Los Angeles' top cop said his office had reached a decision on whether to seek a reduced sentence for the Menendez brothers.
In 1989, Eric “Lyle” Menendez ambushed his parents with a shotgun in the living room of their Beverly Hills mansion.
Their first trial ended in a miscarriage of justice. Both were convicted in the second trial and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
But under California's new law, district attorneys have the power to request new sentences handed down before they took office.
A letter central to the Menendez brothers' freedom movement comes under question
Eric Menendez (C) and his brother Lyle (L) photographed in Beverly Hills on August 12, 1991. (Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier this year, the brothers and their supporters, including 20 of their relatives, argued that new evidence showed the brothers had been sexually abused and molested by their father, and Los Angeles District Attorney George・A petition was filed for Mr. Gascón to be re-sentenced.
The new evidence includes allegations made public last year that their father also molested Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, in the 1980s, and allegations that surfaced in 2015 that their father sexually abused Roy Rosselló, a former member of boy band Menudo. Contains a letter that he wrote to his cousin Andy Cano. After the death of the latter.
Eric Menendez (left) and Lyle Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents and are serving life sentences. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, via Associated Press)
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The date of the letter has been disputed by critics as to the possibility of the brothers' release. The defense said he sent a letter to his cousin eight months before the murder.
Gascón is up for re-election in two weeks and faces a strong challenge from independent candidate Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor. Critics say his involvement in the high-profile case is politically motivated. But there is also public support for the brothers' release after a series of recent documentaries, including on FOX Nation, drew attention to their case.
Watch FOX NATION: MENENDES BROTHERS: Victims or Villains?
The brothers unloaded shotguns at their father, former RCA Records executive Jose Menendez, and their mother, Mary “Kitty” Menendez, at 10:30 p.m. as the couple watched television.
They ran out of shells and had to go out and get more to finish off the mother, but investigators say they found blood on the soles of the mother's shoes after the shooting began. It is clear that he was trying to run away.
An undated photo of the Menendez family is shown on screen during a panel discussion at CrimeCon 2024 on Sunday, June 2, in Nashville, Tennessee. Brothers Lyle and Eric were convicted of shooting their parents to death in 1989. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
Not all of the brothers' families support their release.
Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Andersen, strongly opposed the reduced sentence and on Wednesday asked the judge overseeing the case to keep his nephews in prison for life as originally sentenced.
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“Milton Andersen continues to believe that the sexual abuse allegations were fabricated and that they were false, and that the jury returned the correct verdict and handed down the correct sentence,” attorney Kathleen said.・Caddy told FOX News Digital.
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