Erik (left) and Lyle Menendez talking in a Los Angeles courtroom on Feb. 2, 1995.
Kim Kulish/AFP via Getty Images
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Kim Kulish/AFP via Getty Images
Erik and Lyle Menendez should be resentenced for the 1989 slaying of their parents, the Los Angeles County District Attorney recommended on Thursday, citing recent public attention to the case in the wake of a new documentary about the brothers.
The recommendation will be presented to a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and the brothers, who are serving life sentences, would be eligible for parole, District Attorney George Gascón said.
“Under the law resentencing is appropriate,” Gascón said, making clear that he still believed that the crime of murder had been committed, but that there had been extenuating circumstances that made resentencing appropriate.
“I understand that sometimes people can get desperate,” Gascón said.
More than 30 years after the pair were convicted of the brutal murders of their parents, the case continues to grip the national focus, including a recent Netflix series about the siblings and deep dives by social media sleuths over the years.
On Aug. 20, 1989, Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot to death in their Beverly Hills home while they were watching television.
Two juries deadlocked in 1994 after Lyle and Erik testified that they shot their parents in self-defense. The brothers said they had feared their parents were going to kill them to prevent stories emerging about their alleged abuse of their sons.
The brothers said that Jose, a record executive, had been sexually abusive, while Kitty turned a blind eye to their molestation.
After a second trial, the brothers were eventually convicted of the shooting deaths of their parents. The two men were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings.