Menendez brothers’ family call for killer siblings to be resentenced after 30 years behind bars for parents’ gruesome murder
The family of Lyle and Erik Menendez called for the killer brothers’ to be resentenced after serving more than 30 years behind bars Wednesday, arguing that they were victims of heinous sexual abuse by their parents before the duo gunned them down in their ritzy Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
The brothers were sentenced to life without parole in 1996 in a protracted and highly publicized trial that captivated the nation and made the men household names after the gruesome slayings of Jose and Kitty Menendez.
More than 20 family members descended upon the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, insisting that the Menendez brothers were victims of “unspeakable cruelty” at the hands of their father, music executive Jose — and that their suffering was disregarded during their 1993 trial because society had not yet acknowledged that men could be the victims of sexual abuse.
“If they were the Menendez sisters, they would not be in custody. We have evolved, and it’s time for them to be released,” Anna Maria Baralt, Jose Menendez’s niece, told reporters.
“Like so many others, I struggle to process the loss of that day and the pain that I felt. Over time, it became clear there were two other victims — my cousins — who would continue to be victimized by a system that didn’t hear them and a culture that wasn’t ready to listen,” she added.
“They would be mocked, they would be called cold-blooded killers, left in jail to rot with no hope of redemption.”
She insisted the brothers are living “lives of light” and “bettering themselves” during their decades behind bars and advocated for the men to be given a second chance.
“I hope our 34-year nightmare will end, and we’ll be reunited as a family. I’m here to ask the DA’s office to take into account the full picture, which was hidden for so long. Lyle and Erik deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them,” Baralt said.
Kitty Menendez’s sister Joan Vandermolen, 93, nervously approached the cluster of microphones, growing visibly emotional as she spoke.
“As their aunt, I had no idea of the extent of the abuse they suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did. But looking back I can see the fear their father instilled in them,” she told the crowd.
“The truth is, Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who should have protected them. By their parents, by the system, by society at large. When they stood trial, the world was not ready to believe boys could be raped or that young men could be victims of sexual violence.
“Today we know better,” she continued.
“No jury today would issue such a harsh sentence without taking their trauma into account. Lyle and Erik paid a heavy price — discarded by a system that failed to recognize their pain. They have grown, they have changed, and they have become better men despite everything they have been through.”
Introducing the family members was high-profile attorney Mark Geragos, who’s represented big-name clients including Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Colin Kaepernick and Jussie Smollett.
Geragos lauded the brothers’ efforts to make the most of their time behind bars, including Lyle, now 56, being one of 22 inmates to earn their bachelor’s degrees from UC Irvine while incarcerated.
He said after the press conference, the family members would march across the street to meet with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón to make their case for resentencing under Marsy’s Law, a 2008 California law that greatly expanded the rights of crime victims under the state’s constitution.
The Menendez brothers’ case was propelled back into the public consciousness following the release of the popular Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” and an announcement earlier this month by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office that they were taking a fresh look at the brothers’ convictions in light of new evidence.
One of the new pieces of evidence is a bombshell note — purportedly written by Erik months before the killings — that alludes to him living in fear of the alleged abuse he was suffering at the hands of his father.
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but its worse for me now,” the handwritten letter addressed to the brothers’ cousin Andy Cano stated.
“I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.”
DA George Gascón posted on Sunday — but later deleted — a screenshot of the letter several weeks after revealing the office was reviewing new evidence and reconsidering their convictions.
The letter was never introduced as evidence during the brothers’ trial, which their lawyers argue could have swayed the jury who convicted them on first-degree murder charges.
The Netflix series has sparked a groundswell of sympathy for the killers, who supporters believe were acting in self-defense when they committed the brutal slayings.
Erik and Lyle, who were 21 and 18, respectively, at the time of their parents’ murder, have long contended they killed their parents, Kitty and Jose, after enduring a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them.
Prosecutors at the time, however, claimed there was no evidence of any molestation and argued the brothers’ motivation for the slayings was getting their hands on their wealthy parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.
Their first trial ended in hung juries in 1994 before the case was retried in 1995, in which both Lyle and Erik were convicted and sentenced to life without parole. The judge in the final trial had ruled at the time that any evidence regarding the siblings’ alleged sexual abuse was inadmissible.
Erik Menendez, now 53, has spoken out about the Ryan Murphy-helmed Netflix series centered around the brothers’ case, which has garnered criticism for suggesting the men carried out an incestuous relationship, calling it a “dishonest” show filled with “horrible and blatant lies.”
The press conference was also attended by about 100 onlookers, some brandishing signs of support for the long-incarcerated brothers.
Donna Carol, 53, came with a sign that read, “35 Years Time Served / Let Them Out!”
“I’m the parent of three boys, and I feel of course murder is wrong, but I believe in reform, I believe in second chances. They served 35 years for this crime,” she told The Post.
