Will the Menendez brothers actually stroll free? What’s subsequent for pair who slaughtered their dad and mom as DA recommends re-sentencing in case that was became hit Netflix present

Serious questions have been raised over what will happen to Erik and Lyle Menendez, the brothers who slaughtered their parents in their plush Beverly Hills mansion in 1989, after LA’s District Attorney officially recommended they be resentenced. 

Following what the brothers claim was a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their parents, Jose and Kitty, Lyle and Erik, then just 18 and 21, by shooting them 14 times with 12-gauge shotguns in their million-dollar Beverly Hills home. 

After a complicated series of trials, the first of which was declared a mistrial, they were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996. 

But yesterday, LA’s DA George Gascón said he was recommending they be resentenced, meaning they could potentially be let out of prison within weeks, though the courts will have the final say on this. 

The petition will be filed today, along with evidence that supports Gascón’s recommendation of changing their sentence to life with the possibility of parole. 

While this normally carries a 50-year-sentence, since the brothers were under 26 when they killed their parents they would be eligible for youthful parole under California law.  

An LA Superior Court judge will make the decision at a hearing, expected to take place within 30-45 days after the DA’s resentencing unit, headed up by Nancy Theberge, coordinates with the courts to set a date. 

One of the brothers’ attorneys, Mark Geragos, said he believes they will be home in time for Thanksgiving. 

While the Menendez family, who have largely rallied around the brothers since Jose and Kitty were killed, filed a separate habeas corpus petition, a request to investigate whether the brothers were wrongfully imprisoned, they are expected to rescind this. 

This is because the need to investigate would be moot if they are let out of prison before the end of their sentence. 

Gascón has already said he doesn’t agree with the family’s petition, which was filed last November. 

‘I think that the conviction was appropriate given what was there,’ Gascón told CNN, adding: ‘But I do believe the resentencing is an appropriate vehicle for them to be provided some avenues of relief.

‘They have been model prisoners by all accounts. Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have done a lot of work to better the life of those around them, which that part is unusual.

‘What they did was horrible. They premeditated the murder of their parents and killed them. But I think they’re different people today, and we base our opinion on the last 35 years of behavior.’ 

The announcement comes on the back of mounting community pressure to reconsider the life sentences without parole Erik and Lyle received at their 1996 trial.

The brothers have never denied killing their parents, but have long claimed they were driven to do so after suffering years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their businessman father. 

The public was unconvinced by their claims in the 1980s, believing instead they were ruthless monsters. 

But in recent months, a TikTok movement of more sympathetic fans and a duo of Netflix shows has won them favor. 

Gascon approached the Menendez brothers’ relatives when he made his way into the press conference on Thursday afternoon, greeting Kitty’s sister Joan, 92, who has long advocated for her nephews’ release. 

A sympathetic Gascon told the packed room: ‘I do believe they were molested. They have been in prison for nearly 35 years. I believe that they have paid their debt to society.

‘After careful review, I came to a place where I believe that resentencing is appropriate.

‘I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow. What that means, is that we’re going to recommend to the court that life without possibility of parole be removed, and they be sentenced for murder, which, because there were two murders involved, that’s 50 years to life.

‘But under the law, because at the time they were under 26 at the time these crimes occurred, they will be eligible for parole immediately.’

Gascon had the opportunity to recommend the charges be reduced to manslaughter, but he opted against that because ‘these were clearly murders.’

‘I don’t believe manslaughter would have been the appropriate charge given the premeditation,’ he said.

‘I believe these were clearly murders. I don’t think it would be appropriate to go all the way down to manslaughter.’

In an extraordinary twist, he revealed the brothers weren’t given a warning about the announcement, and said they were likely ‘watching the TV’ or learning about their new lifeline from behind bars.

While Gascon hopes the Menendez brothers will soon be freed, he acknowledged that his office is deeply divided over the case. 

‘We don’t have a universal agreement. There are people in the office that strongly believe they should stay in prison the rest of their life, they do not believe they were molested,’ he said.

‘And there are people in the office that strongly believe they should be released immediately.

Gascon’s decision has been widely welcomed, but critics suggested he is using the Menendez case to win favor ahead of his reelection bid this November. 

He is seeking re-election on a platform of sentencing reform, and is currently trailing his opponent, former US Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman.

Asked about the ‘politics’ of his decision on Thursday, Gascon insisted the optics played no part in his final decision.

‘There’s nothing political about this, we have resentenced over 300 people, including 28 for murder. We will continue resentencing people,’ he said.

But Gascon refused to be drawn about his re-election campaign, snapping at a reporter who tried to ask a follow up question. ‘Would you please stop, I’m not going to talk about re-election,’ he said.

Gascón recently said his office was scrutinizing evidence that was not permitted in their trial, but insisted he was not committed either way.

Specifically, 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.

Erik had also allegedly penned a damning letter 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.

Gascon said earlier this month ‘given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die.’

After killing their parents in August of 1989, they made a frantic call to police claiming they returned home 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.

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.

Erik and Lyle, 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. 

More than a dozen Menendez relatives and defense lawyer Mark Geragos held a press conference in Los Angeles this month asking for a revised sentence.

‘If they were the Menendez sisters they would not be in custody,’ Geragos said of the treatment the brothers received in their trial. 

The family argued that at the time of the brothers’ trial, the public did not understand sexual abuse of boys.

Kitty’s sister Joan Andersen VanderMolen said: ‘Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father.’

‘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.’

The family introduced a coalition called ‘Justice for Erik and Lyle’ and spoke of how the brothers have lived a life of purpose in their 35 years in prison – even though they did not expect to ever be freed.

But the family aren’t entirely united in their push for Erik and Lyle’s release. 

Kathleen Cady, an attorney representing Kitty Menendez’ brother Milton Andersen, said ‘Mr Andersen is not in support of resentencing the Menendez brothers.’

Andersen believes the initial sentence – life in prison without parole – was a fair and just outcome for the crimes committed against his sister and her husband.

‘He believes that should remain, and he is certainly entitled to his opinion. He is entitled to have his concerns and thoughts considered, but he has been ignored by Gascón,’ Cady said. 

Andersen has filed a brief with the court requesting the ‘right to reasonably confer’ with Gascón over matters involving his sister, and his nephews’ cases.

In an email sent to Gascón seen by DailyMail.com, the District Attorney was warned ‘any decision you make [must] not be political.

Cady wrote: ‘Mr Andersen… requests to confer with you immediately and hear your decision before you hold another press conference to announce your decision to the press and the general public.’

The filing implies that Gascón’s upcoming re-election campaign could be spurring his decision in the matter, in an effort to garner more public support.

But a petition calling for a resentence revealed the brothers have worked as hospice aides in prison helping sick inmates and have run Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

They’ve both also completed college courses, and have reference letters from correctional officers discussing their exemplary behavior behind bars. 

One of those reference letters, written by Victor H. Cortes, read: ‘It is exceedingly rare to encounter an individual who, despite facing a life sentence without the possibility of parole, has dedicated himself to personal growth, the betterment of his fellow inmates, and overall stability of the prison environment.’