Prosecutors will recommend reviewing the sentence of the Menéndez brothers for the murder of their parents in 1989

Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Thursday their intention to recommend that brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced in the case of the murders of their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills home in 1989.

If their recommendation proceeds, this will give the brothers the opportunity to be released after 34 years behind bars.

The announcement was made by District Attorney George Gascón during a press conference in which he reported that his office would recommend that the brothers be sentenced to between 50 years and life in prison. Both were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, so they will legally be eligible for immediate parole.

“I’ve gotten to a point where I think, under the law, it’s appropriate to resentencing,” Gascón said. Prosecutors will go to court on Friday to proceed with the request. However, some members of his office oppose the decision and could be in court as the case moves forward, according to Gascón.

The case in details

The Menéndez brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lyle Menéndez was 21 years old at the time, and Erik Menéndez was 18.

Both admitted that they fatally shot their father, entertainment executive José Menéndez, and their mother, Kitty Menéndez.

The brothers said they were afraid their relatives were about to kill them to prevent people from finding out that the father had sexually abused Erik for years.

Most of the brothers’ family have called for their release, arguing that they deserve to be free after decades behind bars. Others in the family have said that, in today’s world, perhaps more aware of the impact of sexual abuse, they would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Several family members, including his aunt Joan Andersen VanderMolen, sat in the front rows of Thursday’s news conference.

VanderMolen was Kitty Menendez’s sister and has publicly supported her release. Mark Geragos, an attorney for the brothers, was also there.

Their cases, drama material on Netflix

The Menendez brothers were tried twice for the murders of their parents, and the first trial ended with a hung jury.

For prosecutors, at that time there was no evidence of sexual abuse and that many details of his story about it did not come to light in the second trial. The district attorney’s office also said at the time that the brothers were seeking their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.

The Menendez case has gained new steam in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming the true crime drama “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.”

Despite their life sentences, Gascón said Thursday that the brothers worked on redemption and rehabilitation inside prison.

“I think they have paid their debt to society,” he concluded.

[Con información de The Associated Press]

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