A decision will be announced today regarding the fate of the Menendez brothers amid mounting speculation they could walk free from prison.
Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents inside their Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989, when they were just 18 and 21.
They’ve been incarcerated for 34 years, but Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s decision on whether or not to resentence them could be their ticket to freedom.
Gascón will hold a press conference at 1.30pm local time – 4.30pm EST – about the fate of the brothers.
If he recommends resentencing them, they could walk free from prison when accounting for time served. They’re currently serving a life sentence without parole.
The Menendez brothers could soon walk free from prison after more than 30 years behind bars
51-year-old Erik revealed he found it absurd that police working on the case didn’t arrest him and his brother at the scene of the crime
Lyle bought a Porsche Carrera, Rolex watch and two restaurants in the immediate aftermath
The brothers have enjoyed renewed interest in their case on the back of two Netflix shows and celebrity endorsements from the likes of Kim Kardashian and Rosie O’Donnell.
If a jury at any potential re-trial finds them guilty of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder, it would trigger their immediate release as they have served more than the maximum sentence.
Gascón recently said his office was scrutinizing evidence that was not permitted in their trial, but insisted he was not committed either way.
Specifically, Gascón said he was reviewing shocking allegations made last year by Roy Rossello, a former member of the band Menudo, who claimed Jose Menendez molested him as a teenager while he was working as a music executive in the 1980s.
The allegations opened the door for the Menendez brothers’ appeals over claims that critical evidence of their father’s alleged abuse was not admitted in their 1996 trial.
The Menendez brothers spent seven months on the streets after they murdered their parents
After killing their parents, they made a frantic call to police claiming they returned home from the theatre to find their parents had been slaughtered, prompting fears within one of America’s wealthiest communities that a murderer was on the run.
Police announced they were arresting Lyle Menendez in March 1990 – seven months after the crime.
They said he was motivated by greed. The brothers stood to inherit $14million from their parents, and set about spending it shortly after their parents’ deaths.
Lyle bought a Porsche Carrera, Rolex watch and two restaurants, while his brother hired a full-time tennis coach to begin competing in tournaments.
In all, they spent $700,000 between the time of their parents’ deaths and their arrests in March 1990.
But Erik insisted in the new Netflix documentary it is ‘absurd’ to suggest he was having a good time in the immediate aftermath of the murders.
Lyle and Erik, now aged 53 and 56, claimed they acted in self-defense. They said they were lifelong victims of sexual abuse at their hands of their father.
The duo, then just 18 and 21, killed their parents Jose and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menendez inside their million-dollar Beverly Hills home in August 1989
Chilling crime scene photos showing the blood-soaked couch where Jose Menendez was shot
More than a dozen Menendez relatives and defense lawyer Mark Geragos held a press conference in Los Angeles this month asking for a revised sentence.
‘If they were the Menendez sisters they would not be in custody,’ Geragos said of the treatment the brothers received in their trial.
The family argued that at the time of the brothers’ trial, the public did not understand sexual abuse of boys.
Kitty’s sister Joan Andersen VanderMolen said: ‘Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father.’
‘The truth is, Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who should have protected them—their parents, the system, and society at large.’
The family introduced a coalition called ‘Justice for Erik and Lyle’ and spoke of how the brothers have lived a life of purpose in their 35 years in prison – even though they did not expect to ever be freed.
But the family aren’t entirely united in their push for Erik and Lyle’s release.
Kathleen Cady, an attorney representing Kitty Menendez’ brother Milton Andersen, said ‘Mr Andersen is not in support of resentencing the Menendez brothers.’
Andersen believes the initial sentence – life in prison without parole – was a fair and just outcome for the crimes committed against his sister and her husband.
‘He believes that should remain, and he is certainly entitled to his opinion. He is entitled to have his concerns and thoughts considered, but he has been ignored by Gascón,’ Cady said.
Andersen has filed a brief with the court requesting the ‘right to reasonably confer’ with Gascón over matters involving his sister, and his nephews’ cases.
In an email sent to Gascón seen by DailyMail.com, the District Attorney was warned ‘any decision you make [must] not be political.
Cady wrote: ‘Mr Andersen… requests to confer with you immediately and hear your decision before you hold another press conference to announce your decision to the press and the genereal public.’
The filing implies that Gascón’s upcoming re-election campaign could be spurring his decision in the matter, in an effort to garner more public support.
But a petition calling for a resentence revealed the brothers have worked as hospice aides in prison helping sick inmates and have run Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
They’ve both also completed college courses, and have reference letters from correctional officers discussing their exemplary behavior behind bars.
One of those reference letters, written by Victor H. Cortes, read: ‘It is exceedingly rare to encounter an individual who, despite facing a life sentence without the possibility of parole, has dedicated himself to personal growth, the betterment of his fellow inmates, and overall stability of the prison environment.’
The two men were convicted of first-degree murder and were sentenced to life without parole in 1996 after a retrial
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .
