Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing new evidence in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago, the city's district attorney said Thursday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said during a news conference that attorneys for Erik Menendez, 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, have asked a court to vacate their conviction.
Gascón said there is no question the brothers committed the murders, but that his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether it warrants a resentencing. A hearing was scheduled for Nov. 29.
“We have not decided on an outcome. We are reviewing information,” Gascón said.
The new evidence presented in a petition includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his attorneys say corroborates the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father. Gascón said he believes that the topic of sexual assault would have been treated with more sensitivity if the case had happened today.
Gascón said his office did not know the “validity” of what was presented at the trial.
“We will evaluate all of it,” said Gascón, who is seeking reelection and noted that more than 300 people have been resentenced during his term, and only four have gone on to commit a crime again.
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Cliff Gardner, an attorney for the brothers, said they are pleased by the district attorney’s decision.
“Given today’s very different understanding of how sexual and physical abuse impacts children — both boys and girls — and the remarkable new evidence, we think resentencing is the appropriate result," Gardner said in an email Thursday to The Associated Press. “The brothers have served more than 30 years in prison. That is enough.”
The case has gained new attention in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming the true-crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story."
In a statement on X posted by his wife, Erik Menendez called the show a “dishonest portrayal” of what happened that has taken them back to a time when prosecutors “built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experience rape trauma differently from women.”
The brothers were given life sentences for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.
Lyle, who was then 21, and Erik, then 18, admitted they fatally shot-gunned their entertainment executive father and their mother, but said they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent the disclosure of the father’s long-term sexual molestation of Erik.
Prosecutors contended there was no evidence of any molestation. They said the sons were after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.
Jurors rejected a death sentence in favor of life without parole.
