A Los Angeles prosecutor said Thursday he will ask a judge to release Erik and Lyle Menendez on parole after nearly 35 years in prison for the murder of their parents, as new evidence emerged indicating they were sexually abused by their father .
The Menendez brothers, now 56 and 53, were convicted after the second of two highly publicized trials that captivated the United States in the 1990s because of their wealth and privilege as the children of a record and entertainment executive.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said at a news conference that he will recommend to a judge on Friday that they replace their life sentences with a 50-year-to-life sentence and that they be granted parole immediately due to their young age. at the time of the murders in 1989. Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society,” Gascon said, noting his good behavior in prison.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long it would take for the court to rule.
Some members of the Menendezes’ extended family, including their slain father’s sister, have called for their release.
Jose Menendez was shot in the back of the head, while Kitty Menendez was shot 15 times in her Beverly Hills home.
A recent Netflix series telling their stories has revived interest in the case, but defense lawyers have been talking to prosecutors for more than a year to overturn the conviction and hold a new trial, citing evidence that would support the prosecution’s case. brothers who say they were molested. for years.
In their first trial, which attracted the television spotlight and ended with a deadlocked jury in 1994, they said they had been sexually abused by both parents for years and had acted in self-defense, and that Jose threatened to kill them if they revealed the abuse.
Prosecutors argued they wanted to take over their parents’ multimillion-dollar fortune.
A jury convicted them in a second, non-televised trial, but that same jury denied the death penalty, opting instead for life in prison without parole.
Gascon said there was no doubt the brothers killed their parents, but cited new evidence, including a letter Erik allegedly wrote to a cousin eight months before the murders, describing the abuse. According to him, if the evidence had been presented at the time of the trial, the outcome could have been different.
Investigators are also looking into allegations that a member of the Menudo band was abused by Jose Menendez. These allegations were made public in a documentary last year.
Source: Terra
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