New evidence in the form of a damning letter has been revealed in the shocking Menendez brothers murder case ahead of a review that could lead to a potential resentencing of the siblings, who were convicted in 1996 of killing their parents.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón publicly posted a screenshot to Instagram of the letter written by Erik Menendez to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose.
The letter, first revealed by DailyMail.com, was written eight months before they killed their parents.
It reads: ‘I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. He’s so overweight that I just can’t stand to see him. I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy.’
Gascón later took down the Instagram post.
It comes as the Menendez family are set to host a press conference in Los Angeles today, where celebrities including Rose O’Donnell are set to speak in ‘a powerful show of unity’ for the brothers.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1996 after their first trial was declared a mistrial. The brothers never denied killing their parents by shooting them 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their million-dollar Beverly Hills home in August 1989 when they were just 18 and 21.
But Lyle and Erik, now aged 53 and 56, claimed they acted in self-defense. They said they were lifelong victims of sexual abuse at their hands of their father, a high-flying businessman who worked across several industries.
Lyle (Pictured, right) and Erik Menendez (pictured, left) never denied killing their parents by shooting them 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their million-dollar Beverly Hills home in August 1989 when they were just 18 and 21
Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose
Jose and Kitty (pictured) were killed in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1988
LA District Attorney George Gascón (pictured) publicly posted a screenshot of a letter written by Erik to cousin, Andy Cano
Prosecutors argued during their second trial that the abuse did not take place, and the judge who oversaw the trial refused to allow much of the defense’s evidence of sexual abuse to be presented. But, more than 35 years on from the brutal murders, new evidence that the brothers’ attorneys say corroborates their account of sexual abuse was shared on social media.
The letter, published in full by Fox News, further reads: ‘Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy!
‘He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone. Especially Lyle. Am I a serious whimpus? I don’t know I’ll make it through this. I can handle it, Andy. I need to stop thinking about it.’
According to defense attorney Cliff Gardner, the letter was written December 1988 – several months before Kitty and Jose were murdered.
Cano, who died in 2003, testified that Erik told him about his father’s abuse when he was 13.
His mother found the letter nine years ago, and it was included in a 2023 petition to examine whether the brothers were unlawfully imprisoned.
The brothers claimed they suffered years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, and that he forced them to perform sex acts on their mother
The siblings fatally shot their mom Kitty, a socialite and dad Jose Menendez, a Cuban immigrant who went to land an executive role in the entertainment business
This was the scene outside the Menendez family’s Beverly Hills mansion when police arrived on August 20, 1989
Gardner said that if the letter was introduced to the jury during the 1996 trial, the jury may have change their minds about the final verdict.
Gardner told CNN: ‘Given today’s very different understanding of the devastating impact of sexual and physical abuse on young children (both boys and girls), the testimony about Jose’s sexual abuse of Lyle that was excluded at the second trial and the remarkable new evidence presented in the habeas petition, we think resentencing is in the interests of justice.
‘The brothers have served more than 30 years in prison. That is enough.’
The Menendez family are reportedly hopeful the DA is considering asking for a revised sentence which could see the brothers walk free from custody, Vanity Fair reported.
The publication stated the DA could make a commitment within weeks to re-sentence the duo.
If a jury at any potential re-trial finds them guilty of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder, it would trigger their immediate release as they have served more than the maximum sentence.
The Menendez brothers enjoyed materially privileged childhoods but they say that the reality was that their parents were abusing them
They were sentenced to life in prison in 1996, the two had not seen each other since
The brothers stood to inherit $14million from their parents, and set about spending it shortly after their parents’ deaths
Gascón recently said his office was scrutinizing evidence that was not permitted in their trial, but insisted he was not committed either way.
Specifically, Gascon said he was reviewing shocking allegations made last year by Roy Rossello, a former member of the band Menudo, who claimed Jose Menendez molested him as a teenager while he was working as a music executive in the 1980s.
The allegations opened the door for the Menendez brothers’ appeals over claims that critical evidence of their father’s alleged abuse was not admitted in their 1996 trial.
Menendez family members and celebrity speakers are set to gather at a press conference to display ‘a powerful show of unity’ for the Menendez brothers today.
A press conference will be held in Los Angeles on 1pm where around two dozen family members of Erik and Lyle, as well as actress Rosie O’Donnell who is organized to speak, will gather at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown LA.
A Los Angeles DA spokesperson told DailyMail.com, ‘The planned news conference tomorrow is being hosted by the lawyers and family of the Menendez brothers. The DA’s Office will not attend nor make any announcements at their news conference.
They made a frantic call to police claiming they returned home from the theatre to find their parents had been slaughtered, prompting fears within one of America’s wealthiest communities that a murderer was on the run
The two men were convicted of first-degree murder and were sentenced to life without parole in 1996 after a retrial
‘A decision regarding the Menendez case has not been made. Once DA Gascón has made a decision, the family members of the victims and the public will be notified.’
The public has showed renewed interest in the Erik and Lyle Menendez case thanks to two separate Netflix shows focused on their crimes.
Celebrities including Kim Kardashian have weighed in, claiming that they ought to be released from prison.
Kardashian wrote in an op-ed earlier this month: ‘Following years of abuse and a real fear for their lives, Erik and Lyle chose what they thought at the time was their only way out – an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare.’
The duo, then just 18 and 21, killed their parents Jose and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menendez inside their million-dollar Beverly Hills home in August 1989.
They made a frantic call to police claiming they returned home from the theatre to find their parents had been slaughtered, prompting fears within one of America’s wealthiest communities that a murderer was on the run.
Police announced they were arresting Lyle Menendez in March 1990 – seven months after the crime.
They said he was motivated by greed. The brothers stood to inherit $14million from their parents, and set about spending it shortly after their parents’ deaths.
Lyle bought a Porsche Carrera, Rolex watch and two restaurants, while his brother hired a full-time tennis coach to begin competing in tournaments.
The duo, then just 18 and 21, killed their parents Jose and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menendez inside their million-dollar Beverly Hills home in August 1989
A chilling crime scene photo shows the blood-soaked couch where Jose Menendez was shot
In all, they spent $700,000 between the time of their parents’ deaths and their arrests in March 1990.
But Erik insisted in the new Netflix documentary it is ‘absurd’ to suggest he was having a good time in the immediate aftermath of the murders.
‘Everything was to cover up this horrible pain of not wanting to be alive,’ he said.
‘One of the things that stopped me from killing myself was that I would be a complete failure to my dad.’
The Netflix documentary re-hashes some of the most emotional details of the murder trial, in which both brothers disclosed they were being molested by their father, and that their mother turned a blind eye to the abuse.
Lyle told the jury on the stand that he then, in turn, took his younger brother to the woods and molested him, doing to Erik what his father had done to him.
Erik said: ‘I remember when he apologized to me on the stand for molesting me. That was a devastating moment for me. He had never said he was sorry to me before.’
According to Erik, his father began molesting him when he was six years old and that abuse continued for 12 years.