It’s only been two weeks since an announcement from the Los Angeles Country District Attorney gave supporters of Lyle and Erik Menendez fresh hope that the two, serving life sentences in prison, might finally be released. But the results of the recent election have cast a shadow on that future — while members of the Menendez family maintain that the brothers should be free men again.
“It’s time Erik and Lyle Menendez are released. For theirs and their family’s sake,” Bryan Freedman, an attorney for 24 family members of the Menendez brothers tells Rolling Stone in a statement. “These men have served their time and proven themselves to be exemplary citizens during their incarceration despite no hope of release. It’s time they and the family are allowed to heal.”
Lyle and Erik are best known for their involvement in the Aug. 20, 1989 death of their parents Jose Menendez and Mary Louise, better know as “Kitty.” The brothers were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in 1990. During their now-infamous court cases, which were broadcast live by CourtTV, Erik and Lyle claimed that they killed their parents because they were sexually assaulted by their father and feared for their lives. The jury was deadlocked, and after a retrial, Lyle and Erik were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, where they’ve spent the last 30 years. In late October, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón recommended that the brothers be resentenced due to new evidence. If this were to happen, they would join the ranks of over 300 people resentenced under Gascón’s time in office. But after Nathan Hochman won Tuesday’s election, replacing Gascón as the new district attorney, supporters of the Menendez brothers are concerned it could mean a delay in their release.
Hochman ran on a more conservative platform than Gascón, calling himself a “hard middle” candidate, compared to Gascón, whose tenure he called a “public safety failure.” In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Hochman, who takes office Dec. 2, says he will need time to review the entirety of Menendez’s files — which may take some time.
“Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers’ case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law,” he says. “I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials, and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and the victims’ family members. Only then can I make a decision. If for some reason I need additional time, I will ask the court for that time.”
Gascón’s decision to resentence revolved around a new writ of habeas corpus, a request to challenge a person’s imprisonment, filed by Lyle and Erik’s legal teams. Their attorneys argue that the brothers’ retrial, in which the prosecutors said Erik and Lyle’s sexual assault claims were a “total fabrication,” didn’t include crucial evidence that would have corroborated their claims. This excluded testimony from Lyle’s older cousin, Diane VanderMolen, who testified at the first trial that she stayed at the Menendez home for the summer when she was 16 and that one night, when Lyle was only eight , he came into her room and said he was afraid to sleep in his own room because his father was touching his genitals.
The petition also includes new evidence that wasn’t available at the time of Menendez’s retrial. After the convictions, journalist Robert Rand obtained a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, eight months before the shooting deaths, when he was 17. In the letter excerpted in the habeas petition, Erik described being abused by his father and how fearful he was. “It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now,” Erik wrote. “I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.… He’s warned me a 100 times about telling anyone.” In his 2023 Peacock docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, Rand also detailed new allegations from Roy Rossello, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Rossello claimed that José Menendez, a music executive, had sexually abused him, too. (Rossello’s allegations are also included in the filing.)
At least 24 relatives of the Menendez brothers have argued that the boys were only sentenced with first degree murder because the sexual assault of men wasn’t taken seriously at the time. Now, even with Hochman’s new role, they continue to hope the brothers will be resentenced.
“Childhood sexual abuse is not gender based, and a failure to recognize that sets an extremely dangerous precedent. Politics should not stand in the way of doing the right thing. I would find it hard to believe Nathan Hochman would feel differently,” Freedman adds. “The family of the victims and my firm will continue to exercise their victims rights and are cautiously optimistic that the DA, the DA elect, the Governor, and anyone committed to upholding true justice will join us.”