EGN NEWS DESK
Family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez, the 2 brothers serving a life sentence for fatally capturing their mother and father—Jose and Kitty Menendez—of their Beverly Hills residence in 1989, referred to as for the pair’s launch and resentencing at a Wednesday information convention in Los Angeles.
During the press convention, relations introduced a brand new coalition to advocate for “Justice for Erik and Lyle” and urged individuals to signal a petition asking the District Attorney to maneuver ahead with a resentencing for the pair. L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón introduced earlier this month that he was “conserving an open thoughts” a few potential resentencing for the brothers. Erik and Lyle had been convicted for the murders in 1996, and are each serving a life sentence with out parole.
“Like so many others, I struggled to course of the occasions of that fateful August day and the loss that I felt over time. It grew to become clear that there have been two different victims there on that day, my cousins, Lyle and Erik,” mentioned Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers. “If Lyle and Erik’s case had been heard immediately with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, there isn’t a doubt in my thoughts that their sentencing would have been very totally different.”
Mark Geragos, a lawyer representing the brothers, cited new proof within the case, together with a letter Erik wrote to his cousin which mentions the abuse months earlier than the slayings, and a declaration by Roy Rossello, member of boyband Menudo, alleging that Jose Menendez had additionally abused him.
The case just lately re-entered the highlight after the discharge of the Netflix collection Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in September, although there have been earlier documentaries detailing the case.
Read extra: How Ryan Murphy’s Menendez Brothers Show Has Reignited a Decades-Long Controversy
Some celebrities, together with Rosie O’Donnell and Kim Kardashian, who penned a private essay for NBC News asking for the 2 to be freed, have advocated on the brothers behalf.
Here’s what to know.
What occurred
In Aug. 1989, police started investigating the homicide of Jose and Kitty Menendez, the mother and father of Erik and Lyle Menendez. Officers first got here to their Beverly Hills residence on Aug. 8, 1989 after Lyle referred to as 911 claiming that “somebody killed my mother and father.” Lyle, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, initially instructed police they got here residence and located their mother and father had been shot and killed. But the next March, investigators acquired a tip stating that the Menendez brothers had admitted to killing their mother and father on tape to a psychologist.
Read extra: The True Story Behind Ryan Murphy’s Menendez Brothers Series
On March 8, 1990, Lyle was arrested. Erik surrendered two days later to authorities when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. Their first trial didn’t come till three years later. Eventually, the brothers confessed that they shot their mother and father as an act of self-defense. During the primary trial, relations and mates testified that the Menendez brothers had suffered abuse, together with sexual abuse of their residence. The brothers claimed they shot their mother and father as a result of they thought they had been going to kill them so they might not reveal that their father had molested them.
Prosecutors, nonetheless, argued that the brothers had fatally shot their mother and father as a result of they needed their mother and father’ property. Shortly after their mother and father’ murders, the brothers notably spent their wealth on Rolex watches and enterprise investments. The jury of the primary trial was deadlocked, and in the end a mistrial was declared.
A second trial in 1995 went in a unique course. The brothers had been tried collectively and components of the proof of abuse had been declared inadmissible in court docket. In March 1996, Lyle and Erik had been discovered responsible of first-degree homicide and sentenced to life in jail with out parole. They have served 34 years to this point.
Why the D.A. may revisit the case
In 2023 Geragos mentioned that he filed a petition of habeas corpus with the Los Angeles Superior Court, looking for to overturn their conviction. “If the habeas can be granted, you’ll get a brand new trial,” he mentioned throughout Wednesday’s press convention. “If they’re resentenced, the judge below California regulation has the power to recall and sentence them to a variety of choices.”
Attorneys for the Menendez brothers say that Erik and Lyle would have acquired totally different sentences if the trials had occurred immediately, as immediately’s tradition is extra supportive of victims of abuse.
Read extra: The Menendez Brothers Are Back within the Spotlight. Here’s What to Read and Watch to Understand Their Case
Attorneys representing the pair have pointed to new proof to point out within the case that proves allegations that Erik’s father sexually abused him. Part of that proof features a letter written by Erik to his cousin, Andy Cano. In the letter, which was written in December 1988, Erik mentioned: “I’ve been making an attempt to keep away from dad. It’s nonetheless taking place Andy but it surely’s worse for me now… Every evening I keep up pondering he would possibly are available in.”
Rossello’s testimony that he was additionally abused by Jose Menendez can be going to be introduced.
“Given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t assume they need to be in jail till they die,” L.A. District Attorney George Gascón instructed co-anchor Juju Chang in an IMPACT x Nightline episode set to be launched on Hulu Thursday.
A listening to for the habeas petition is about for Nov. 29 in Los Angeles.
“I had no thought of the extent of the abuse they suffered by the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did, however wanting again, I can see the concern… their father had instilled in them,” Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan VanderMolen, mentioned on the press convention. “They had been simply youngsters, youngsters who may have been protected, and had been as a substitute brutalized in essentially the most horrific methods.”
