The ruling that sentenced Lyle and Erik Menéndez to life in prison for the premeditated murder of their parents in 1989 should be reviewed.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office has deemed reliable new evidence that the brothers, aged 21 and 18 at the time of the murder, were sexually abused since childhood by their father under the cover of their mother, and that pushed them to act. A breakthrough that paves the way for their parole after 35 years in prison.
The case had shaken public opinion thirty years ago and returned to the limelight with "Monsters", a series released on Netflix in September.
Los Angeles County Prosecutor George Gascón believes that, "in light of the harassment they suffered," the two should not be tried for premeditated murder, but for second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 50 years.
"Considering their young age at the time of the sentence and that they have already served 35 years, they could already ask for parole and get out," the magistrate said in a crowded press conference . In the front row were the Menéndez uncles and cousins who are fighting for their freedom. The final word now belongs to the judge, who has set the hearing for November 26.
Lyle and Erik were 21 and 18 when they shot and killed José and Kitty Menéndez in the heart of one of the wealthiest and safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. They were arrested the following year. During the trial - one of the first to be televised - the Menéndezes did not deny killing their parents, but claimed they had acted out of fear that their father and mother would kill them, after having inflicted a lifetime of physical, sexual and psychological abuse on them . The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict and the case was annulled.
In the second trial, held in 1996 behind closed doors, much of the evidence of the abuse was excluded. Last year, defense lawyers asked for a review of the trial, presenting the court with a sworn statement by former Puerto Rican boy band member Menudo, Roy Rosselló, that
