What’s next for the Menendez brothers?
6 mins read

What’s next for the Menendez brothers?

The Los Angeles County District Attorney has recommended that Menendez brothers’ life sentences without parole thrown out and the brothers become embittered and immediately eligible for parole.

But the brothers still have a long way to go before they can get out of prison, where they have been for the past 35 years.

Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, confessed to fatally shooting their entertainer father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. The brothers said they feared their parents were about to kill them to keep people from finding out that Jose Menendez had been sexually abusing Erik Menendez for years.

Erik Menendez (C) and his brother Lyle (L) are pictured, August 12, 1991 in Beverly Hills. (Photo by MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Prosecutors argued at the time that there was no evidence of molestation. The brothers’ first trial ended in a hung jury, and prosecutors secured a conviction in the second after much of the abuse evidence was excluded from the trial. The prosecutor’s office also said at the time that the brothers were after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.

READ MORE: Menendez Brothers: Journalist Robert Rand discusses finding Erik’s letter

Now the DA and relatives say the world is better understanding the role of trauma in sexual assault cases.

The brothers’ extended family has appealed for their release. Several family members have said that in today’s world — which is more aware of the effects of sexual abuse — the brothers would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.

What’s next for the Menendez brothers?

The DA’s office filed paperwork Thursday recommending that the brothers — now 54 and 56 years old — receive a new sentence of 50 years to life. Because they were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately.

FAMILY: Kim Kardashian says the Menendez Brothers were given “a second chance at life” after decades in prison

“I think they have paid their debt to society,” the DA said.

A hearing before a judge could come in the next month or so. If the judge agrees to the conviction, the state parole board will hold its own hearing to decide whether they should go free. If the board recommends parole, Newsom would have 150 days to review the case. The governor could green light parole or override the board and deny their release.

When could the Menendez brothers get out of prison?

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the brothers, has said he is hopeful the brothers can be freed by Thanksgiving. Laurie Levenson, a criminal justice professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, called that deadline “terribly hopeful.”

Levenson warned that the judge was unlikely to be a “rubber stamp” because of dissent within the DA’s office.

“It actually puts the judge in a very challenging position,” Levenson said, noting that she hadn’t heard of any cases until recently where the head of the office disagreed with other attorneys involved in the case. In the end, Gascón chose the “safest route” for his decision — leaving it up to the court and probation, she said.

What new evidence is there in the case of the Menendez brothers?

The DA’s office said the case was being evaluated after “new evidence” came to light, FOX Los Angeles reports. One piece of evidence was a letter Erik allegedly wrote to his cousin Andy Cano. According to the brothers’ lawyers, Cano’s mother found the letter nine years ago. Cano testified at trial that Erik had told him about his father’s abuse when Erik was 13. Cano died in 2003.

Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, also recently came forward, saying he was drugged and raped by Jose Menendez when he was a teenager in the 1980s.

Rossello spoke about his abuse in the 2023 Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” His allegations are part of the evidence outlined in the petition filed last year by the Menendez brothers’ attorneys seeking a review of their cases.

Brother of Kitty Menendez does not support resentment

Snow covers the grave site of Jose and Kitty Menendez January 10, 1994 in Princeton, New Jersey. (Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images)

Not all Menendez family members support resentencing. Lawyers for Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Kitty Menendez, filed a legal action to uphold the brothers’ original sentences.

“They shot their mother Kitty and reloaded to ensure her death,” Andersen’s lawyers said in a statement Thursday. “The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury’s verdict was fair, and the punishment fits the heinous crime.”