The Menendez Brothers Resentenced and Possible Release Soon

Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer

On Thursday, Oct. 24, LA District Attorney George Gascón announced at a press conference the recommendation of Lyle and Erik Menendez be resentenced to fifty years to life in prison but because they were under the age of twenty-six at the time of the murder, they will be eligible for parole immediately. The petition will go before a judge in the next month or so before the parole board determines whether the brothers will be released. The Menendez brothers have spent almost thirty-five years behind bars at this point in time.

The Lyle and Erik Menendez case involved the murder of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. Lyle was twenty-one and Erik was eighteen at the time of the murders. The brothers stated that they shot their parents out of self-defense because they feared their parents were planning on killing them to prevent people from finding out about the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of their father. José Menendez was an entertainment executive for RCA, known for a number of great things in the industry. But despite his intelligent demeanor, he was also noted for his arrogant and cruel behavior. Menendez met his future wife, Kitty Menendez, at Southern Illinois University and married in 1964. 

The police thought it to have been a mob hit before the brothers drew their attention with their behavior after the murders. One of these suspensions included the brothers’ spending spree, buying Rolex watches, gambling, and partying. But what actually got them caught were the recordings from private sessions with the boys’ psychologist where they confess and discuss killing their parents. Their psychologist’s girlfriend took the tapes and went to the police. The brothers were soon after arrested, believing they killed their parents for the money. 

During 1989, their trial was one of culture’s first publicized cases. The trial was televised as the Menendez brothers shared the horrific details of the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father. Family members and other witnesses recalled the father’s cruel behavior towards his sons and their complex childhood too. It was also revealed during the trials that their own mother knew about the abuse and didn’t stop it. In 1994, the first trial ended in a mistrial due to the jury being deadlocked. In 1995, during the second trial, the judge excluded the jury from hearing the sexual abuse evidence which resulted in their sentencing to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

But since the time from then to now, society’s view and understanding of sexual abuse has changed. Various impacts from the MeToo movement, the Catholic Church sexual abuse cases, and the Boy Scout sexual abuse cases has taught the next generation how experiences from it effects the victim. When the Menendez brothers’ case resurfaced on social media, people began to feel there was a great miscarriage of justice done in their case.   

According to AP News, most of the Menendez brothers’ family showed up to the press conference in support of their release. “Anamaria Baralt, a niece of Jose Menendez, said the district attorney’s ‘brave and necessary’ decision means ‘Lyle and Erik can finally begin to heal from the trauma of their past,’’’ AP News wrote in an article. The only member in the brothers’ family who wasn’t there was Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez’s brother, who made it publicly known that he doesn’t believe they should be released. 

There were many aspects to the brothers’ resentencing petition by both the family and the public. One of these included Roy Rossello, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, coming forward saying José Menendez drugged and raped him when he was a teenager in 1980. Another aspect involved a letter discovered in the possessions of the brothers’ deceased cousin, Andy Cano. The letter was written by Erik Menedez nine months before the murder where he alludes to the abuse he’s suffering from his father. 

The outcome of the petition won’t be known for a month at minimum and the parole board determination for approval won’t be known for a while. According to BBC News, Gascón believes that the brothers have paid their debt to society and that they suffered an enormous amount of dysfunction and molestation in their home.