Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said Thursday his office had received new evidence in the infamous Menendez brothers murder case that may eventually lead to their release from prison.
Gascon said at a press conference the convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez for killing their parents in August 1989 should be reevaluated in the wake of new evidence allegedly being discovered, and whether testimony in their second trial that would have backed up some of their abuse claims should have been allowed.
Gascon said it was not in dispute that the brothers, who were 18 and 21 at the time, killed their parents, but new evidence could change the public perception of the case.
Robert Rand, a journalist researching the case for a documentary, allegedly found a letter written by Erik that detailed the sexual abuse months before the parents’ slaying.
Roy Rosello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, has also recently come forward to say he was assaulted by Jose Menendez when the latter was an executive at RCA Records.
The brothers were convicted of fatally shooting their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
During their trial, prosecutors argued the brothers wanted to speed up receiving their inheritance. Erik and Lyle Menendez, however, have long maintained they were long-time victims of sexual abuse by their father. Those claims, and other evidence, were not allowed in their second trial — the first ended with a deadlocked jury — and they were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
The letter found by Rand and Rosello’s allegation led Mark Geragos, the brothers’ lawyer, to file a petition with the district attorney’s office to review the case.
On Thursday, Gascon said that review was ongoing and a hearing was scheduled for Nov. 29 to determine the next steps in the process, which could lead to the brothers being resentenced, retried or released outright. They are currently in prison in San Diego.
The case, which was one of the most high-profile of the 1990s, has seen renewed interest following the release of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” on Netflix.