A California judge resentenced the Menendez brothers, giving them a shot of freedom after the siblings served three decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents.
Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, are now eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.
The ruling from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on Tuesday came following a day of an emotional hearing as the brothers’ loved ones pleaded with the court, claiming they were “different men” than who they were at the time of the killings and that they had been “universally forgiven by the family.”
“I’m not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide,” Jesic said. “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years, that they should get that chance.”
Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing their father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings.
Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors said they killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Ana Maria Baralt, a cousin of Erik and Lyle, testified that the brothers have repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough,” Baralt said. “They are universally forgiven by our family.”
“They are very different men,” she explained through tears, adding that “their transformation is remarkable.”
The case has captured the public’s attention for decades — and the Netflix drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and documentary “The Menendez Brothers” recently brought new attention to the case.
Last year, former LA County District Attorney George Gascón opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers by asking a judge to reduce their sentences. But the newly elected district attorney Nathan Hochman has opposed the brothers’ resentencing.
