Joan VanderMolen, sister of victim Mary Louise Menendez, pleads for the release of her nephews.
Getty Images via AFP
Two aunts of the Menendez brothers, famous in the United States for having killed their wealthy parents in 1989, demanded their release from a judge on Monday, in this almost 35-year-old case, revived by a Netflix series.
Erik and Lyle Menendez, currently imprisoned under the minimum life sentence, “never knew, when the evening came, if they would be raped by their father” in the night, explained their aunt Joan VanderMolen. “It’s time for them to come home.”
The two brothers made headlines by killing their parents, José and Mary Louise Menendez, in their posh family home in Beverly Hills.
On Monday, many people lined up even before daybreak in front of the court to win the right to attend the hearing, where the 16 seats reserved for the public were the subject of a lottery.
“No child should experience what Erik and Lyle went through…and it breaks my heart that my sister knew and did nothing about it,” insisted Ms. VanderMolen, Mary Louise’s sister. “I wish they would come home,” added in tears their other aunt, Terry Baralt, sister of José Menendez, a Cuban immigrant who had made his fortune and ran a music label.
Erik and Lyle, now aged 53 and 56, were scheduled to speak via video conference. But technical problems prevented them from doing so.
The defense of the two brothers requests their release, in light of new elements which would render their conviction for murder void: a letter from the time when Erik spoke of the sexual assaults of his father to a cousin before the murder, as well as the testimony of ‘a former Latino boy band singer, who says he was drugged and raped by José Menendez in the 1980s.
New hearing in January
The judge continued the suspense on Monday, refusing to rule on this request. He set a new hearing for January 30 and 31. “We hope that at the end of this period or a little sooner, we will obtain the release of the Menendez brothers,” declared their lawyer Mark Geragos, leaving the court.
Outgoing Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon recently ruled in favor of a re-evaluation of their convictions and initiated proceedings that could lead to their parole.
But his newly elected successor, Nathan Hochman, is considered stricter and his recommendations will weigh heavily. The postponement until the end of January should in particular allow it to carry out its own re-examination of the case.
The defense also submitted a request for clemency for the two brothers to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Among the crowd present Monday, Nick Bonanno, a former high school classmate of Erik Menendez, hoped that American society would learn “lessons” from this affair. “When children talk to their cousins or friends about sexual violence, they need to know that it is okay to talk about it and ask for help,” he told AFP.
The two brothers “are hopeful,” said journalist Robert Rand, who wrote a book on the case and is in regular contact with them. “It could last six months, eight months, a year, but they will eventually come out,” he wants to believe.
(afp)
