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Could the Menendez Brothers Be Set Free From Life in Prison? Details Amid Resentencing Hearing
New evidence could spring Erik and Lyle Menendez from life in prison. The brothers — who shot dead parents José and Kitty Menendez in 1989 after allegedly enduring years of abuse — are awaiting a resentencing hearing amid two new pieces of evidence: a claim by a former Menudo singer that record exec José raped him as a teen, and a newly discovered letter Erik sent a cousin before the killings in which he wrote of being molested.
What Did Lyle and Erik Menendez Do?
Lyle and Erik Menendez became household names in the late 1980s after they murdered their parents in their Beverly Hills homes with shotguns. They brothers claimed they feared for their lives after threatening to expose their father’s alleged physical and sexual abuse.
They were each convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole. They were placed in separate prisons until 2018 when the brothers were reunited at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.
Why Is the D.A. Considering Resentencing Erik and Lyle?
More than three decades after the death of their parents, numerous family members have signed a letter asking the judge to resentence the two men. According to Cliff Gardner, one of their lawyers, Lyle and Erik should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of first degree murder.
“The boys were abused as children. They were abused their whole life. … And this is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It’s just that simple,” Gardner said during a 48 Hours interview.
In May 2023, the brothers’ attorney filed a habeas petition seeking permission to present new evidence — specifically, a letter Erik allegedly wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano. In the document, Erik provided detailed accounts of the alleged sexual abuse he and Lyle endured at the hands of their father.
“I found a letter that Erik Menendez had written to his cousin Andy Cano in November of 1988, nine months before Jose and Kitty Menendez were killed,” Randy Rand, one of the producers of the documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, told KTLA in September 2024. “And in that letter, Erik Menendez complains about the ongoing sexual abuse by his father.”
Are Erik and Lyle Menendez Being Released from Prison?
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on October 3, 2024, that Erik and Lyle’s case was under review, and a hearing was set for November 29, 2024, regarding whether they could be resentenced. The news followed multiple Netflix documentaries that renewed public interest in the case.
“Today, what I wanted to be very clear, we have not conceded one way or the other, we are not saying that there was anything wrong with the original trial,” Gascón said during a press conference. “We have been giving evidence, we have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation.”
Weeks later, Gascón announced in a press conference on October 24, 2024, that Erik and Lyle could be eligible for parole immediately, pending a resentencing hearing.
“We are going to recommend to the court that the life without the possibility of parole be removed and that they will be sentenced for murder. Because there was two murders involved that would be 50 years to life,” Gascon said. “However, because of their age, under the law because they were under 26 years of age at the time that these crimes occurred, they will be eligible for parole immediately.”
He continued, “They went to prison for life without the possibility of parole. …Even though they didn’t think that they would ever be let free, they engaged in a different journey: a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.”
What Have the Menendez Brothers Said About Getting Resentenced?
“I still have a chance to be a productive person,” Lyle said in a collect call from prison to his attorney, Mark Geragos, during a live CrimeCon panel in June 2024. Lyle added he’s pursuing a master’s in urban planning after earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Irvine.
In a rare update, Lyle also opened up about his life goals during a live phone call with Laura Ingle at the Nashville event.
“I’ve had these discussions with corrections officials who are in charge of letting formerly incarcerated people return to the prisons to do good work and they are definitely open to and would like me to continue to work on this idea of transforming prison yards so that it creates living environments and communities that produce better neighbors,” he said, adding that a lot of prisoners “had difficult childhoods and come from difficult circumstances.”
He went on to thank his supporters and the “enormous number of people around the world and around the country who have written my brother and I or visited the Facebook created for victims to express themselves on through my family’s help and just express gratitude for their support, their belief that we should be given a second chance.”
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