Menendez Family Members Say Brothers Should Be Freed from Prison

More than 30 family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences for the shotgun murders of their parents Jose and Kitty more than 30 years ago, are calling for their release from prison.

The family members spoke out at a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in front of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Numerous family members cited the sex abuse the brothers have claimed they endured at the hands of their father, Jose, describing them as victims, not murderers.

Karen VanderMolen, the niece of the brothers’ slain mother, Kitty Menendez, describing them at the time of the 1989 killings as “young, scared and abused.”

“They lived in constant fear” of their father, Jose, VanderMolen said, who added, “The feeling in their house and the father and son interactions were just off,” said VanderMolen.

Mark Geragos, the post-conviction attorney for the brothers, said society’s understanding of sex abuse has evolved in the decades since the killings and subsequent trial. Back then, he said, people were less willing to accept that men could be sexually abused.

 “If they were the Menendez sisters, they would not be in custody,” Geragos said.

Numerous family members directed supporters to an online petition, Justiceforerikandlyle.org, which advocates for the brothers’ release from prison.

The Menendez family press conference comes almost two weeks after Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office was “keeping an open mind” about the Menendez brothers’ bid to be resentenced.

In an interview with IMPACT x Nightline, Gascón told co-anchor Juju Chang, “Given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die.”

Gascón could recommend that the brothers be resentenced, but ultimately, a judge will have to approve any recommendation.

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In May 2023, attorneys for the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing new evidence in the case.

The new evidence included sexual abuse allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, against Jose, whom he claims raped him in the 1980s, as well as a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to his now-deceased cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders.

Acknowledging that the brothers “were clearly the murderers,” Gascón, who is up for reelection in November, said at the Thursday, Oct. 3, press conference that his office had “a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us” and to determine if such evidence could have swayed jurors away from first-degree murder convictions. 

At Wednesday’s press conference, Geragos said Gascón extended an invitation to the family to speak to his office after the press conference.

Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 when they fatally shot their parents using 12-gauge shotguns in the den of their Beverly Hills, Calif., home on Aug. 20, 1989.

Jose, 45, was hit multiple times, including point blank in the head. Kitty, 47, was shot multiple times, including once in the face.

The killings, according to the brothers, came after years of sexual abuse by Jose — abuse which they claimed was ignored by their mom, a former pageant queen.

However, prosecutors at the time said the two brothers’ motive was greed and cited their lavish spending spree after the slayings.

In 1996, three years after their first trial ended in a deadlock, the siblings were convicted of the first-degree murders and subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.