Los Angeles district attorney reviewing Menendez brothers’ convictions

LOS ANGELES ( KTLA ) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón addressed the public Thursday amid calls for his office to reexamine the convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of killing their parents in August 1989.

Gascón said he believed the convictions of the Menendez brothers deserved to be reevaluated following the alleged discovery of new evidence, as well as questions regarding testimony being disallowed in the second trial that ultimately led to their life sentences.

The two brothers have spent nearly 35 years in prison for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in one of the most high-profile American crime cases of the 20th Century.

On Aug. 20, 1989, Jose and Kitty were brutally murdered, shot multiple times, each with a shotgun inside their Beverly Hills home.

In the months that followed, the brothers went on lavish spending sprees, spending hundreds of thousands on cars, watches, sporting events , and international and domestic trips. Lyle even famously purchased a New Jersey restaurant.

They were eventually arrested in March 1990 after Erik confessed to his therapist about the killings.

Public opinion toward the Menendez brothers initially skewed in favor of their eventual harsh sentences as prosecutors painted them as affluent children who were motivated by greed and desperate to receive their inheritance.

Erik and Lyle, meanwhile, have long maintained that they were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, claims that were not allowed to be presented during their second trial, which led to their convictions.

But new information has come to light that may corroborate the boys’ claims.

Robert Rand, a journalist and documentarian researching their case, allegedly recovered a letter that detailed the accusations of sexual abuse committed by Jose Menendez that was written by Erik months before the killings.

Additionally, Roy Rosello, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, came forward to accuse Jose Menendez of sexual abuse when he was an executive at RCA Records.

These new details led the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, to file a habeas petition on their behalf. Geragos told KTLA he is seeking their release or resentencing due to the new evidence and the allegations of sexual abuse not being allowed to be heard during the second trial that led to their convictions.

This is the first time the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has publicly addressed the filing.

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