Prosecutors in California are reviewing the convictions of the Menendez brothers, who were found guilty in the 1989 killing of their parents, to determine if they should be resentenced and potentially released, officials said Thursday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said his office is also reviewing possible evidence included in petitions filed by the brothers last year alleging molestation by their father.
Gascon said the allegations are under review and that none of the information has been confirmed. A hearing in the matter is scheduled for Nov. 26.
Prosecutors can evaluate whether an inmate has been rehabilitated based on their actions in prison and determine if they should be resentenced, Gascon said, noting that they could “walk out based on what the court decides.”
That evaluation in the brothers’ case is ongoing, he said, adding: “Until we get there, we’re not sure yet which direction this will go.”
Joseph “Lyle” Menendez, now 56, and Erik Menendez, now 53, were convicted in 1996 in the shotgun murders of their parents at their Beverly Hills homes seven years before.
After two trials, they were sentenced to life in prison without parole and remain incarcerated in a California prison.
In their initial trials, the brothers said they had been sexually abused for years by their father. Prosecutors accused them of killing their parents to inherit a fortune. The proceedings ended in a mistrial.
The abuse allegations were limited at their second trial. The brothers were convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
The district attorney’s announcement came amid controversy over a new Netflix series about the case, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
In a statement released by his wife, Erik Menendez said the series contained “blatant lies” and said it was “ruinous” for his brother.
The show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, defended the series and said he was used to writing about provocative and controversial subjects.
On Thursday, Kim Kardashian advocated for the brothers to be released. “They are not monsters,” she wrote in a personal essay for NBC News.
The district attorney, Gascon, is up for re-election. He said at Thursday’s news conference that more than 300 people have been resentenced during his term, and only four have gone on to commit a crime again.
