Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is expected to announce Thursday whether he’ll seek the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who fatally shot their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
The move could lead to the release of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a case that attracted international attention.
Background
After they were arrested, the brothers never denied committing the killings, in which they repeatedly fired shotguns at their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez as they watched television the night of Aug. 20, 1989. The brothers said they did so after years of sexual abuse by their father and because they feared for their lives.
They also said their mother knew about the molestation and that hers was a “mercy” killing.
Their claims were met with widespread skepticism.
Prosecutors at the time said the brothers were motivated by greed because they stood to inherit their father’s multi-million dollar estate.
Erik Menendez was 18 at the time of the murders. Lyle Menendez was 21. They are now 53 and 56, respectively.
New evidence
Gascón’s decision follows the release of new evidence in a Netflix documentary on the case this year. The new evidence is a letter written by Erik Menendez to a cousin months before the killings in which he writes about the abuse by his father.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos, who represents the brothers, said he has obtained a declaration from Roy Rossello, a former member of the band Menudo, stating Jose Menendez also molested him in the 1980s. Jose Melendez was an RCA executive who signed the band to…
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