Menendez brothers may go free in LA prosecutor plan

Erik and Lyle Menendez at trial — Erik and Lyle Menendez seen at trial in Los Angeles following their parents' murders

(Image credit: Ted Soqui / Sygma via Getty Images)

What happened

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office is requesting that Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents, giving the brothers a chance for parole currently barred under their 1996 life sentences. District Attorney George Gascón said Thursday he will ask a judge to sentence the Menendez brothers to 50 years to life, making both immediately eligible for parole because they were under 26 when they killed their parents with shotguns.

Who said what

The brothers "have been in prison for nearly 35 years," Gascón said at a news conference, attended by a group of Menendez relatives who have called for their release. "I believe that they have paid their debt to society." He said some prosecutors disagreed with the recommendation, but he was persuaded by new evidence backing up Erik's claim he was sexually abused by their father.

The murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez "grabbed the nation's attention" for "their lurid nature," The New York Times said. The brothers' initial trial was among "the first to be televised to a national audience, a forerunner of the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson." It included evidence that Jose Menendez sexually abused Erik, and ended in a mistrial with hung juries. Most of the sexual abuse evidence was not permitted at the second trial. Prosecutors said the brothers wanted their parents' $14 million estate.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Interest in the case was renewed by a series of documentaries and true crime dramas, most recently a Netflix series that began airing last month.

What next?

If a Los Angeles Superior Court judge agrees with Gascón's recommendation, the fate of the Menendez brothers "would still rest with the parole board," the Los Angeles Times said, as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.