Erik & Lyle Menendez Case: LA District Attorney Recommends Their Release, Sentence Reduction

Photo byWikipedia Mugshots/Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility

Despite his unclear statements at a recent press conference, the Los Angeles County District Attorney may have already decided on the fate and potential freedom of the long-jailed Menendez brothers.

DA George Gascón, facing a tough re-election battle where he's significantly behind, has now shared his strongest views yet on the siblings' murder case. Deadline reports his opinion might please Menendez's family gathering in Los Angeles today to push for Lyle and Erik Menendez's early release.

The brothers, who were at the center of a media storm, were found guilty in a second trial in 1996 of first-degree murder for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

After spending lavishly before their arrest, Lyle, now 56, and Erik, 53, received two back-to-back life sentences without parole.

"Looking at all the facts, I don't believe they should spend the rest of their lives in prison," Gascón surprisingly told ABC News Nightline co-anchor Juju Chang in an October 10 interview. This conversation will be part of the October 17 special IMPACT x Nightline: Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Victims?, available on Hulu.

On October 3, Gascón said his divided office felt they had "a duty to review the new information and decide if resentencing is warranted, even though they clearly committed the murders." His recent ABC statement seems to go well beyond the review stage he mentioned earlier this month.

"He's hinting at the full range of evidence his office has been examining," Nightline's Chang told Deadline this morning, reflecting on Gascón's firmer position. "He also mentioned that there are strong disagreements about this case within the DA's office and that he's not taking this decision lightly," she added.

A hearing about the Menendez brothers' case is scheduled for November 29 in downtown LA. As Gascón made clear earlier this month, he is responsible for any "final" decision on early release, a new trial, or any other outcome.

Interestingly, Gascón recently shared a 1988 letter on social media. The letter, written by Erik Menendez to a cousin, described the alleged sexual abuse he was enduring from his father. The handwritten note partly stated: "I'm trying to avoid Dad. It's still happening, Andy, but it's worse now. I can't explain it. He's so overweight that I can't stand to see him. I never know when it'll happen, and it's driving me crazy."

The DA soon removed the post from Instagram.

With new evidence suggesting widespread abuse by music executive Jose Menendez against his sons and others, including Menudo band members, about two dozen family members will gather today outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in LA – the same building where both brothers were tried.

Defense lawyers Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner, family attorney Bryan Freeman, and Menendez supporter Rosie O'Donnell will join various family members. These include Anamaria Baralt (Jose's niece), Joan Andersen VanderMolen (Kitty's sister), Karen VanderMolen, and Brian A. Andersen Jr. (Kitty's niece and nephew). Also attending are Natascha Leonardo, Arnold VanderMolen, Kathleen Simonton, Karen Copley, Diane Hernandez (all Kitty's nieces/nephews), Alicia Barbour (Jose's niece), Erik VanderMolen, Sarah Mallas, Alexander Hernandez (Kitty's great-nieces/nephews), Sylvia Bolock (Jose's niece), Rebecca Frascone (family friend) and Tamara Goodell (Kitty's niece).

The full extent of the abuse the brothers had long claimed became clearer in last year's Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.

Former Menudo member Roy Rosselló detailed repeated rapes in the mid-1980s by the band's manager and RCA Records president, Jose Menendez.

A letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin months before the killings, describing his father's abuse, has also shifted perspectives. Changing societal views on male sexual assault victims have further impacted the case.

The brothers' self-defense plea failed in the 1996 trial. The LA DA's office attacked their abuse claims, and the judge allowed little evidence of abuse to be seen by the jury.

Facing a tough election against ex-U.S. Assistant Attorney General Hochman, the media-aware Gascón has noticed the attention from Ryan Murphy's Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Netflix also released the true crime documentary The Menendez Brothers on October 7, adding to the spotlight.

This also plays out in real life, possibly affecting the DA race. "The timing is incredibly suspicious," Hochman said of Gascón's sudden interest in the Menendez case during an October 8 TV debate. "You certainly would not have me hold a press conference to tell you I'm just thinking about it," he added, clearly annoyed.

The Menendez Brothers reunited in prison in 2018 and are now held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.

Do you think Erik and Lyle Menendez will be released next month? Share your thoughts with me in the comments section below. Remember to follow me to read more of my content.