BREAKING NEWSMenendez Brothers Resentencing: L.A. District Attorney Recommends Convicted Murderers Erik and Lyle Be 'Eligible for Parole Immediately'
Erik and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1989.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has recommended the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez.
"I believe under the law resentencing is appropriate and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow," he declared during a press conference that began at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 24. "We are going to recommend to a court that the life without the possibility of parole be removed."
Lyle (left) and Erik (right) were 18 and 21, respectively, when they fatally gunned down their mom and dad.
Gascón wants Erik and Lyle to be sentenced based solely on the double murder charges, which carries a sentence of 50 years to life. However, under California law and based on the brothers' ages and time already served, he is recommending they "be eligible for parole immediately."
Erik and Lyle were convicted in 1996 of the 1989 double murders of their allegedly abusive father, Jose, and mother, Kitty.
The Menendez brothers' case quickly became a infamous phenomenon, as the nation was divided on whether the siblings deserved to spend their lives in jail.
The Menendez brothers claimed they killed their parents after being sexually abused by their father for years.
While Erik and Lyle, who were 18 and 21, respectively, at the time of the slayings, insisted they ended their parents' lives as a result of being sexually molested, raped and assaulted by their father since the age of 6, skeptics thought the brothers killed their mom and dad out of greed.
After serving almost 35 years of their lifelong prison sentence without the possibility of parole, supporters of the Menendez Brothers — including Kim Kardashian and Cooper Koch, who portrayed Erik in the hit Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story about the notorious murder case — called for the alleged abuse victims to be released from jail.
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Jose Menendez was the chief operating officer of RCA Records prior to being killed.
The public had anticipated Gascón's decision ever since he confirmed earlier this month that he was reviewing the Menendez brothers’ decades-old case after Erik and Lyle’s defense team argued they had new evidence that could prove Jose's abusive behaviors.
The L.A. County district attorney previously sided in support of the Menendez brothers during a conversation with ABC News Studios series' co-anchor Juju Chang as part of the Thursday, October 17, episode of IMPACT x Nightline titled Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Victims?.
Erik and Lyle Menendez said their dad started sexually abusing them at age 6.
"Given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die," the lawyer confessed after promising he was "keeping an open mind" while reviewing Erik and Lyle's case.
A hearing on the matter was scheduled for November 26.
