The family of convicted murderers Erik and Lyle Menendez is calling for their release from prison 35 years after the killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills home.
The brothers were found guilty in the 1989 murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez, and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, family members argue that the boys had a history of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, and the judge overseeing the case never let the defense present much of that evidence to the jury.
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Speaking at a press conference Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles, more than a dozen relatives to the Menendez brothers were joined by their attorney, Mark Geragos, calling on Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to consider re-sentencing the brothers based off new evidence — including a letter written by Erik Menendez, alluding to abuse he endured prior to the murders.
"I had no idea the extent of the abuse they suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did," said Joan Andersen VanderMolen, sister to Kitty Menendez. "We know that abuse has long effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand."
Wednesday's news conference comes less than two weeks after Gascón's office announced it would review the new evidence to reconsider whether the Menendez brothers should be serving life sentences. If a retrial or resentencing were to be granted, it's possible that the Menendez brothers, who are now in their 50s, could be released due to time served.
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Lyle and Erik, who were 21 and 18 years old at the time of the killings, contend that they killed their parents after years of sexual assault. Prosecutors, however, argued that they were motivated by money, as Jose Menendez was a wealthy record company executive.
Both Menendez brothers remain incarcerated at California's RJ Donovan Correctional Facility, according to the California Department of Corrections. In the decades since their arrest, their case has continued to transfix the true-crime world — most recently with a Netflix series titled "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," which premiered last month.
