Menendez Brothers’ Uncle Milton Thinks They Should Stay in Prison ‘For What They Did’

Erik and Lyle Menendez received an outpouring of support from their family as their case is being reviewed 35 years after the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. However, their uncle Milton Andersen, older brother of Kitty, thinks his nephews should stay behind bars.

“He believes that the correct verdict was rendered by the jury and the correct sentence was issued by the judge,” Milton’s lawyer Kathy Cady told People in a statement published on Thursday, October 17. “He thinks they should remain in prison for what they did to their parents.”

Cady also told the outlet that her client believes “the evidence that came out at the trial was much more aligned with that the murder was committed because of greed.”

Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, were convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996 for fatally shooting their parents. During trial, prosecutors claimed that the brothers killed their parents because their father told them they were being removed from his will.

However, Erik and Lyle pled under oath that they were sexually assaulted by the music executive and claimed that the murders were in self-defense. The brothers made the claims when they first went to trial in 1993, which ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury because they couldn’t come to a unanimous decision. Erik and Lyle returned to court for their second trial in 1995, and the evidence to support their sexual abuse claims was blocked, leading to their life-long prison sentence.

“They had just found out their father was going to take them out of the will, and it was only after that they came up with the idea to murder their parents,” Cady continued in her statement to the outlet on behalf of Milton. “They didn’t want to lose the millions of dollars that they hoped to get from their parents through an inheritance.”

On October 3, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that Erik and Lyle’s cases would be reviewed.

“Today, what I wanted to be very clear, we have not conceded one way or the other, we are not saying that there was anything wrong with the original trial,” Gascón said in a press conference. “We have been giving evidence, we have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation.”

A court hearing will be held on November 29.

Weeks later, Erik and Lyle’s family held a press conference in solidarity with the brothers and requested that their prison sentence be reconsidered.

“Over time, it became clear there were two other victims on that day, my cousins Lyle and Erik. They became victims of a culture that was not ready to listen,” Anamaria Baralt, Jose’s niece, told reporters at the gathering. “For us this is not a political issue, this is about truth, justice, and healing. If Lyle and Erik’s case were heard today, with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, there is no doubt in my mind that their sentencing would have been very different. Lyle and Erik deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them.”