On Thursday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced his office will recommend that a judge resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez, adding that it is his belief that the brothers' charges should be revised to 50 years with the possibility of parole.
This comes after the DailyMail.com shared a letter written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano about the sexual abuse from his dad.
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now.
I can’t explain it. He’s so overweight that I just can’t stand to see him. I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy,” the letter read.
In 1996, the brothers were convicted of the 1989 deaths of their parents, Kitty and José, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The brothers are behind bars at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
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On Oct. 16, relatives of the Menendez brothers gathered in downtown L.A. and called for the brothers’ release from prison. One of the family members in attendance was Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s 92-year-old sister.
“As details of Lyle and Eric's abuse came to light, it became clear that their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruel[ty] of their father,” she said.
Kathy Cady, an attorney for Kitty’s brother Milton Andersen, told KNX News that Andersen doesn’t believe the brothers were sexually abused and that they should stay in prison.
Nathan Hochman, who is running against Gascón in the race for DA, sent the following statement to KNX News:
“D.A.
George Gascon received the Menendez habeas corpus petition in May 2023 and request for resentencing in February 2024. Yet, he has waited until days before the November 5 election, 30 points down in the polls with articles coming about how his failed policies have led to additional murders of innocent people, to release his recommendation for resentencing. By releasing it now, Gascon has cast a cloud over the fairness and impartiality of his decision, allowing Angelenos to question whether the decision was correct and just or just another desperate political move by a D.A. running a losing campaign scrambling to grab headlines through a made-for-TV decision. Angelenos and everyone involved deserve better.”
It is now up to a judge to take the request under submission and review all of the pertinent evidence.
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