Menendez brothers murder case: Prosecutor examines new molestation evidence

More than three decades after Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents in a high-profile murder case that galvanized the nation, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said Thursday his office would review new evidence that the brothers were abused, a move that could lead to a re-conviction.

Gascón said there was no doubt the brothers committed the murders, but the question was whether the jury heard evidence that their father abused them. Evidence of sexual abuse was presented during the brothers' first trial, which ended with a hung jury, but was largely withheld in the second trial, in which they were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

“We are not prepared to say at this point that we believe or disbelieve this information,” Gascon said. “But we are here to tell you that we have a moral and ethical obligation to consider what is presented to us and make a decision.”

The trial could pave the way for the brothers to be retried, resentenced to a lesser prison sentence or released from prison. Gascón said he has not yet made a final decision.

In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez bought a pair of shotguns for cash, went into their Beverly Hills home and shot their parents while they were watching a movie in the family living room. Prosecutors said Jose Menendez was hit five times, including in the back of the head, and Kitty Menendez crawled on the ground, wounded, before the brothers reloaded and fired a final fatal shot.

Initially, the police assumed that the murders were a mafia attack because of the gruesome scene in the house. Erik and Lyle Menendez were eventually charged with murder after Erik, then 18, confessed the murders to his therapist in March 1990.

Prosecutors argued that the brothers' motivation in the murders was simple: they wanted to gain access to their parents' multimillion-dollar estate. But the brothers' defense attorneys countered that the shootings followed years of violent sexual abuse by their father and justified the killings as a form of self-defense.

Gascón's announcement comes more than a year after Erik and Lyle Menendez filed a writ of habeas corpus asking the court to overturn their 1996 conviction, citing new evidence. A habeas corpus hearing is expected to take place on November 26th. Gascón said he wanted to “make final” the case at the time of the hearing, but did not say his review would be completed by then.

“They're obviously looking at it closely, which is great,” said Cliff Gardner, one of the lawyers representing the brothers. “This encourages me because I think anyone who looks at this evidence will come away with the understanding that these boys were abused as children.”

Gardner said since the lawsuit was filed last year, prosecutors have asked the court several times to postpone the hearing date to review the case. Although it took so long to make a decision, he found the decision encouraging.

“The fact that they are taking their time shows me that they are taking it seriously,” he said.

The petition pointed to evidence from the Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” which made allegations that the brothers' father, Jose Menendez, sexually abused a former underage member of the 1980s pop band Menudo.

The three-part series, reported by journalists Nery Ynclan and Robert Rand, alleged that the internationally known music group's founder, Edgardo Díaz, took one of the band's underage members to the New Jersey home of Jose Menendez, where he raped him and raped and drugged by the elder Menendez.

In the docuseries, Roy Roselló said he was 13 or 14 years old at the time and suggested that the trip was intended to secure a deal between the band and RCA Records, where Jose Menendez worked as an executive.

“This new evidence is undeniable,” Ynclan told The Times on Thursday, “and the lives of Lyle and Erik did not end on that terrible day.” The journalist added that the two brothers had been model prisoners and provided rehabilitation programs for other prisoners would have directed. “After 35 years, it is overdue to show these victims of incest the mercy they deserve.”

The brothers' petition says the new allegations of sexual abuse bolster their argument that the killings were an act of self-defense after years of abuse by their parents, and that they fear their parents would kill them, if they would tell.

The petition also includes details of a recently discovered letter that defense attorneys say was written by Erik Menendez eight months before the 1989 shooting, suggesting that sexual abuse by his father continued into his late teens.

“I never know when it's going to happen and it… drives me crazy,” the letter, filed in court papers, said. “Every night I stay awake thinking he might come in.”

The brothers' first trial, which included disturbing testimony about the abuse, ended with a jury verdict. In the second trial, much evidence of abuse was excluded, according to the habeas petition. Prosecutors argued at the time that the abuse allegations were “a complete fabrication.”

The news comes on the heels of another show based on the Menendez series, an eight-part drama series on Netflix called Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The show focuses on the events leading up to the murders and the cultural moment in Los Angeles in which the brothers were charged with murder.

Last month, Erik Menendez's wife, Tammi Menendez, posted a statement On social media, he spoke out about the series and the brothers' portrayal, calling it “inaccurate” and that Lyle's portrayal was a “caricature” that was “based on terrible and blatant lies.”

“Monsters” co-creator Ryan Murphy defended himself in an interview with The Times last month.

“I think it’s fake outrage,” he said. “I think this story, this Netflix series, is the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years because it gets people talking about it and asking the important questions.”

Renewed attention to the case has sparked an outpouring of support for the imprisoned brothers. Kim Kardashian visited them in prison three weeks ago and wrote a personal essay in which she called the brothers “kind, intelligent and honest men” and said their sentences should be reconsidered.

“We owe it to the little boys who lost their childhood and who never had the chance to be heard, helped or saved,” she wrote.