TRUE CRIMELyle and Erik Menendez 'Don't Deserve to Be in Prison Until They Die,' L.A. District Attorney Declares Amid Review of Brothers' Murder Case
Lyle and Erik Menendez have been pushing for their case to be revisited by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
A key individual in the infamous Menendez brothers case agrees the siblings shouldn't die behind bars.
In a new episode of IMPACT x Nightline titled Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Victims?, which becomes available for streaming on Thursday, October 17, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón seemed slightly supportive of Erik and Lyle Menendez — who are serving life sentences in a California prison for the 1989 double murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"Given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die," the lawyer admitted to the ABC News Studios series' co-anchor Juju Chang.
The documentary-styled show hits Hulu Thursday and features various cameos from Erik and Lyle's friends and family members, their cousin Karen VanderMolen-Copley, their defense attorney Mark Geragos and comedian Rosie O'Donnell — all of whom are advocating for the brothers' freedom.
The siblings were found guilty of first-degree murder for the 1989 deaths of their parents.
Gascón's comments in the new episode come just two weeks after he confessed during a Los Angeles press conference that he was "keeping an open mind" about pleas for the Menendez brothers' sentences to be reduced amid a revisiting of their infamous murder case.
"I'm not leaning in any direction right now," the L.A. D.A. declared earlier this month. "We have people in the office that are looking at this very carefully, very experienced lawyers that are looking at this. Their recommendation will be presented to me, but the final decision will be mine."
- Menendez Brothers Resentencing: L.A. District Attorney Recommends Convicted Murderers Erik and Lyle Be 'Eligible for Parole Immediately'
- Erik and Lyle Menendez's First Days of Freedom Will Be 'Very Difficult' Because 'They Went Away as Monsters'
- Erik and Lyle Menendez's First Days of Freedom Will Be 'Very Difficult' Because 'They Went Away as Monsters'
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Erik and Lyle claimed their parents abused them for years.
While Gascón would be the last man to sign off on the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office's potential decision to motion for Erik and Lyle's sentences to be minimized, a judge would need to approve of any recommendations presented to the court.
Elsewhere in the press conference, which took place on Thursday, October 3, Gascón said he and his employees have "a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us," as they decide whether a resentencing or new hearing of the case is an "appropriate" move.
Pictured: Erik Menendez in court in 1996.
"If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion," he noted.
One of the main factors advocates for the Menendez brothers continuously point out when defending the siblings involves the boys' accusations of sexual abuse against their father.
Erik and Lyle's legal team cited new evidence in May 2023 — including an accusation of sexual abuse presented by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, against Jose.
Roy said Jose — who was the chief operating officer of RCA Records at the time he was murdered — raped him in the 1980s.
Additional new evidence involved the discovery of a letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano, who has since died, detailing his dad's sexual misconduct just months before he and Lyle took their father and mother's lives.
