By Chelsea Bailey and Amanda Musa, CNN
Erik Menendez, left, and his brother Lyle listen during a pre-trial hearing on 29 December 1992. Photo: AFP / VINCE BUCCI
As the Los Angeles County district attorney weighs new evidence that could see Lyle and Erik Menendez released from prison after more than 30 years, nearly two dozen of their relatives are expected to speak on their behalf at a news conference.
In 1996, the Menendez brothers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home.
Although they have never denied killing their parents, both men maintained during their trial that they acted in self-defence and suffered years of physical and sexual abuse from their father.
Attorneys for the brothers have also argued that the judge overseeing the 1996 case did not allow much of the defence's evidence of abuse to be presented to the jury.
In 2023, attorneys representing the Menendez brothers filed a petition that argued they should be granted relief from their prison sentences based on new allegations that speak to Jose Menendez's alleged pattern of sexual abuse, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin that alludes to abuse he endured.
And they could soon get that chance, as Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón weighs re-sentencing the brothers based on evidence filed in the 2023 petition. He announced earlier this month there is no question the brothers committed the murders, but that his office is reviewing the evidence.
In an interview with ABC that aired on Wednesday (local time), Erik and Lyle's cousin, Karen Vander MolenCopley, said she remembers noticing the boys' demeanor change over the years.
"You could see when they were younger that there were these two lively young children, young boys who just became sadder and sadder through the years," MolenCopley said.
Erik Menendez, right, and brother Lyle listen to court proceedings during a 17 May 1991 appearance. Photo: Reuters: Lee Celano
After more than 30 years in prison, MolenCopley, who is among those set to be at the news conference, said she now feels Lyle and Erik should be released and allowed to come home and be with their family.
"That would be the best birthday present to give to my mother … would be to have her nephews home with her on her birthday at Thanksgiving."
But an attorney for Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Andersen, accused Gascón on Wednesday of betraying victims and their loved ones.
"The Menendez brothers' cold-blooded actions shattered their family and left a trail of grief that has persisted for decades. Jose was shot six times, and Kitty was shot 10 times, including a shot to her face after Erik reloaded," the attorney, Kathy Cady, a retired prosecutor, said in a statement.
Andersen was never informed that Gascón had reassigned the case, nor was he told about a news conference in which the district attorney announced a second look at it, according to Cady, who said the prosecutor has not responded to her requests for a meeting.
"Mr Andersen, like all victims' families, has a Constitutional right to be informed, to have his voice heard, and to have his opinions considered in any decision about the case," Cady said.
CNN has reached out to Gascón for comment.
On Sunday, Gascón posted an image on social media of the handwritten, undated letter the Menendez attorneys submitted as a part of their petition.
In the letter, Erik Menendez wrote, "I've been trying to avoid dad. Its still happening Andy but its worse for me now".
He continued, "I never know when its going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind.
"I know what you said before but I'm afraid. You just don't know dad like I do. Hes crazy!"
The image of the letter, which is in the public record, has since been deleted from Gascón's social media accounts - but the district attorney addressed the potential significance of it in an interview with ABC that aired Wednesday.
The letter "is all about the abuse which was the cornerstone of their defense," Gascón said. He told ABC his office is expected to make a decision on the Menendez brothers' sentence sometime this month.
The case has reemerged following last month's release of the Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Netflix also this month released a documentary on the Menendez case featuring both men discussing what led to the murders.
Former Los Angeles County prosecutor Loni Coombs told CNN's Jim Acosta on Wednesday that Gascón has said publicly the documentary has generated a lot of phone calls to his office about new evidence in the case.
"That new evidence motion had been sitting on his desk for over a year, but it wasn't until all the attention and the spotlight came from this documentary that he now steps out and says, 'I'm going to look at this,'" she said.
Society has changed the way it views sexual abuse against boys, she said.
"We understand it better. We understand the dynamics of it, that sometimes it takes years for the victims to be able to talk about the trauma," she added.
Coombs described the timing of the district attorney's decision to review the case as "a perfect storm," noting Gascón has already resentenced 300 people in the county in the past year.
CNN's Ray Sanchez contributed to this story.
- CNN