Los Angeles, Ca
Menendez brothers’ relatives set to meet with new Los Angeles County DA
Family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez are set to meet with new Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman Friday to support resentencing the brothers who are currently serving life in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in Beverly Hills.
The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, described as a family-led initiative, issued a statement ahead of the meeting.
“As we prepare to meet with DA Hochman, our family is hopeful for an open and fair discussion. Despite the abuse they endured as children and the unfairness of their current sentence, Erik and Lyle Menendez have spent the last three decades taking responsibility for their actions and contributing positively to their community through leadership and rehabilitation,” a portion of the statement read.
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Menendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November, 1989. (Getty Images) -
Erik Menendez, left, and is brother Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home. They are prime suspects in their parents murder. (Getty) -
FILE – An Oct. 31, 2016, photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows Erik Menendez, left, and a Feb. 22, 2018, photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows Lyle Menendez. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP, File) -
Erik and Lyle Menendez are pictured, on August 12, 1991 in Beverly Hills. (Getty Images) -
Erik Menendez (L) and his brother Lyle (R) listen during a pre-trial hearing, on December 29, 1992 in Los Angeles after the two pleaded innocent in the August 1989 shotgun deaths of their wealthy parents, Jose and Mary Louise Menendez of Beverly Hills, Calif. It took 40 months for the Superior Court arraignment after prosecutors and defense attorneys battled over the admissibility of taped confessions the brothers allegedly made to their psychotherapist. (Photo by VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty Images) -
FILE – Lyle Menendez looks up during testimony in his and brother Erik’s retrial for the shotgun slayings of their parents, Oct. 20, 1995 in Los Angeles. (Steve Grayson/Pool Photo via AP, File) -
Erik and Lyle Menendez appear in court in Los Angeles on March 9, 1994. (Getty Images) -
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon speaks during a news conference regarding the Menendez brothers, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, at the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
More than 20 family members of Jose and Kitty Menendez’s family are expected to attend Friday’s meeting to advocate for a resentencing.
However, not all members of the Menendez family feel the brothers should be released.
Milton Andersen, the brother of Kitty Menendez, believes Erik and Lyle weren’t molested by their father and that “justice was served,” NewsNation reported in October.
“Mr. Anderson believes, based on the evidence, that it was only when they learned that their father was going to take them out of the will, essentially because they wouldn’t get a job,” the attorney representing Andersen said during an appearance on Elizabeth Vargas Reports. “Erik and Lyle then went to purchase guns under someone else’s name.”
Former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced he supported resentencing the Menendez brothers in October.
“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without possibility of parole. They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates,” said Gascón.
Gascón however was voted out as district attorney in November and Hochman has not announced where he stands on the controversial issue.
“Here’s my approach, whether it’s the Menendez case or quite honestly any case: you have to do the hard work,” Hochman told KTLA in November. “You have to look, in that case, at thousands of pages of confidential prison files, you have to review thousands of trial transcripts from months-long trials, and you have to speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement and the defense counsel…and the victims’ families.”
California Gov. Gavin Newson has said that he would defer his decision on the Menendez brothers’ clemency until Hochman reviews the case.
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez, claiming they feared their parents were about to kill them to stop people from finding out that Jose had sexually abused Erik for years, according to the Associated Press.
They were convicted in 1996.