What’s next for the Menendez brothers as DA recommends their resentencing decades after their parents’ killing
(CNN) — More than three decades after Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of the murders of their parents and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the brothers now see a path to their potential release.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón on Thursday filed a motion recommending a judge resentence the siblings – a decision that was the culmination of a review that came after defense attorneys said in 2023 they had new evidence pointing to abuse by their father.
“I will never excuse murder, and those were brutal, premeditated murders,” Gascón told CNN Thursday. “They were appropriately sentenced at the time when they were tried. They got life without the possibility of parole. I just think that given the current state of the law and given our assessment of their behavior in prison, they deserve the opportunity to be re-evaluated and perhaps reintegrated into the community.”
A hearing on the matter could be held in 30 to 45 days, when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge will ultimately decide whether the brothers will be resentenced. Gascón said he supports the resentencing of the brothers to life with the possibility of parole – which normally would mean 50 years to life in prison. But because the crimes happened when the brothers were under 26 years old, they would be eligible for youthful parole under California law.
Calling the brothers “model prisoners,” Gascón told CNN he believes there’s a good chance they would be paroled if the decision reaches the parole board. An attorney for one of the brothers said he hopes they’ll be home by Thanksgiving.
The re-examination of the case comes more than 35 years after the 1989 fatal shooting of Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion. Their sons, who were 21 and 18 at the time, were arrested less than a year later, in 1990, and convicted of first-degree murder in 1996.
At the two high-profile trials, the brothers did not deny killing their parents, but argued they should not be convicted because they acted in self-defense after enduring a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse by their father. The first trial – one of the first cases to be televised – ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked on the charges. In their second trial, much of the defense evidence about sexual abuse was excluded, and the brothers were found guilty in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison.
Multiple factors ultimately led to the resentencing recommendation, but whether the brothers – now in their 50s – could be released from prison remains uncertain. Here’s what led to the decision and what could happen next:
What led to the DA’s decision
Although Gascón believes Lyle and Erik Menendez were appropriately sentenced during their trial more than three decades ago, they deserve a chance to be re-evaluated, he told CNN’s Stephanie Elam Thursday. Gascón said he believes the brothers had been sexually abused prior to the killings, and they have served enough time behind bars.
Gascón’s decision was made just an hour before he made the announcement Thursday because there were vastly different opinions on the case within his office, he told CNN. Multiple factors went into the decision to recommend a resentencing, including how multiple family members “made it very clear that not only that there might have been sexual molestation, but they say this is a very dysfunctional, very abusive home, and it was so for many years,” Gascón said.
“I believe they have served enough time,” he said.
Gascón’s re-examination of the case came after attorneys for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition in 2023, citing what they argue is new evidence, as well as a recent California law on resentencing in which the court can take into consideration sentences in comparable cases.
Among the new evidence the 2023 petition asked a court to consider: a sworn statement by former Menudo boy band member Roy Rosselló, who alleged Jose Menendez sexually assaulted him in the 1980s. The attorneys also said a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin months before the killings alludes to the abuse he endured.
In the motion filed by Gascón, the district attorney laid out details about the brothers’ rehabilitation efforts in prison during a time when they had no reason to believe they would be released.
“Both Erik and Lyle Menendez have been recognized for their work ethic, professionalism, and being significant contributors to the betterment of the community they live in,” the filing said.
The brothers have participated in victim impact programs, workshops and events, along with creating multiple programs to help those “in need around them,” according to the motion.
The motion said the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was “actually able to close an entire discipline dorm based on Lyle Menendez’s ability to build consensus among inmates and the administration.”
The brothers “understand the harm they caused extended far beyond the direct victims of the offense,” the motion continued, and they have not engaged in “a single act of violence” before the crimes in their case, nor have they done so while in prison for 30 years.
The district attorney emphasized the brothers’ “significant amount of trauma and abuse” they experienced as children and how they have done a “tremendous amount of self-work while in custody,” using their lived experience to help others, the filing said.
