Prosecutors in Los Angeles have stated that they will request a court to reconsider the sentence of Lyle and Erik Menendez on Friday. The brothers were convicted of killing their parents in 1989 and are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has affirmed that there is no doubt that the brothers killed their parents in Beverly Hills, a fact that the brothers have acknowledged. However, the brothers maintain that they acted in self-defense after years of abuse at the hands of their father. Gascón is now reconsidering the case.
Gascón stated that a renewed understanding and empathy for victims of sexual abuse make it appropriate to reexamine the case.
The brothers were convicted and sentenced in 1996.
The case has resurfaced in the public eye following a docuseries and a true-crime drama released by Netflix.
Here’s a look at the timeline of the case:
August 1989
Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records in Los Angeles, and his wife Kitty Menendez, were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills mansion.
March 1990
Lyle Menendez, then 21, was arrested. Eighteen-year-old Erik Menendez turned himself in a few days later. They were accused of first-degree murder.
July 1993
The Menendez brothers went on trial, each with a separate jury. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ attorneys did not dispute that the pair killed their parents but argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.
January 1994
Both juries reached a deadlock.
October 1995
The brothers’ retrial began, this time with a single jury. Much of the defense evidence about alleged sexual abuse was excluded during the second trial.
March 1996
Jurors convicted both brothers of first-degree murder.
July 1996
The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
May 2023
Attorneys for the Menendez brothers asked the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new evidence from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who said he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. In addition, they submitted a letter that Erik wrote about his father’s abuse prior to the killings.
September 2024
Netflix released the crime drama a nine-episode series about the killings.
Oct. 4, 2024
Gascón said his office is reviewing new evidence in the case.
Oct. 16, 2024
Multiple generations of family members of the Menendez brothers held a news conference . The relatives say the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready to hear that boys could be raped.
Oct. 24, 2024
Prosecutors say they will petition the court to resentence the brothers, and that it could lead to their release.