By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-10 20:36:29 | Updated at 2025-03-11 00:28:38
3 hours ago
The district attorney of Los Angeles County said on Monday that he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters his decision hinged on whether the brothers’ had exhibited “insight and complete responsibility” into lies told during their trial, including their original claim that they did not kill their parents.
He said their repeated argument that they killed their parents in self-defence does not match the facts of the case that showed premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it look like a gang hit.
“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.
Hochman compared the Menendez case to that of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed US Senator Robert F Kennedy in 1968. He noted that, like the Menendez brothers, Sirhan had many letters of support and was determined to be a low-risk inmate. However, California Governor Gavin Newsom blocked his parole in 2022, saying he still poses an unreasonable threat to the public.
Hochman called it an “instructive case” because the Menendez brothers also “fell short” of taking full responsibility for their crimes.
The county’s top prosecutor said he would support resentencing in the future if the brothers “finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DA’s office, with their own family members and acknowledge all these lies”.
