Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing new evidence that could lead to the release or a new trial in the case of two brothers who were convicted of killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion.
Lyle Menendez, 56, and his 53-year-old brother Erik are serving life in prison without parole for the 1989 shotgun murders.
Their father and mother – Jose and Kitty Menendez – were shot several times at close range. Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 at the time.
The Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon confirmed on Thursday the brothers will get a court hearing in November after his office received new evidence which allegedly corroborates claims Erik Menendez was sexually abused by his father, who was a music executive.
The brothers have said they killed their parents in self-defence after enduring a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them.
Their lawyers argue because of society’s changing views on sexual abuse, the brothers may not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole today.
Prosecutors at the time contended there was no evidence of any molestation. They said the brothers were after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.
The case has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after a Netflix dramatisation of their story – which has drawn accusations of “dishonesty” from Erik Menendez – is currently number one in the streamer’s viewing chart.
(L to R) Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez, Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez. Pic: Netflix
Cooper Koch, the actor who plays Erik Menendez in Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story, told Sky News he “stands with” and “supports” the brothers in their call for a new trial.
He said: “I totally stand with them, and I support them, and I can only hope that the justice system makes the right decision.”
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Monsters actor calls for Menendez retrial
US reality star Kim Kardashian, who often advocates for prison reform, has also urged prosecutors to reconsider the life sentences given to the Menendez brothers.
“They are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men,” she wrote in an essay for Sky’s US partner network NBC News, after visiting the brothers in prison last month.
“As is often the case, this story is much more complex than it appears on the surface. Both brothers said they had been sexually, physically and emotionally abused for years by their parents.
“According to Lyle, the abuse started when he was just six years old, and Erik said he was raped by his father for more than a decade.
“Following years of abuse and a real fear for their lives, Erik and Lyle chose what they thought at the time was their only way out – an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare.”
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Kim Kardashian visited the Menendez brothers in prison last month. Pic: Reuters
She said “despite overwhelming family testimony acknowledging the abuse Erik and Lyle suffered” the brothers had no chance of a fair trial against a backdrop of public scepticism.
“Back then, there were limited resources for victims of sexual abuse, particularly for boys,” she said. “There were virtually no systems in place to support survivors, and public awareness of the trauma of male sexual abuse was minimal, often clouded by preconceived judgments and homophobia.”
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“Robbed of their childhoods by their parents, then robbed of any chance of freedom by a criminal justice system eager to punish them without considering the context or understanding the ‘why’, and without caring about whether the punishment fit the crime, Erik and Lyle were condemned before the trial even began,” she said.
“The killings are not excusable. I want to make that clear,” she said, and added: “Had this crime been committed and trialled today, I believe the outcome would have been dramatically different.”