Menendez brothers to be re-sentenced if judge agrees with decision by DA after bombshell letter and molestation claims

THE Menendez brothers are expected to receive a lifeline of hope in their fight for freedom after spending over 35 years in prison.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, the infamous brothers convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty, with a pair of shotguns in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989, could potentially walk free from a San Diego prison.

On Thursday, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is expected to request that a judge consider resentencing Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 55, respectively, according to The New York Times.

Gascón is expected to formally make the announcement during a press conference after disclosing on October 3 that his office was reevaluating the Menendez brothers’ case.

However, any recommendation by Gascón will ultimately be just that.

Gascón will pass his decision on to a judge who will make the final determination about whether the district attorney’s new evidence warrants resentencing.

Nearly 30 years since Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, their case reemerged in the spotlight following the release of the 2023 docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed and the Netflix series Monsters in September.

In the 2023 Peacock docuseries, Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez.

At the time, Jose was a powerful and wealthy executive at RCA Records – the label to which Menudo was signed.

The case picked up pressure following the release of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series, which garnered over 12.3 million views in its first weekend release.

The Netflix show presented the murders through different perspectives as it explored what might have led Lyle and Erik to kill their parents.

The show dramatized the alleged sexual abuse the brothers suffered at the hands of their father.

A Los Angeles court is expected to hear the case on November 26.

MENENDEZ CASE REEVALUATED

During an October 3 press conference, Gascón said his office was closely investigating two new pieces of evidence related to the Menendez brothers’ case.

One is a letter written by Erik, eight months before the murders, to his cousin, Andy Cano, where he appears to reference the alleged abuse by his father.

“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now,” Erik wrote in December 1988.

“I never know when [the abuse] is going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking he might come in.”

Cano had testified at both trials, telling the courtroom that Erik, at age 13, privately confessed to him that his father had been touching him.

The second piece of evidence was the sexual abuse allegations brought forth by Rosselló against Jose.

Rosselló, now 54, was a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, who shot to fame in the mid-1980s and signed with RCA International in 1983.

In the three-part Peacock docuseries, Rosselló alleged the band’s manager at the time, Edgardo Dize, offered him to Jose as a means to seal their multi-million dollar deal with RCA.

Rosselló, who was 13 when he joined the band, accused Diaz of sexually abusing him during his time with Menudo.

He said Diaz brought him to Jose’s home in New Jersey, where he alleged the former music executive drugged and raped him in early 1980.

“That’s the man here that raped me,” Rosselló said, pointing at a photo of Jose in the Peacock docuseries.

“That’s the guy. That’s the pedophile. I was in terrible pain for a week. I could barely stand the pain. I couldn’t even more.”

Rosselló also alleged that Jose sexually abused him on two other occasions, right before and after a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Appellate attorney Cliff Gardner filed a habeas petition in May 2023 asking the district attorney’s office to review the new evidence.

A habeas petition is a legal document that a prisoner files to challenge the legality of their conviction or sentence, arguing that their rights were violated during the criminal proceedings.

‘TRYING TO SURVIVE’

Weeks before Gascón’s bombshell decision, nearly two dozen relatives of Lyle and Erik held a press conference calling for the brothers’ release.

Joan Anderson VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty, said she struggled for years with the nightmare of her sister and brother-in-law’s murders.

“Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father,” Vandermolen, 85, said.

“The truth is that Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who were supposed to protect them.”

Brian Anderson, Kitty’s nephew, called the brothers survivors who deserve a second chance.

“They are no longer a threat to society,” he said.

Karen VanderMolen, Kitty’s niece, also defended the brothers, saying they were trapped in the alleged abuse.

“I forgive my cousins. I know they were acting out of fear and desperation,” she added.

TRIALS OF ERIK AND LYLE

On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik, then 21 and 18, respectively, stormed into the den of their Beverly Hills mansion, wielding shotguns, and shot their parents at point-blank range.

Jose was shot six times, including a fatal shot to the back of the head, while Kitty was shot 10 times.

Lyle eventually called 911, sobbing over the phone to the dispatcher that his parents had been killed and implied it may have been a business-related mafia hit.

In the months after the murders, Lyle and Erik went on a lavish shopping spree, spending about $700,000 on a Porsche, Rolexes, a tennis coach, and even a restaurant in Princeton, New Jersey.

The brothers even chose to live in adjoining condominiums in nearby Marina del Rey, dining at extravagant restaurants and booking overseas flights to the Caribbean and London.

Erik eventually confessed about the murders to his psychologist, Jerome Oziel, who then told his mistress, Judalon Smyth, who went to police.

On March 8, 1990, Lyle was arrested outside their Beverly Hills home, while Erik turned himself in three days later after returning to Los Angeles from Israel.

The brothers’ first trial became an international spectacle and was broadcast by CourtTV in 1993.

The courtroom witnessed Erik and Lyle break down in tears on the stand as they testified about the sexual, emotional, and physical abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of their father.

Lyle and Erik did not deny carrying out the shooting but testified they killed Jose and Kitty in self-defense out of fear their parents would kill them first to prevent stories emerging about their alleged abuse.

However, despite the brothers’ emotional testimony, the trial ended in two deadlocked juries, each assigned to deliberate over one sibling separately.

Lyle and Erik’s defense suffered a major blow during their retail in 1995 after a judge ruled that most of the evidence of their alleged sexual abuse be withheld from the jury.

The brothers were eventually convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.