Prosecutor George Gascon said at a news conference that he would fight to reduce the brothers’ sentences. The reason for the decision is the emergence of new evidence indicating that they had been abused by their father for years. Gascon will strive to have the life sentence commuted in such a way that the men can now conditionally leave prison. The prosecutor also argues for his position because of the young age of the Menendezes at the time of committing the crime; Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society.” Gascon said, noting their good behavior in prison.
The Menendez brothers, now aged 56 and 53, were convicted in a widely publicized trial that attracted US attention in the 1990s. The men were the sons of a wealthy and privileged record company executive with a successful track record in the entertainment industry. Lyle and Erik killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home. They explained their act by the need for self-defense, but prosecutors accused them of wanting to take over huge assets.
Lawyers have been talking to prosecutors for over a year about changing the verdict or applying for a reconsideration of the case in connection with new evidence confirming that the convicts experienced physical and psychological violence as boys. Among the new evidence is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murder. In it, he described in detail his relationship with his parents and the painful experiences associated with it. Gascon believes that if this news had been presented during the trial in the 1990s, the jury might have made a very different decision.
A Netflix series presenting their story “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” renewed interest in the whole matter.
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