The Menendez brothers await a decision that they hope will set them free

This article was originally published on March 1, 2024.

Lyle and Erik Menendez have been behind bars in California for more than three decades because of the 1989 murder of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez. They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in the infamous case that captured the nation's attention. Now the brothers hope new evidence will reopen their case and release them.

“48 Hours” contributor Natalie Morales speaks with Lyle Menendez from prison as he awaits a judge's decision in an encore of “The Menendez Brothers' Fight for Freedom,” now streaming on Paramount+.

The Menendez brothers admitting that they killed their parents. Instead, the focus of the case has long been the question of why they did it. They insist they killed out of fear and in self-defense after suffering a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents.

One of her lawyers, Cliff Gardner, told “48 Hours” that new evidence supports these long-standing allegations and reduces her guilt. Gardner argues that Lyle and Erik Menendez should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder, and that otherwise they would have received a much shorter sentence and been released from prison long ago.

The new evidence includes a letter that Gardner said was written by Erik Menendez to Erik's cousin Andy Cano in December 1988, about eight months before the crime. The letter states, among other things: “I tried to avoid Dad. It still happens, Andy, but it's worse for me now. … Every night I stay awake thinking he might come in. …I'm scared. …He's crazy. He warned me a hundred times not to tell anyone, especially Lyle.

Andy Cano testified at the brothers' trials. He said Erik Menendez told him when he was 13, years before the murders, that his father had touched him inappropriately. Prosecutors at trial claimed Cano lied.

The brothers were tried twice. Their first trial ended in a mistrial when two jurors, one for each brother, could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Lyle and Erik Menendez were guilty of manslaughter or murder. When they were tried a second time, prosecutors took more aggressive action against the abuse allegations. They described the allegations as an “abuse apology.” That trial resulted in the brothers' conviction of first-degree murder.

Gardner says this letter is proof that the abuse allegations are not fabricated. He says the letter was not produced in either trial and that it was discovered in the camp by Andy Cano's mother in recent years. Andy Cano died in 2003.

The letter is not the only piece of evidence that has emerged. Roy Rossello, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, has come forward to claim that he was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez in the early 1980s, when Rossello was a minor and a member of the band. At that time, Jose Menendez was working as an executive at RCA Records and RCA signed Menudo to a recording contract.

Rossello is now 54 years old. In a 2023 affidavit, he says he visited Jose Menendez's home in the fall of 1983 or 1984. Rossello would have been between 14 and 15 years old at the time. He says he drank “a glass of wine” and then felt like he had “no control” over his body. He says Jose Menendez took him to a room and raped him. Rossello also states in the affidavit that he was sexually abused by Jose Menendez on two additional occasions, right before and right after a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

“When I first heard about it…I cried,” Lyle Menendez told Morales. “It was very meaningful to me that things came out that really made people realize: OK…at least this part of what this is about is true.”

The Menendez brothers' attorney, Cliff Gardner, filed a habeas petition in May 2023, citing the letter and Rossello's affidavit as new evidence proving his clients' convictions should be overturned.

“The boys were abused as children. They have been mistreated their entire lives. …And this is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It’s that simple,” Gardner told “48 Hours” about the Menendez brothers. “My hope in this case is that the judge will recognize that this new evidence is indeed credible and convincing and that he will overturn the convictions.”

In this case, it will be up to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office whether to retry the case. In a statement, prosecutors told 48 Hours that they are investigating the allegations made in the habeas petition. It is unclear when a judge will rule on the case.