L.A. DA George Gascón confirms he will seek a reduced sentence for the Menendez brothers, making them eligible for immediate parole.
Erik and Lyle Menendez could be released within weeks as Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has confirmed that he will seek a reduced sentence for the brothers. Gascón will ask a Los Angeles judge to lower their sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life. If this is approved, the Menendez brothers would immediately be eligible for parole.
“It can happen quickly, if the judge is ready to place the matter on the calendar,” said Bess Stiffelman, an attorney who handles post-conviction matters in L.A. “It’s likely, if the D.A. makes the recommendation, the judge would accept it.” The Menendez brothers have been incarcerated for 34 years after they were arrested for the 1989 murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
The renewed interest in the Menendez brothers skyrocketed after the release of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix. New pieces of evidence also drove the push for their resentencing. One of those new pieces is a letter allegedly written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano eight months before the murders. “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,” said Erik in the letter.
Erik Menendez took to social media (through his wife Tammi) to slam Monsters co-creator Ryan Murphy for including “ruinous character portrayals” of both him and his brother. Murphy hit back, saying that they should be sending him flowers for giving them so much attention again. “I’ll tell you my thoughts about the Menendez brothers. The Menendez brothers should be sending me flowers. They haven’t had so much attention in 30 years. And it’s gotten the attention of not only this country, but all over the world. There’s sort of an outpouring of interest in their lives and in the case,” Murphy said. “I know for a fact that many people have offered to help them because of the interest of my show and what we did. There is no world that we live in where the Menendez brothers or their wives or lawyers would say, ‘You know what, that was a wonderful, accurate depiction of our clients.’ That was never going to happen, and I wasn’t interested in that happening.“
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is currently streaming on Netflix and you can check out a review from our own Alex Maidy right here.