Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Erik and Lyle Menendez could be resentenced by a judge and released from prison following a ‘recommendation for resentencing’.
After Monsters, a Netflix true crime-inspired TV show, was released last year, public interest was renewed in the case of the Menendez brothers, whose story was explored in the second season of Ryan Murphy’s wildly successful series.
For those who don’t know, the brothers were found guilty in the 1989 murders of their parents Kitty and Jose Menendez and were sentenced to life in prison after two lengthy trials.
But after potential new evidence was brought to light, which allegedly supports the allegations of abuse the brothers claimed to have been subjected to by their parents , new calls for their sentencing to be reconsidered has been made.
Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, are serving life in prison without possibility of parole in California.
However, a letter written by Erik in December 1988, which was addressed to his cousin, was found to have detailed the alleged abuse Erik experienced by his father months before the murders took place.
The letter reads: “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now. I never know when it’s going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.”
The pair has received immense support from several family members, who corroborate strange happenings within the home before the shooting, throughout their incarceration. Additionally, viewers of the controversial Netflix drama and subsequent documentary film have flocked to defend the convicted killers, and ask for a resentencing in light of this new evidence, which could see the brothers immediately released.
But it could also mean that they could be resentenced to a lesser sentence, or no change could be made.
While the appeal was supposed to take place on January 30 and 31, it has been rescheduled to March 20 and 21 because of the Los Angeles wildfires, which have been causing mayhem and tragedy in the area.
At the last court hearing, Joan VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty, told the court that no child should suffer what Erik and Lyle did ‘at the hands of their father’ and said: “I love Erik and Lyle and I want them to come home.”
Terry Baralt, a sister of Jose, said: “Thirty-five years is a long time, I think it is time for them to go home.”
According to the plea to resentence the brothers, all family members except for Milton Andersen, Kitty’s brother, supported the petition.
After the release of Ryan Murphy’s TV show, Erik hit back at the portrayal of Lyle in particular, as well as detailing several inaccuracies which he felt was being shown on screen.
To this, Murphy responded in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, and commented: “Ian [Brennan, co-creator] and I set out to do exactly what we wanted to do. And I’ll tell you my thoughts about the Menendez brothers. The Menendez brothers should be sending me flowers.”
