Two brothers at the centre of one of the most horrific murder cases in the 20th century will have a new shot at freedom after rotting in prison for 35 years.
Erik and Lyle Menendez – better known as the Menendez brothers, whose tale was engraved into public memory through Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ series – have had their life sentences dramatically reduced by a California judge.
This means the murderers could soon be freed in what would be an almost unbelievable twist to one of America’s worst true crime sagas.
Last year, the then Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon requested a change to their sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life.
Because they committed the crime under the age of 26, this makes them eligible for parole.
Path to freedom for the Menendez brothers
LA County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said: ‘I am not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide.
‘I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years that they should get that chance.’
The state parole board must still decide whether to release the brothers from prison.
The judge said on Tuesday that prosecutors must prove that if released, the brothers still pose a risk of committing a violent crime again.
Erik and Lyle, 54 and 57 years old, did not show any emotion during most of the testimony as they appeared via livestream video.
But they chuckled when one of their cousins, Diane Hernandez, told the court that Erik received A+ grades in all of his classes during his most recent semester in college.
How one of America’s worst murders unfolded
Erik and Lyle Menendez were just 18 and 21 when they walked into their Beverly Hills mansion and killed their wealthy parents with a shotgun.
In August 1989, the bodies of Jose and Kitty Menendez were found in their sprawling Beverly Hills mansion.
The brothers claimed that unknown intruders were responsible for the murders, framing it as a potential mob killing.
For years, the two appeared to grieve for their parents in public, until they were arrested in March 1990.
Lyle was the first to be detained, and days later, his sibling turned himself into authorities. The pair were then both accused of first-degree murder.
It took years for the case to go to trial, with each brother facing trial with a separate jury in July 1993.
The court heard from the prosecution that Erik and Lyle killed their parents to get their money.
But they argued they acted out of self-defence after emotional and sexual abuse from their father, spanning years.
In January 1994, both juries deadlocked, meaning a retrial had to begin with a single jury in October 1995.
In March 1996, seven years after the murders of Kitty and Jose, their sons were finally convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
