The Menendez Brothers: Who They Are and Why They’re Back in the Spotlight
Once again news surfaced about Erik and Lyle Menendez, who slaughtered their parents in 1989. Three-and-a-half decades after their parents were found slain, shot dead in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion, new evidence has surfaced that might reopen the door to a resentencing for two brothers serving life without the possibility of parole.
The Story Behind The Menendez Brothers: A Case Of Murder
Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in August 1989 of the murders of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in the family living room. Initially, the brothers said that their parents were killed in a home invasion. But their contradictory stories and extravagant spending in the days after the murders quickly caught the attention of investigators.
In the end, however, Erik copped to the murders during a therapy session and they were arrested in 1990. Confronted at their trial, the brothers confessed to carrying out the murders but insisted that they committed them in self-defense due to years of physical, mental and sexual abuse by their father José. They also claimed that their mother, Kitty, had been abusive and did not protect them.
The Two Trials and Sentencing
The case was tried twice. That trial was declared a mistrial after some jurors believed the brothers’ allegations of abuse. But during a second trial, the brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Brothers Lyle and Erik murdered their own parents for the inheritance, prosecuted contended successfully that the murders were not at all an act of desire to escape abuse. The jury sided with the brothers despite what the defense had claimed.
Updated Evidence and Prospects of Resentencing
Now, more than thirty years since the Menendez brothers killed their parents, the Los Angeles County District Attorney is taking another look at the case, thanks in part to new revelation that includes a handwritten letter from Erik Menendez before he murdered his parents. The letter outlines the sexual abuse he reportedly suffered at the hands of his own father. That — coupled with evolving perspectives on sexual abuse and trauma in society at large — could factor into how the brothers’ sentences are reconsidered.
Mark Geragos, the lawyer who has represented the Menendez brothers, maintains that if their case was tried today, they might have been convicted of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder given a better understanding of trauma and abuse at this point.
The Return to the Spotlight
Their path to celebrity ratcheting back up as Netflix unveiled “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” the latest in a series of true-crime dramas popularised by the streaming service. Although the series explores the notorious case, Erik Menendez argued that the show has painted an overly negative picture of their crime and has been ” really a painful experience” to relive. He has also expressed anger over the first trial, saying that societal prejudices against male victims of sexual assault played a role in the verdict.
Reality TV personality and prison reform activist Kim Kardashian also came forward in favour of Menendez Brothers. In an opinion essay for NBC News, she wrote of the case coverage, “It all served to make my older boys appear like arrogant, rich kids from Beverly Hills who decided to kill in exchange for money and never even considered that they were abused.”
Model Citizens and the Prospects for the Future
The Menendez brothers have taken responsibility for their actions and have acted appropriately throughout their lives. Lyle Menendez, for instance, has completed enough courses to earn a sociology degree from the University of California, Irvine through a prison education program. Any reconsideration of the brothers’ sentences could, of course, re-open this long-running legal saga as the new evidence is considered.
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