What's Next for the Menendez Brothers? Lawyer Says They Could be Home by Thanksgiving

Mar. 15, 2025

Erik Menendez in 2016 and Lyle Menendez in 2018.Photo:California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP

On Thursday, Oct. 24, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended thatErik and Lyle Menendez, who murdered their parents in 1989 and were convicted of first-degree murder, be resentenced.

The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Gascón will ask that the brothers be sentenced to 50 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole. As “youthful offenders,” who were both under the age of 26 when they killed their parents, they would immediately be eligible for parole.

The decision to approve Gascón’s recommendation on the fate of Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, will now be up to a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. No date has been set for the judge to review Gascón’s petition for resentencing, but Nancy Theberge, from Gascón’s office, said on Thursday that the petition could go before the judge in 30 to 45 days,USA Todayreports.

If a judge approves Gascón’s recommendation, the matter would then go to a parole board, who would evaluate whether the brothers have been rehabilitated.

Erik and Lyle Menendez in 1994.Ted Soqui/Sygma/Getty

Ted Soqui/Sygma/Getty

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, who was the chief operating officer of RCA Records, was hit multiple times, including point blank in the head. Kitty, 47, was shot 15 times, including once in the face.

Jose and Kitty Menendez.ABC

ABC

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The murders, which are now subject of season 2 of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix showMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, starringJavier BardemandChloë Sevignyas well as a Netflix documentary, made national headlines and spawned several documentaries.

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.

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source: people.com