Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Thursday that he will seek resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez for the murder of their parents in 1989. This decision paves the way for their potential release from prison after decades.
He said he would file paperwork Friday that recommends that life without the possibility of parole be removed in the brothers’ case and that the brothers are resentenced for murder. A Superior Court judge will make the ultimate decision.
Gascón said that because the men were younger than 26 when they killed their parents, they would be eligible for parole immediately if a judge follows his resentencing recommendation.
“There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their life, and they do not believe that they were molested,” Gascón said. “And there are people in the office that strongly believe that they should be released immediately and that there were in fact molested.”
He added, “I believe that they have paid their debt to society.”
Joseph “Lyle” Menendez and Erik Menendez fatally shot their parents, entertainment company executive José Menendez and Kitty Menendez, with shotguns in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 21 and 18 years old at the time.
