Los Angeles prosecutor recommends resentencing Menendez brothers for 1989 murders, making them parole eligible | EUROtoday

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Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Thursday known as for the resentencing of brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who’re serving life in jail with out the opportunity of parole for the high-profile 1989 murders of their mother and father in Beverly Hills.

“I came to a place where I believe that under the law, resentencing is appropriate,” the prosecutor mentioned. “I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow.”

The official mentioned he would ask for a sentence of fifty years to life. Under the regulation, on condition that the brothers had been underneath age 26 on the time of the crimes, they’d be instantly eligible for youthful parole, Gascón mentioned. A courtroom might want to approve the resentencing suggestion earlier than it’s remaining.

The brothers had been 18 and 21 once they killed their mother and father Kitty Menendez and José Menendez, a distinguished leisure govt.

The brothers initially argued they need to be tried for manslaughter, claiming they killed their mother and father after a lifetime of sexual abuse from their father, who they mentioned threatened to kill them to maintain them quiet.

Family members celebrated the choice to hunt resentencing, calling it a “brave and compassionate step.”

“This decision is not just a legal matter,” cousin Joan Andersen VanderMolen mentioned on Thursday on the press convention. “It is a recognition of the abuse my cousins endured.”

The district lawyer mentioned his workplace was not in “universal agreement” concerning the resentencing determination, which took in consideration new proof within the case, together with a letter Erik wrote to a cousin concerning the alleged sexual abuse earlier than the killing, and a member of the boy band Menudo claiming he too was abused by José.

The district lawyer mentioned Thursday the choice was not influenced by politics, and may underscore each the necessity to hear victims of abuse and punish these accused of homicide.

“I want to underline, they were horrible acts,” Gascón mentioned on the press convention. “There is no excuse for murder, and I will never imply that what we’re doing here is to excuse that behavior. Even if you get abused, the right path is to call the police, seek help. I understand also how people get desperate.”

Prosecutors initially argued the younger males killed their mother and father in pursuit of their multi-million greenback property. In the seven months between the killings and their arrest, the brothers spent lavishly, shopping for a Porsche sports activities automotive, $40,000 price of garments and a $15,000 Rolex watch.

After the primary trial resulted in a hung jury, the Menendez brothers had been each convicted of homicide and sentenced to life with out parole in 1996.

Family members and celebrities have known as for the discharge of the brothers, who they argue would’ve been handled otherwise in in the present day’s judicial system because of a extra sturdy consideration of sexual abuse claims.

In an October 3 essay, Kim Kardashian argued that the brothers’ abuse allegations weren’t pretty heard in courtroom, and that the broader tradition didn’t take their claims critically sufficient.

“The trial and punishment these brothers received were more befitting a serial killer than two individuals who endured years of sexual abuse by the very people they loved and trusted,” Kardashian wrote.

Interest within the case has surged additional in latest months, thanks to 2 Netflix applications, a documentary and a fictionalized model of the story, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storyin addition to the re-release of an replace in-depth e book on the killings.

A 2023 docuseries on Peacock added additional shades of gray to the case.

In Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band sensation Menudo, claimed he was drugged and raped by José Menendez when he was an adolescent.

The Menendez brothers is not going to seem in courtroom tomorrow when the district lawyer’s workplace asks for the resentencing, Gascón mentioned.

Mark Geragos, an lawyer for the Menendez brothers, informed NBC Los Angeles he hopes he can get the brothers launched earlier than the top of the 12 months.