Family of Menendez brothers plea for their release after 30 years behind bars

Relatives of Lyle and Erik Menendez are calling for their release from prison after more than 30 years as the Los Angeles County district attorney weighs new evidence in the murder of their parents.

More than two dozen relatives of the brothers announced a coalition on Tuesday urging authorities to review the case.

The Menendez brothers were launched into the spotlight again after a Netflix series depicted the events of their crimes.

They were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996 for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

Anamaria Baralt, niece of José Menendez, told reporters on Wednesday: “If Lyle and Erik’s case were heard today, with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, there is no doubt in my mind that their sentencing would have been very different.”

Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan VanderMolen, said the actions of the brothers were “the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father”.

“They were just children. Children who could have been protected and were instead brutalised in the most horrific ways,” she added.

In 2023, attorneys representing the Menendez brothers filed a petition that argued they should be granted relief from their prison sentences based on new allegations that speak to Jose Menendez’s alleged pattern of sexual abuse, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin that alludes to abuse he endured.

They could soon get that chance, as Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón weighs resentencing the brothers based on evidence filed in the 2023 petition.

He announced earlier this month there is no question the brothers committed the murders, but that his office is reviewing the evidence.

Lyle and Erik Menendez their parents dead in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

The brothers initially told police they found their parents dead, but later admitted to their crimes, stating they acted in self defence after enduring a lifetime of abuse by their father.

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They have always claimed their violent actions were rooted in a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents.

However, prosecutors argued there was no evidence of any abuse and the young brothers had killed their parents to inherit the family fortune.

But an attorney for Kitty Menendez’s brother, Milton Andersen, accused Gascón on Wednesday of betraying victims and their loved ones.

“The Menendez brothers’ cold-blooded actions shattered their family and left a trail of grief that has persisted for decades. Jose was shot six times, and Kitty was shot ten times, including a shot to her face after Erik reloaded,” the attorney, Kathy Cady, a retired prosecutor, said in a statement.

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