Prepare to be shocked, true crime enthusiasts!!
For those who don’t know, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in July 1996 for the murders of their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. They have been serving life in prison without the possibility of parole ever since. However, that may change soon! We could see them set free after nearly 35 years behind bars!
Here is the deal. Erik and Lyle have long maintained they killed Jose and Kitty in self-defense because they suffered years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents. But during their second trial, the judge deemed the abuse allegations inadmissible. Flash forward to last year, and the two brothers filed a habeas petition to ask for their conviction to be overturned as they obtained new evidence to back their claims.
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For starters, they obtained a letter sent to their cousin, Andy Cano, detailing the sexual abuse eight months before they shot their parents to death. In it, Erik said he wished he could tell his mom about being molested by his dad but was afraid she would tell him. Then someone else came forward with allegations against Jose. In the documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band from the 1980s, Menudo, claimed he was drugged and raped by the dad when he was 14 during a trip to New Jersey. He said in the doc while pointing at a picture of Jose:
“That’s the man here that raped me. That’s the pedophile. It’s time for the world to know the truth.”
So awful. If the jury from the original trial knew about Rosselló’s confession and the letter, Lyle and Erik believe their case would have turned out differently. Now, the brothers received some shocking news this week.
During a press conference on Thursday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced they are reviewing the evidence in the case that Erik and Lyle were molested by their father! Whoa! He explained:
“We are not ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information, but we’re here to tell you that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side, whether they deserve to be re-sentenced, even though they were clearly the murderers because they have been in prison for 35 years and they have paid back their dues to society. Or whether habeas is appropriate if there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time and had that evidence been presented perhaps the jury would have come to a different conclusion.”
Gascón made it clear the two murdered Jose and Kitty, but the question at hand now is if the jury knew about the abuse evidence, would their verdicts have been different? That is what his office will determine. Watch the press conference (below):
At this time, it is important to stress that no decision has been made. They are simply reviewing the evidence, and a hearing is scheduled for November 29. Depending on the outcome of that hearing, the brothers could receive a new sentence or go through a new trial. What is the best-case scenario for them right now? If they are re-sentenced for manslaughter and not murder based on the new evidence, they are getting out of jail since they would have served more than the maximum sentence. Wow!
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments!
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via MEGA/WENN, NewsNation/YouTube]
