LOS ANGELES (CN) — Erik and Lyle Menendez, who shot and killed their parents in 1989, appeared in court virtually for the first time in years, on Monday, to ask a judge to be released from prison.
Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he was "not prepared" to move forward with the scheduled resentencing hearing, that there were 17 box of documents he needed to review and, more to the point, there is a new district attorney set to take office soon.
"Out of respect to the new administration, I want him to be able to have his say," Jesic said.
The brothers have been in custody for 35 years, and are both serving life sentences. Last month, the current D.A., George Gascón, had recommended that the brothers be resentenced, a move that would likely lead to their immediate release. But Gascón lost his reelection bid this month to the more conservative Nathan Hochman, who has said that he wants to review the case before making any decisions. Should he reverse Gascón's recommendation, it would put the brothers' bid to be released in doubt.
The brothers have also filed a petition to have their convictions thrown out based on two new pieces of evidence that have emerged in recent years that bolster their claim that their father, Jose Menendez, had sexually abused them both for years and continued to assault them well into adulthood — even in the weeks leading up to the murder.
Most of the members of the extended Menendez family have come out in support of Erik and Lyle's release. On Monday, the judge allowed two elderly and ailing family members to testify ahead of the postponed resentencing hearing.
Teresita Baralt, Jose's older sister, broke down crying in court as she asked the judge for leniency.
"Thirty-five years is a long time," she said. "I think it's time for them to come home. I would like to hug them and see them."
Joan VanderMolen, the older sister of Erik and Lyle's mother Kitty, also took the stand.
"No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle had to," VanderMolen said. "It breaks my hear that my sister Kitty knew what was happening and did nothing. They never knew if tonight would be the night they were going to be raped. It's unconscionable."
The brothers were tried for murder twice, the first ending in a mistrial, the second in conviction. During both trials, they argued that the killings were done both in response to trauma but also out of fear of continued abuse. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Jose had never abused his children and that the brothers killed their parents in order to inherit their money.
Two pieces of evidence have emerged to add weight to the brothers' story. In 2023, a former member of the boy band Menudo, Roy Rossello, revealed that Jose Menendez, a record executive, drugged and raped him when he was 14 years old. More recently, a letter purportedly written by Erik Menendez to his cousin in 1988, less than a year before the killings, was unearthed. In the letter, Menendez refers to the sexual abuse, writing, "Every night I stay up thinking he might come in."
"The new evidence not only shows that Jose Menendez was very much a violent and brutal man who would sexually abuse children, but it strongly suggests that — in fact — he was still abusing Erik Menendez as late as December 1988," the brothers wrote in their habeas corpus petition.
The District Attorney's office is scheduled to respond to that habeas petition on Tuesday.
More than 20 family members have spoken out in favor of the brothers' release. The sole exception, at least publicly, has been Milton Anderson, Kitty's 90-year-old brother. Last month, Anderson said in a written statement that the new evidence "cannot legally justify overturning the murder convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who meticulously planned and executed the cold-blooded murders of both their parents."
During her short 10 minutes of testimony on Monday, Joan VanderMolen addressed the views of Anderson, her brother.
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," VanderMolen said.
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