Who is Erik and Lyle Menendez’s cousin Karen VanderMolen and what has Kitty’s niece said about the brothers
KAREN VanderMolen is the cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were jailed after murdering their parents in 1989.
She has supported George Gascon’s recommendation for the brothers’ resentencing, which came in light of some shocking new evidence.
A “gut feeling”
Not much is known about Karen’s early life, before the deaths of José and Kitty Menendez in 1989.
However, she has spoken publicly about how she and other family members had a “gut feeling” that something was wrong in the Menendez family’s domestic life.
In retrospect, she believes this gut feeling may have been an unconscious recognition of the abuse that Erik and Lyle are alleged to have suffered.
She told NewsNation that it was painful to think about Kitty being aware of the abuse and not stepping in.
Karen said: “I think she was getting used to the money, fame and fortune.
“I guess her kids were enough of a sacrifice for her.
“The Kitty I grew up with would have never allowed anything to happen in her home.
“This was something that she had to have learnt from Jose.”
Resentencing the Menendez brothers
On October 24, 2024, George Gascon announced that he would be recommending that Erik and Lyle Menendez should have their sentences reconsidered.
He said he was hoping to have this sentence reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole or 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole.
The brothers were jailed after they killed their parents in 1989, in a murder so brutal that the police believed it may have been the work of the mob.
After their arrest, the brothers claimed that they had been acting in self-defense and that they had been sexually abused by their father José.
Despite the efforts of their all-star legal team, composed of Leslie Abramson, Charles Gessler and Jill Lansing, the brothers were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Karen has said that she understands Erik and Lyle’s crime.
She said: “Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father.”
Karen added: “The truth is, Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who should have protected them—their parents, the system, and society at large.”
Milton Anderson, Erik and Lyle’s uncle, does not share her support for the brothers’ release.
In a previous interview, he described the brothers’ claims of abuse as a “load of bull” and his lawyer said George’s calls for resentencing were an attempt to “rewrite history”.
New evidence
George’s recommendation came in light of new evidence about the Menendez murders.
A letter, written by Erik to his late cousin Andy Cano, was uncovered and supporters of the brothers claim that it supports Erik’s abuse claims.
The letter, which was discovered by Andy’s mum Marta Cano, details Erik’s fear of his father and says that “it’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse now”.
He doesn’t detail what “it” is, but Erik says that “every night, I stay up thinking he might come in”.
In 2023, Roy Rosello, a member of the Puerto Riccan boyband Menudo, claimed that he had been abused by Jose as a child too.