Relatives of the Menendez brothers requested their release on Wednesday, with American justice examining new evidence at a time when this parricide case that hit the headlines in the 1990s resurfaced with a Netflix series.
The 1989 murder of José and Mary Louise Menendez in their Beverly Hills home was the subject of a media frenzy, with the trial of the two sons Lyle and Erik having been broadcast on television.
The Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” recently reignited interest in this case. The streaming giant is also dedicating a new documentary film to him.
Aged 18 and 21 at the time of the events, the two brothers tearfully testified that they had killed their parents after suffering years of sexual abuse from their father.
They were convicted of murder and have been serving life sentences without parole since their convictions in 1996.
“As the details of the abuse suffered by Lyle and Erik were revealed, it became clear that their act, although tragic, was the desperate response of two boys trying to survive their father’s unspeakable cruelty “, their aunt Joan VanderMolen, 92, said Wednesday.
“Lyle and Erik have already paid the price, rejected by a system that failed to recognize their pain,” she declared during a press conference attended by around thirty relatives.
Prosecutors had accused them of murdering their parents in order to inherit their $14 million fortune.
Their original trial, which began in 1993, was one of the first televised murder cases to make daily headlines. Due to a procedural flaw, the two brothers were found guilty in a second trial.
Last year, the brothers’ lawyers filed a motion presenting new evidence they say demonstrates sexual abuse by Jose Menendez, including a letter written by Erik to a cousin.
A hearing is scheduled to be held on November 29.
