to society,” he said.
Though Kitty Menendez was not accused of abusing her sons, she appears to have facilitated the abuse, according to her sons’ legal filings.
One cousin testified during the brothers’ first trial that Lyle told her he was too scared to sleep in his room because his father would come in and touch his genitals.
When the cousin told Kitty Menendez, she “angrily dragged Lyle upstairs by his arm,” the petition said.
Another family member testified that when José Menendez was in the bedroom with one of the boys, no one was allowed to walk down the hallway outside.
How Netflix brought attention to the case
The Menendez case has gained new traction in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming the true-crime drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
A 2023 docuseries on Peacock, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, added further shades of gray to the case.
In Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band sensation Menudo, claimed he was drugged and raped by José Menendez when he was a teenager in the 1980s.
His allegations are part of the evidence included in the petition that was filed last year by the Menendez brothers’ attorney, which sought a review of their case.
Family calls for brothers’ freedom
Some of the brothers’ extended family have been calling for their freedom for years.
Joan VanderMolen, who is the sister of Kitty Menendez, told reporters at the Thursday news conference that Gascón’s decision was a “brave and compassionate step forward.”
“This decision is not just a legal matter, it is a recognition of the abuse my cousins endured,” she said. “It is time for Lyle and Erik to come home.”
Anamaria Baralt, José Menendez’s niece, called the decision “brave and necessary.”
“This step gives us all hope that the truth will finally be heard and that Lyle and Erik can begin to heal from the trauma of their past,” she said.
However, not all family members support a resentencing, including Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Kitty Menendez. His attorneys filed a legal brief asking the court to keep the brothers’ original punishment.
“They shot their mother, Kitty, reloading to ensure her death,” Andersen’s attorneys said in a statement on Thursday.
“The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury’s verdict was just, and the punishment fits the heinous crime.”
What happens next?
Resentencing must now be approved by a judge, and the state parole board would have to sign off on the brothers’ release.
One of the brothers’ defense attorneys, Mark Geragos, is hopeful the brothers will be home for the holidays. They are now 53 and 56 years old.
“I believe before Thanksgiving, they will be home,” Geragos said.
Geragos would not say whether he had spoken to the brothers on Thursday but said he believes they have heard about the district attorney’s decision.
He added that a “reentry plan” has already been drafted if the brothers get released to help them reacclimate to the outside world.
“Today is a day filled with hope for our family,” Anamaria Baralt, José Menendez’s niece, said Thursday.
“Together we can make sure that Erik and Lyle receive the justice they deserve and finally come home.”
