Close family members of the infamous Menendez brothers have said they think their parent-killing cousins could be released after the hit Netflix show was released.
Erik and Lyle Menendez brutally murdered their parents Jose and Kitty at their Beverley Hills mansion in 1989. The pair were charged in 1990 after gunning down their parents but weren't convicted of first-degree murder until 1996.
Now, the brothers' remaining family have signed a petition in a bid to release the duo after their 35 years in prison, with their own attorneys claiming there are two new bits of evidence that could help their case. They will need new evidence to change the outcome of any trial after the brothers failed on two occasions to convince a jury. At the time, the court heard claims from the brothers that their father's sexual and mental abuse left them with no option but to shoot him and Kitty at point-blank range while they watched television.
Last year, new evidence emerged that Jose, who worked as an executive at RCA Records and signed the likes of Duran Duran, had molested boyband member Roy Rosello, the Sun reports . A letter from Erik, written to his cousin Andy Cano in December 1988, highlighted fears he would be attacked by his "crazy" father.
"It's still happening, but it's worse for me now," Erik allegedly wrote. The letter was made public by journalist Robert Rand, who added: "I knew it was extremely important because it was a piece of physical evidence where Erik was writing to the cousin he was very close to and complaining about the ongoing sexual abuse by his father."
The brothers have been represented by renowned Los Angeles-based lawyer Mark Geragos for the past two years. Mr Geragos has been pushing for the brothers to be resentenced and set free, adding: "I have never had so much support not only from a victim's family but also correctional people across the board saying ok, enough is enough. I think something will happen this year."
Since the Netflix show, which delved back into the dramatic incident where only the four involved know what truly happened, more than 300,000 have signed a petition that was launched in 2019 for the brothers to be granted a retrial. It quotes a California law that "allows incarcerated people, convicted of crimes related to their experiences of being abused, to submit a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging their original convictions.”
The legal process of habeas corpus decides whether or not someone's incarceration detention is lawful. If not, they could be released. Despite the horrific nature of the killings - and the uncertainty as to what transpired between the boys and their parents - Anamaria is adamant that the time has come to set them free. Her late father Carlos, Jose's brother-in-law and best friend, was also close to the boys.
She said: "My father loved Jose, but even when he was alive, he didn't fight to keep them in jail. At no point did he ever stop visiting Lyle and Erik; he never turned his back on them and certainly did not want to see them spend their lives in prison, regardless of what they did."
During a presentation at CrimeCon in Nashville this summer, Geragos spoke to Lyle from prison in front of an audience, with the convict detailing his dreams of being released and how he's now worked towards a college degree and started a project at the San Diego jail he and his sibling have called home for so many years.
Anamaria added: "They are both very good at putting on brave faces. There are so many times when I have visited them in prison and left in tears, not knowing the next time I'm going to see them. But they would comfort me and show such empathy."
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