A JUDGE has set a resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, whose fates will be determined after the New Year.
The notorious brothers, who have been jailed since the 1989 double murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, appeared virtually in court on Monday as a judge scheduled their resentencing hearing for January 2025.
The most recent booking photos of the Menendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle, rightAP
Joan VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty Menendez, pictured arriving at the Los Angeles courthouse on MondayAP:Associated Press
Members of the press gaggle family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez outside the courthouse on MondayAP:Associated Press
Erik, left, and Lyle Menendez, right, pictured during their retrial in March 1994Getty
Lyle and Erik’s resentencing hearing will now take place on January 30 and 31, if needed, a judge ruled on Monday.
The bid for freedom began when outgoing Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, who was unseated on Election Day, filed paperwork on October 25, asking a judge to reconsider resentencing Lyle and Erik, respectively 56 and 53, citing new evidence.
Gascón, whose last day in office is December 2, asked a court to remove the life without the possibility of parole penalty for the brothers.
Instead, the district attorney recommended a sentence of 50 years to life with the possibility of parole.
Monday’s high-profile status hearing was unlike most in Los Angeles.
A public lottery was held hours before the 10:30 am PST court hearing to determine which 16 members of the public would be allowed inside the courtroom to witness what happens next in the case.
The drawing took place about two hours before the hearing.
Cell phones were also banned from the courtroom, according to people who attended the hearing.
The Menendez brothers’ defense attorney, Mark Geragos, arriving at the Van Nuys courthouse in Los Angeles on MondayAP:Associated Press
Tammi Menendez, Erik Menendez’s wife, pictured on Monday at the Van Nuys CourthouseReuters
Attorney Bryan Freedman, who represents Lyle and Erik’s family, expressed optimism ahead of the hearing.
Freedman told TMZ he felt “pretty good” about the status hearing and believed there would be “some developments that will lead to some success.”
LYLE’S WHIRLWIND ROMANCE
The status hearing comes days after reports emerged that Lyle is now in a relationship with a 21-year-old British student who has visited the infamous killer at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.
Milly Bucksey, a student at the University of Manchester, sparked a relationship with Lyle at the start of 2024, according to the Daily Mail.
Buckey’s 78-year-old father, Peter, told The Sun the family knew nothing about his daughter’s romance.
“We knew nothing about it,” Peter said from his family’s home in Altrincham, Manchester.
“But it’s our personal business.”
Despite his newfound romance with Bucksey, Lyle is still legally married to Rebecca Sneed.
Sneed, then 33, married Lyle, 35, in November 2003 in a ceremony at the Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento.
However, Sneed confirmed she and Lyle are separated but “remain best friends and family.”
Timeline of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez have been serving a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole since July 1996.
The brothers were convicted of shooting their parents to death in their Beverly Hills home in August 1989.
Timeline:
August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are found dead from multiple shotgun wounds.
March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested outside his parents’ Beverly Hills mansion.
March 11, 1990 – Erik turns himself in to police after flying back into Los Angeles from Israel.
July 20, 1993 – The highly publicized trial of Lyle and Erik begins and ends weeks later in a mistrial.
October 11, 1995 – Lyle and Erik’s second trial begins.
March 20, 1996 – The Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
July 2, 1996 – Lyle and Erik are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons.
February 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison, where Erik is held.
April 4, 2018 – Lyle was moved into the same housing unit as Erik – the first time the brothers were reunited in over 20 years.
May 2023 – The attorney representing Lyle and Erik files a habeas petition after Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez.
September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story releases on Netflix.
October 3, 2024 – Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said his office was reviewing new evidence in connection with Lyle and Erik’s convictions.
October 7, 2024 – The Menendez Brothers documentary film comes out on Netflix.
October 16, 2024 – Family members of the Menendez brothers hold a press conference begging for the siblings to be released from prison.
October 24, 2024 – Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommends the brothers be resentenced.
November 25, 2024 – The Menendez brothers appear in court for a status hearing to learn their resentencing hearing is pushed back from December 11 to allow new DA Nathan Hochman more time to review the case.
January 30-31, 2024 – Erik and Lyle are set to go before a judge in a scheduled hearing.
FAMILY SUPPORT
Several family members of Lyle and Erik have been outspoken about their support for the brothers’ fight for freedom.
Joan Anderson Vandermolen and Diane Hernandez, Kitty’s sister and niece, respectively, and Tammi Menendez, Erik’s wife, were pictured entering the Van Nuys Courthouse ahead of Monday’s hearing.
Vandermolen has previously said she struggled for years with the nightmare of her sister and brother-in-law’s murders.
“Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father,” Vandermolen, 92, said.
“The truth is that Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who were supposed to protect them.”
Brian Anderson, Kitty’s nephew, called the brothers survivors who deserve a second chance.
“They are no longer a threat to society,” he previously said.
Karen Vandermolen, Kitty’s niece, also defended the brothers, saying they were trapped in the alleged abuse.
“I forgive my cousins. I know they were acting out of fear and desperation,” she added.
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