Featured Image Credit: VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty Images / Los Angeles Times/Contributor via Getty Images
Topics: Menendez Brothers, Crime, True crime
Yasmeen Hamadeh
Topics: Menendez Brothers, Crime, True crime
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing
Erik and Lyle Menendez are set to have a court hearing after potential new evidence related to their case was obtained by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
In 1996, the brothers were sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills mansion on August 20, 1989.
The brothers were initially tried separately, however the juries reached a deadlock consequently resulting in mistrials. They were then tried together for the second round where they were ultimately convicted of the murder of their parents and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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During the trials, the brothers alleged that they were emotionally, physically, and sexually abused by their parents - particularly their father - and that they committed the murders out of fear for their lives.
28 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents, a new court hearing has been set for Erik and Lyle for November 29, with potential new evidence regarding the alleged sexual abuse they experienced by their father coming to light.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday, sharing: "We have been given evidence.
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"We have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation."
"We've also got evidence that was provided by the defense, by his lawyers, that one of the members of the Menudo band alleged that he was molested by the father," Gascón continued, seemingly referring to Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Menudo boy band who alleged that he was drugged and raped by Jose Menendez in the 1980s when he was a teenager.
The hearing could lead to a retrial or resentencing for Erik and Lyle, however Gascón said no decision has been made yet.
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"None of this information has been confirmed," he said.
"We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information.
"But we’re here to tell you is 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 resentenced — even though they were clearly the murderers — because they have been in prison for years and they have paid back their dues to society.
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"If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion."
The Menendez brothers' case has found a resurgence in popularity over the past few weeks thanks to Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story bringing it back into the zeitgeist.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org