Erik and Lyle Menendez have been recommended for resentencing after serving 34 years for the murders of their parents in 1989.
Today,George Gascón said he believed the brothers have “paid their debt to society” and that “resentencing is appropriate”.
This decision means thecould be released from prison. However, it will ultimately be up to a judge to decide their future.
The case
Lyle and Erik Menendez lived with their parents in Beverly Hills, California.
On 20 August 1989, police received a call from Lyle, who said he and his brother had found their parents dead in the living room.
The brothers told police they had been at a movie theatre before they came home and discovered their parents.
At the time, Erik was an 18-year-old nationally-ranked tennis player. Lyle, 21, was studying at Princeton University.
Initially, the pair suggested the mafia might be behind the murder of their parents, Jose Menendez and Mary Louise Anderson (also called ‘Kitty’) .
Authorities became suspicious of the brothers when they began spending large amounts of money following the death of their parents.
They were arrested in March 1990 and faced trial in 1993.
Trial
The brothers eventually confessed to firing multiple shots at close range, in what they argued was an act of self-defence.
Both Lyle and Erik testified in court that they had endured years of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse from their father. They claimed their mother knew about the abuse, but ignored it.
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The prosecution argued the brothers killed their parents out of greed, hoping to inherit a $US14 million family fortune.
Verdict
Each brother was assigned a separate jury, but neither could reach a consensus. The hung juries resulted in a mistrial.
A retrial was launched in 1995. The brothers’ evidence of their alleged abuse was limited at this trial. Both were found guilty of murder in 1996.
They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
New evidence
On Thursday, the LA County District Attorney’s Office said it would review possible new evidence in the case.
The review will centre around a letter written by Erik, which his lawyers say corroborates allegations of sexual abuse by his father.
During the 1990s trials, prosecutors argued there was no credible evidence that Jose Menendez had sexually abused his children.
Campaign
The announcement follows increased public attention on the brothers’ case because of a Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix show about the murders.
Kim Kardashian, who has appeared in another Murphy series, published anthis month calling for the brothers to be released from jail.
“I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men,” she said.
However, Erik and his extended family condemned the series, which they described as “disheartening slander”.
