Eric and Lyle Menendez may be able to go home in time for Christmas, nearly 30 years after they were convicted of fatally shooting their wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills mansion.
A judge could release them as early as December 11, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón had recommended commuting the life sentences of two brothers who murdered their parents with a shotgun in 1989. They included new evidence, including an explosive handwritten letter Eric Menendez wrote to his cousin, alleging that he had been sexually abused by his father before the murder. .
After a meeting between the brothers’ attorneys and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael V. Jessick, the court decided at a December hearing that Jessick would commute the brothers’ sentences from first-degree murder to manslaughter, according to the LA Times. Agreed that it is possible.
The murderer’s brothers will soon be released, even though they have served three times the maximum sentence for their crime.
ABC 7 reports that the Menendez brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, is also asking Gov. Gavin Newsom for a pardon in hopes of getting them out of the picture by Thanksgiving.
In 1989, Eric and Lyle, the sons of wealthy music executives Jose and Mary Louise Menendez, bought a shotgun for their parents while they were watching TV in their Beverly Hills mansion, and fired multiple shots at them. A bullet was fired.
Before being indicted, the pair had spent $14 million on an inheritance. Their lavish purchases included luxury travel, a sports car, a Rolex watch, two restaurants for Lyle, and a full-time tennis coach for Eric.
In court, the pair admitted to the killing, but claimed it was in self-defense against a lifetime of abuse, including sexual abuse, by their father.
They requested a reduced sentence hearing in 2023 after new evidence came to light about their father’s history of sexual abuse, and a 2024 Netflix documentary about the case sparked renewed public interest.
Several family members came out in support of the brothers and called for their release at a press conference earlier this month. Shortly after, the prosecutor’s office released a screenshot of a letter Eric wrote to his cousin. The letter, written years before the murder, alleges that she was sexually abused by her father.