Gascón, who is campaigning for reelection next month on a platform including sentencing reform, told CNN times have changed regarding how the public and the courts treat victims of sexual abuse.
The district attorney’s office also considered the brothers’ behavior while incarcerated, and they have “shown a tremendous amount of efforts to rehabilitate,” Gascón said.
“They have been model prisoners by all accounts. Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have done a lot of work to better the life of those around them, which that part is unusual,” Gascón told CNN, indicating the men created groups to address how to deal with untreated trauma and help inmates with physical disabilities.
Citing their conduct during the last three decades in prison, Gascón said he believes there is a strong possibility the brothers will be paroled.
“What they did was horrible. They premeditated the murder of their parents and killed them. But I think they’re different people today, and we base our opinion on the last 35 years of behavior,” Gascón said.
The decision on whether the brothers should be paroled will, however, ultimately lie with the parole board if the court agrees with the district attorney’s office on the resentencing, according to the district attorney.
When asked about mounting criticism from opponents who suggested reconsidering the Menendez brothers’ sentence was a political move, Gascón said, “There’s nothing political about this,” adding more than 300 resentencings have happened in the county since he took office in December 2020, including 28 for murder.
Attorneys hope they’ll be released by Thanksgiving
Thursday’s decision brought a ray of hope for the brothers’ attorneys and family, who said they anticipate the men can soon be reunited with loved ones and live a life outside of prison.
“I believe before Thanksgiving, they will be home,” one of the brothers’ attorneys, Mark Geragos, said Thursday.
“We are grateful the district attorney recognized not only the extraordinary contributions Erik and Lyle have made while in prison, but the role sexual abuse played in their actions as well,” another attorney, Cliff Gardner, told CNN.
After the official recommendation was filed, Nancy Theberge, deputy in charge of Gascón’s resentencing unit, said the unit will begin coordinating with the defense and court staff to set dates for the next proceedings. Once a hearing date is set, the defense can decide whether to have the brothers physically in the courtroom or appear via video or conference. All arguments and evidence will be admitted then. The judge will make a ruling based on what is presented, Theberge said.
“We’re just starting the process,” she said.
Separate from the resentencing recommendation, the habeas corpus petition filed last year is scheduled to be heard in November. The defense was asking the court to either vacate the brothers’ conviction and sentence, or permit discovery and an evidentiary hearing during which they can provide proof, the petition says.
But if the defense team agrees with the DA’s resentencing request, they may withdraw the petition – which would also become moot if the court agrees to a resentencing, Gascón told CNN Thursday.
“I don’t agree with the arguments of the habeas. I think that the conviction was appropriate given what was there,” Gascón told CNN. “But I do believe the resentencing is an appropriate vehicle for them to be provided some avenues of relief.”
‘A day filled with hope for our family’
The brothers’ story has taken on new interest following the September release of the Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Netflix also released a documentary on the Menendez case this month, featuring both men discussing what led to the killings.
Nery Ynclan, executive producer of docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” said it was a “miraculous day for the Menendez brothers.”
“They had exhausted their appeals so many years ago. There was no chance for them to ever even hope for freedom and only new compelling evidence could possibly be brought forward to give them a shot,” Ynclan told CNN’s Laura Coates Thursday night.
Celebrity and criminal justice reform advocate Kim Kardashian, who has been vocal about her support of the brothers, thanked Gascón for “righting a significant wrong.”
“Your commitment to truth and fairness is commendable,” she wrote in a statement posted on Instagram stories. “This case highlights the importance of challenging decisions and seeking truth, even when guilt is not in question.”
Anamaria Baralt, Jose Menendez’s niece, called the decision by Gascón “brave and necessary.”
“Today is a day filled with hope for our family,” she said Thursday. “Together we can make sure that Erik and Lyle receive the justice they deserve and finally come home.”
CNN’s Stephanie Elam, Matt Friedman, Amanda Musa, Emma Tucker and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.
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