The Menendez brothers could be released after serving more than 30 years in jail, as the Los Angeles County District Attorney is reviewing their case for possible resentencing in light of important new evidence.
On August 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez, 21, and Erik Menendez, 18, murdered their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. Jose Menendez was a wealthy 45-year-old entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez was a 47-year-old homemaker.
The brothers were condemned to life in prison after being found guilty at their second retrial following mistrials in the first.
“It was from the jump, one of the biggest cases in Los Angeles and in the country; no one could believe that these two young men had killed their parents this way,” ABC’s Terry Moran, who covered the trial, told “Impact X Nightline.”
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The fact that they killed their parents 36 years ago was always obvious. However, the reason they did so has always divided and intrigued the country.
During the initial trial, defense attorney Leslie Abramson claimed that Lyle and Erik shot their parents in self-defense. She claimed that the boys feared their parents would kill them if they revealed the years of alleged molestation at their father’s hands.
The first trial ended in a mistrial on January 13, 1994, because the jury was deadlocked. In 1996, after a second trial, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of release.
A new legal petition has been filed, containing even more disturbing allegations about Jose Menendez’s alleged abuse. According to the brothers’ lawyers, Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin documenting his father’s alleged abuse.
Another alleged victim of their father, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, spoke forward in the 2023 Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” Roy Rosselló claimed he was abused by José Menendez when he was 14.
The Menendez brothers appear to have turned from public adversaries to victims, as a robust online push to release them grows.
Their story is now viewed through a modern lens, shedding new light on a claimed pain that was rarely known at the time: men may be victims of sexual abuse.
Some argue that this reexamination undermines long-held assumptions and forces people to reconsider their knowledge of this difficult problem.
“I have always thought that if the Menendez brothers were the Menendez sisters, they’d be free today, would have been convicted. But an abuse victim often gets some kind of clemency,” Moran said.
Kim Kardashian who is referred to as a prison reform advocate has called for their release, stating ”We are all products of our experiences. Time changes us, and I doubt anyone would claim to be the same person they were at 18,” Kardashian wrote.
Actor Rosie O’Donnell has befriended the brothers. “They were not horrible kids,” O’Donnell said and added that “They were severely, sadistically tortured by a pedophile predator father, and a very compliant and also involved mother, who had no interest in them.”
Dr. William Vicary, a former psychiatrist, became a major witness for the defense in the 1990s after being retained by defense attorney Leslie Abramson to analyze Erik Menendez. Vicary later earned probation on his medical license after admitting to falsifying meeting notes.
“In the ’80s and ’90s, the public had very little knowledge about this type of sexual abuse, especially fathers abusing their own sons. Back then, there were many people that just dismissed this outright,” Vicary said.
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