THE Menendez Brothers could be released by the end of 2024, after a district attorney recommended they be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents.
One person who has called for Lyle and Erik Menendez to be freed is their aunt and mom’s sister, Joan Anderson VanderMolen.
Lyle and Erik. were jailed for life without parole in 1996 for shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, dead in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
The siblings claimed to have killed their mom and dad after being subjected to years of abuse by their father.
Calls for the brothers to be freed were amplified when a new bombshell letter supposedly written in 1988 came to light after decades.
The letter, included in a filing to Los Angeles Superior Court in 20024, seemed to back up the brothers’ claims that they committed the murders in self-defense after years of abuse from their parents.
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but its worse for me now,” the handwritten letter, written by Erik, said in part.
“I never know when [the abuse] is going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking he might come in.”
Aunt calls for their release
On October 23, 2024, over 20 of the Menendez brothers’ relatives gathered to speak on their behalf alongside Defense Attorney Mark Geragos.
One of those people who called for their release was their aunt, Joan Anderson VanderMolen.
She is the sister of the siblings mom, Kitty Menendez.
Joan shared an emotional statement at the briefing, where she revealed she has struggled for years with the “nightmare” of her sister and brother-in-law’s murder.
Speaking though tears, she said: “Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father.
“The truth is that Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who were supposed to protect them.”
The brothers’ aunt went on to say that Lyle and Erik have already paid a “heavy price” and that they’ve become better men “despite everything that they’ve been through.”
Joan said her nephews deserved to be released from prison to live the rest of their lives and heal.
The recently released bombshell letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin[/caption]
Her son, and Lyle and Erik‘s cousin, Brian Anderson said the brothers are “survivors” who deserve a second chance.
“They are no longer a threat to society,” he added.
His sister, Karen Vandermullen, Kitty’s niece, said that the abuse “trapped” her cousins Erik and Kyle.
“I forgive my cousins. I know they were acting out of fear and desperation,” she said.
Kitty and Jose Menendez, seated center, with their two sons Lyle, left, and Eric, right[/caption]
Possibility of parole
On October 24, 2024, the Menendez brothers were given fresh hope they could be freed from prison.
It came after the Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced that he would ask a judge to consider resentencing the siblings.
At the time of the murders they were Lyle and Erik were 21, and 18, they are now 56 and 55, respectively.
The DA said in a statement, “I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate.”
He said he would recommend that a judge remove the life without the possibility of parole, and instead resentence them to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole.
But he added: “However, because of their age under the law, since they were under 26 years of age at the time that this crime occurred, they will be eligible for parole immediately.”
This means the two men could be released within 30 to 45 days of this initial hearing.
A Los Angeles court is expected to hear the case on November 26, 2024.
Timeline of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez have been serving a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole since July 1996.
The brothers were being convicted of shooting their parents to death in their Beverly Hills home in August 1989.
Timeline:
August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are found dead from multiple shotgun wounds.
March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested outside his parents’ Beverly Hills mansion.
March 11, 1990 – Erik turns himself into police after flying back into Los Angeles from Israel.
July 20, 1993 – The highly publicized trial of Lyle and Erik begins and ends weeks later in a mistrial.
October 11, 1995 – Lyle and Erik’s second trial begins.
March 20, 1996 – The Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
July 2, 1996 – Lyle and Erik are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons.
February 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison, where Erik is held.
April 4, 2018 – Lyle was moved into the same housing unit as Erik – the first time the brothers were reunited in over 20 years.
May 2023 – The attorney representing Lyle and Erik files a habeas petition after Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez.
September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story releases on Netflix.
October 3, 2024: Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said his office was reviewing new evidence in connection with Lyle and Erik’s convictions.
October 7, 2024 – The Menendez Brothers documentary film comes out on Netflix.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
