OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:42 PM – Thursday, October 17, 2024
Family members of Lyle and Erik Menendez gathered on Wednesday, issuing their wishes for the two brothers to be resentenced after being given life sentences behind bars for murdering their parents and stealing their money in the 1990s.
Lyle, now 56, and Eric, 53, have been in prison for over three decades for the murder of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, which occurred in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
Their legal defense at the time argued that the murders were out of self defense, as the boys had suffered years of rape and other sexual abuse by their father. After informing their mother about the abuse, she allegedly scoffed and expressed apathy towards the information, which further fueled the brothers’ anger and frustration.
After the first trial ended in a mistrial, the second trial picked back up in 1996. However, the judge threw out the sexual abuse evidence, prompting the brothers to be convicted of first-degree murder and forcing them to serve life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The two brothers “were failed by the very people who should have protected them – by their parents, by the system, by society at large,” stated Kitty’s sister, Joan Anderson VanderMolen, on Wednesday.
“Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father,” she continued. “As their aunt, I had no idea of the extent of the abuse they suffered.”
“The world was not ready to believe boys could be raped. … Today, we know better. We know that abuse has long-lasting effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand,” she added, referencing the original trial. “They have grown, they have changed, and they have become better men despite everything that they’ve been through. It’s time to give them the opportunity to live the rest of their lives free from the shadow of their past.”
José Menendez’s niece, Anamaria Baralt, stated that she hoped the family’s “34-year nightmare will end,” adding that “Lyle and Eric deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them.”
Kitty Menendez’s nephew, Brian A Anderson Jr., also said a few words, urging that the Menendez brothers “tried to protect themselves the only way they knew how,” and are “no longer a threat to society.”
Within the original trials, prosecutors argued that the murders were due to greed, as the family was well off from their patriarch’s successful career as an executive in the entertainment industry.
Attorneys representing the brothers argued that newly presented evidence of a letter written by Erik Menendez corroborates the sexual abuse allegations.
“This shouldn’t happen again, and this needs to stop now … what needs to happen is the consideration of second chances, the consideration of the abuse and changing what we know in our society to be wrong,” stated Bryan Freedman, the family’s attorney.
Los Angeles district attorney George Gascón recently stated that his office would re-review the case and come to a decision regarding a possible resentencing.
Although Erik Menendez admits that he would enjoy having his freedom, he has expressed that he does not want to downplay the murders, stating, “It is important that we remember that two people are no longer alive and families have been devastated by this tragedy, and that I am at the center of it. I am the one responsible. I don’t want that to be diminished or minimized in any way by people that support me and believe in me.”
The brothers are set to appear in court for a hearing regarding their potential release on November 29th.
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