Menendez Brothers Resentencing Supported by Los Angeles DA

The Los Angeles District Attorney requested that Erik and Lyle Menéndez be resentenced amid renewed interest in their murder case.

George Gascón announced the recommendation to have their sentences reduced on Thursday, October 24, during a live press conference. Now the suggestion is making its way to the judge on the case, who will have his suggestion go before the Board of Parole Hearings. Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, would either have to serve the remaining balance of the new sentence or they could be eligible for parole.

Following the release of Netflix’s limited series Monsters and documentary The Menéndez Brothers, the siblings’ story reentered the spotlight. Erik, now 53, and Lyle, now 56, were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills, California, home in 1989 when the brothers were 18 and 21, respectively. They were ultimately sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.

Gascón confirmed on October 3 that a hearing had been set amid new evidence that José allegedly molested his sons.

“We have been given evidence. We have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation,” Gascón said during a press conference at the time. “We’ve also got evidence that was provided by the defense, by his lawyers, that one of the members of the [boy band] Menudo alleged that he was molested by the father.” (José was a music industry executive who worked with the band.)

Gascón clarified at the time that a decision had yet to be made about whether Erik and Lyle would receive a new trial or be resentenced.

“None of this information has been confirmed,” he said. “We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information, but we’re here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side, whether they deserve to be resentenced — even though they were clearly the murderers — because they have been in prison for years and they have paid back their dues to society. If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion.”

Erik and Lyle’s post-conviction attorney Mark Geragos filed an appeal in 2023, requesting a retrial on the grounds of former Menudo member Roy Rosselló’s allegations against José and a newly discovered letter from Erik to his cousin Andy Cano in which he described his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders.

After the brothers were granted a hearing, Geragos expressed his optimism about the potential outcome. “I won’t speak to whether [Erik and Lyle] have a plan [in the event they are released]. I just think that in order to get through each day, you’ve got to just ground yourself,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in October. “It’s a long road from life without [parole] for almost 17 years to being hopeful.”