By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-30 16:42:21 | Updated at 2024-10-31 03:32:50
10 hours ago
The family of the Menendez brothers want the pair to be released from prison immediately without going through the parole process, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, have been locked up for nearly 35 years since they were arrested over the 1989 murders of their parents Jose and Kitty at their Beverly Hills home.
Now they have been thrown a lifeline after the Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascon, revealed last week that he recommended the pair be resentenced and given the chance of parole – vowing to have them home in time for Thanksgiving.
The family members of the Menendez brothers want the parole process to be entirely voided so they can reunite with their aging family members who have supported them throughout their incarceration
Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, have been locked up since March 1990 when they were arrested over the shotgun murders of their parents Jose and Kitty at their Beverly Hills home the previous August
Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascon, announced last week in a press conference that he was recommending the brothers for resentencing – vowing to get them home in time for Thanksgiving
But even if the resentencing is agreed to by a judge, the parole process could take as long as a year – and any decision in favor of release could still be vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Now sources close to the Menendez family have told DailyMail.com they would like to see that process waived so the brothers can be released immediately – pointing to the fact that many of their surviving relatives are aging, among them their aunt and long-standing supporter Joan Andersen VanderMolen who is now 92.
Another aunt, Terry Baralt, 85, whose brother was their father Jose, is currently battling stage three colorectal cancer and is enduring chemotherapy treatment.
The source said: ‘For over 35 years, and as victims themselves, the families of Eric and Lyle have fought for their release.
‘Now decades later, with the health of the older members declining, they pray they have a chance to reunite in the real world one last time.’
The insider added: ‘When Eric and Lyle were sentenced, so too was the family, beginning a decades-long journey of heartbreak, pain and uncertainty.
‘It is time for all of their suffering to end before it is too late.’
The brothers' family, including cousin Diane Hernandez (left) and aunt Joan Andersen VanderMolen want the brothers released so they can spend time with aging relatives
Both admitted to the gruesome killings but said they snapped after enduring years of sexual abuse at Jose’s hands and did it in self-defense
The case to get the brothers released has gained new momentum thanks to the Netflix docuseries Monsters starring Nicholas Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik
The Menendez brothers are currently locked up at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where both are serving life without parole for the brutal shotgun slayings of their parents.
Both admitted to the gruesome killings but said they snapped after enduring years of sexual abuse at Jose’s hands and did it in self-defense.
That argument fell flat at their 1993 trial with prosecutors successfully arguing that the murders were carried out for financial gain after the brothers went on a $700,000 spending spree in the weeks after their parents’ murder.
As a result, they were both handed life without parole and sent to separate prisons – although they were eventually reunited at the San Diego lock-up in 2018.
Since then, new evidence has come to light in the form of a letter written by Lyle to a cousin detailing the abuse at the time – something that factored in Gascon’s decision.
Their case was bolstered further by testimony from former boy band singer Roy Rosselló who came forward last year to say he was raped by Jose during a visit to the family home when he was just 14.
Gascon was persuaded by evidence such as the testimony from former boy band singer Roy Rosselló, who said he was raped by Jose during a visit to the family home when he was 14
A letter written by Lyle before the murders to a cousin detailing the abuse from his father Jose also boosted the brother's credibility
Both brothers got married while in prison. Lyle married defense attorney Rebecca Sneed in 2003 – having been previously married to model Anna Eriksson for five years.
Last week, Gascon said: ‘I believe that they have paid their debt to society, and I do believe the brothers were subjected to a tremendous amount of dysfunction in the home and molestation.’
The brothers’ case has repeatedly hit the headlines since their 1993 trial, most recently following the release of smash hit Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The blockbuster show powered a new round of stories about the brothers and also saw them visited in prison by Kim Kardashian, who is a long-standing advocate for the incarcerated and prison reform.
