Decades after they were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1989 murder of their parents, the tragic story of brothers Lyle and Eric Menendez has once again come into the spotlight. Thanks to new evidence and a recent Netflix series about the case, many are now calling for a new appraisal, including Kim Kardashian and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, who has announced that his office is officially reviewing the case.
The Netflix series, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, premiered last month, and though it’s been decried by Erik Menendez as “dishonest” and “disheartening slander,” Gascón has acknowledged that the docudrama’s buzz led many to call his office. Now, he feels there is “a moral and ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us.”
The evidence in question is a recently-uncovered letter Erik Menendez wrote when he was 17, describing sexual abuse by his father, RCA Records executive José Menendez, which may corroborate the brothers’ claim that their actions in 1989 came about after years of experiencing severe mistreatment and fear. In light of that, many in the public now feel that the Menendez brothers case was mishandled. As one of the lawyers for the brothers, Mark Gegaros, said, “We’ve got a much more robust and evolved understanding of abuse.”
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Claims of the elder Menendez’s crimes were previously discussed in a Peacock docuseries called Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, which was followed by the Los Angeles Police Department announcing an investigation over allegations of sexual assault by Edgardo Díaz, Menudo’s founder.
Among those now lobbying for the Menendez brothers’ release is Kardashian, who wrote an essay for NBC News explaining, “I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters.” She added that “The killings are not excusable… nor is their behavior before, during or after the crime,” but ultimately believes that the brothers were “robbed of their childhoods by their parents, then robbed of any chance of freedom by a criminal justice system eager to punish them without considering the context or understanding the ‘why,’ and without caring about whether the punishment fit the crime.”
Concluding, Kardashian wrote, “My hope is that Erik and Lyle Menendez’s life sentences are reconsidered. We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped, or saved.”
For his part, Gascón said that his office is “not ready to say that we either believe or do not believe [the new] information,” but has “indicated that the sex abuse claims are among the aspects his office was reviewing,” according to The New York Times. The brothers’ lawyers have asked Gascón to recommend a resentencing, which could potentially lead to their release.
Next week, another Netflix title, a docuseries called The Menendez Brothers, will premiere, which promises to feature the brothers telling “their story together.”
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