ERIK and Lyle Menendez will have a new shot at freedom after 35 years behind bars for murdering their parents, a judge ruled Friday.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life.
APLyle (left) and Erik (right) Menendez have served over 30 years in prison[/caption]
HandoutThe brothers were convicted of murdering their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez[/caption]
EPALA district attorney Nathan Hochman was fighting against the brothers’ resentencing[/caption]
They’re now eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26.
The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.
Before today’s result, Lyle riled followers up on Facebook as he and his brother, Erik, sought to overturn their life without parole prison sentence on Tuesday.
The 57-year-old thanked his longtime supporters Monday afternoon.
“As we go into this very important week, we want to thank you all for your ongoing support on this long journey,” he wrote.
Underneath his thanks, he wrote boldly: “It’s time for justice.”
Followers of the eldest Menendez brother wrote that they are “praying” for him ahead of the resentencing hearing.
“I will always be praying for you both, people don’t realize everything you both have gone through, and it’s not easy having to live with everything you’ve gone through,” one supporter commented.
“I can’t imagine, but I know God has a plan for you both. Stay strong, giving up is easy, but staying strong takes work.”
Erik Menendez’s wife, Tammi, has consistently posted on social media pleading for her husband’s release.
“‘Even in the darkest moments, hold onto faith, for it is the unwavering belief in Erik & Lyle’s freedom that will light the path to their liberation.’ #comehome #redemption,” she wrote in a post on Instagram.
FIGHT FOR LIFE
The Menendez brothers were seeking to overturn a life sentence given for the 1989 murder of Kitty and Jose Menendez.
Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, have served over 30 years in prison and the resentencing will now allow them the possibility of parole.
Renewed public interest in the brothers’ case picked up in October 2024, when Netflix released the crime drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The series follows Lyle, played by Nicholas Chavez, and Erik, played by Cooper Koch, after police arrested them for fatally shooting both of their parents several times in the head.
After the pair was arrested, Lyle and Erik admitted to murdering their parents but claimed they only did it because Jose sexually assaulted them since childhood.
In October, the brothers’ story caught the attention of then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
Gascón said he supported a shorter sentence for the brothers and pushed for a resentencing hearing.
The district attorney said he thinks the brothers should be sentenced for murder, which would be 50 years to life.
Timeline of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s case dates back more than three decades since their parents were found shot to death at their Beverly Hills mansion.
Below is a timeline of the brothers’ case, starting at the gruesome crime scene:
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 surrenders to police after flying back into Los Angeles from Israel.
December 1992 – Murder charges against the brothers are officially filed.
July 20, 1993 – The murder trial, highly publicized on Court TV, begins in Los Angeles with Erik and Lyle each having a separate jury.
January 28, 1994 – The first trial ends with two deadlocked juries.
October 11, 1995 – Lyle and Erik’s second trial begins with one jury.
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 22, 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 – Lyle and Erik’s attorney files a habeas corpus petition after Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez in a Peacock docuseries.
September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story releases on Netflix.
October 3, 2024 – Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón says his office is 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, 2025 – Erik and Lyle’s resentencing hearing was initially set but had to be rescheduled due to the California wildfires.
February 21, 2025 – Hochman officially opposes a new trial for the brothers.
February 26, 2025 – California Governor Gavin Newsom orders the parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” of the Menendez brothers.
March 10, 2025 – Hochman asks the court to withdraw Gascón’s resentencing motion
April 11, 2025 – Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic denies Hochman’s motion and allows the resentencing process to continue
April 17-18, 2025 – Brothers are scheduled to go before the judge at their resentencing hearings
However, under the lesser sentence, the brothers would be eligible for parole effective immediately.
Gascón said he believed the brothers had been rehabilitated during their three decades in California prisons.
In Gascón’s last few months as district attorney, he issued a resentencing petition for the men.
However, the new district attorney, Nathan Hochman, filed a motion to withdraw the resentencing petition, ABC News reported.
Hochman called the motion a “drastic and desperate step” that’s “devoid of merit,” according to ABC affiliate KABC.
RESENTENCING BEGINS
APErik Menendez (left) and Lyle Menendez (right) are now in their 50s[/caption]
Hochman faced off against the Menendez brothers’ defense attorney, Mark Geragos.
Geragos called several witnesses to testify in favor of the resentencing.
Tuesday and Wednesday’s resentencing trials follow a Friday hearing about whether a new risk assessment conducted by the California Board of Parole should be included in the case.
The risk assessment, conducted at Governor Gavin Newsom’s request, revealed that the brothers pose a “moderate” risk to the community.
The assessment cited numerous violations the brothers had throughout their time in prison, including having an illegal cellphone.
Geragos noted that Erik only had one write-up for violence over two decades ago, and Lyle had none.
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