Two Los Angeles brothers convicted of executing their parents in gangster-style fashion and then dispersing their fortunes could soon be freed if they win a petition to reduce their sentences in the mass murder cases.
Joseph Menendez, known by his middle name Lyle, and his brother Eric broke into their parents’ Beverly Hills home in 1989 and shot them to death with a shotgun.
The women had accused their father, Jose Menendez, of sexual and physical abuse, and they fired so many bullets that one of them had to get an extra one from his car and return to deliver them. The deciding factor to his mother, Mary “Kitty” Menendez;
Lyle Menendez, who killed his parents with a shotgun along with his brother, plans life after prison in new appeal
An undated photo of the Menendez family is shown on a screen during a panel at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 2, 2024. Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of shooting and killing their parents in 1989. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
The brothers claim they feared their father would kill them after they warned them that they would expose his abnormal behavior. After their parents were murdered, the brothers began spending lavishly on luxury items and investments, but investigators zeroed in on the brothers after Eric confessed to a therapist.
The two were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole, but recently appealed, seeking reduced sentences under a new California law that gives district attorneys the power to make resentencing recommendations.
And they have more than 20 family members who signed a letter asking the judge to resentence them.
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Archival photos show Lyle and Erik Menendez wearing prison uniforms during their murder trial in Los Angeles. (Ted Sokki/Sigma via Getty Images)
The brothers’ lawyers argue that they should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, which would likely have meant they would have been released from prison already.
With the help of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, they may soon be eligible for parole, say current and former employees of the DA’s office who are speaking out for their own interests.
Gascón’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the Menendez brothers’ case or the hiring of a former public defender as a prosecutor.
During Gascón’s controversial tenure as county district attorney, many members of his office have opposed policies they call pro-criminal, some of which they claim are illegal, in roughly two dozen whistleblower retaliation lawsuits filed against Los Angeles County.
New letter threatens Menendez family murder conviction as abuse claims bolster brothers’ defense
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón spoke at a press conference at the Judicial Building in Los Angeles on June 21, 2022. (Keith Birmingham/Media News Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
The district attorney has been a vocal critic of both the death penalty and life imprisonment, but he has reversed his policy of not seeking life sentences in certain circumstances, including for cop killers, serial killers and those motivated by money.
But he also hired a former public defender to argue on behalf of the state during resentencing hearings, and his office even replaced a career prosecutor who blew the whistle on his resentencing policies with a longtime public defender, according to the retaliation lawsuit.
“Within 24 hours of speaking up, I was retaliated against and directed to handle misdemeanor cases after more than 20 years as a prosecutor,” said Mindy Page, who later left the district attorney’s office and is filing a retaliation lawsuit. “After I was retaliated against, I was actually replaced with a public defender.”
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If there are ideological motivations behind her replacement, lawyers on both sides could end up “arguing the same thing,” she said.
In this 1992 photo, double murder defendants Eric (right) and Lyle Menendez appear in a Los Angeles courtroom. (Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images)
“There’s no one to advocate for the public defenders, the ‘district attorneys’ who used to be public defenders, and the victims in these cases,” she said.
In another case, a longtime aide who served as a public defender in Gascón’s office referred to himself as “the defense attorney,” according to a hearing transcript viewed by Fox News Digital.
“This is one of the most shocking things I’ve ever seen,” said John Colello, another assistant district attorney in the courtroom. Colello, speaking for himself, said some of the former public defenders who handled these cases were “assistant district attorneys in name only.”
Watch “Menendez Brothers: Victim or Villain” on FOX NATION
The photo shows a letter that Erik Menendez allegedly wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, eight months before the Menendez brothers, Jose and Kitty, were murdered, in which he describes his father’s abuse. The brothers’ lawyers argue the letter is evidence that their convictions should be overturned. (California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles)
“Taxpayers are footing the bill for these things. They’re paying the salaries of so-called prosecutors, who are actually lawyers, who go to court to get violent criminals released early from prison,” he said. “It’s shocking.”
Dan Kuperberg, a former lawyer turned prosecutor, had argued for a reduced sentence for Steven Cole, 73, who was convicted of murder.
Cole was sentenced to death for the brutal murder of Mary Ann Mahoney in 1988. He poured gasoline on her in her bed and set her on fire. California does not carry out executions on death row, but Gascón’s office sought to commute his sentence to life in prison.
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At his trial, Cole showed no remorse and testified that he told Mahoney to “burn in hell you little bitch” and watched her run away in flames.
She suffered for 11 days, then died. Four years later, he told a jury he still hated her.
The judge noted that some of Cole’s family members support the death penalty and that he had a history of domestic violence prior to the murders.
“The facts of this case are quite barbaric,” the judge said.
Colello said the defendant denied the request for resentencing and that denial was upheld on appeal.
There are several ways in which an inmate can be released after receiving a reduction in their sentence.
In cases like Cole’s, commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment could be a step toward further reductions in the future.
“The first step would be to try to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment,” Colello said, using the acronym for life imprisonment. “The next step would be to try to change the life sentence to an indefinite sentence, say from 58 years to life imprisonment, so he can go on TV and say he still has a long sentence left.”
Erik Menendez, left, and his brother Lyle, stand in front of their Beverly Hills home in an undated photo. (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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But California laws on compassionate release, geriatric parole and similar rules mean that inmates may be immediately eligible for parole, even if their sentences appear severe on paper.
“When you change from a life sentence to another sentence, all the other mechanisms come into play,” he said. “For example, we have geriatric parole. If you’ve served 20 years and you’re now over 50, you’re eligible for parole. If you’re a youthful offender, under 26 at the time of the crime, you’re eligible for parole after a maximum of 25 years of your sentence.”
Those on death row or serving life sentences are not eligible for pardons on medical grounds, but those serving sentences between 100 years and life are eligible, he said.
Lyle (left) is now 56, and Eric (right) is now 53, according to California prison records. (California Department of Corrections)
The Menendez brothers are now in their 50s, but were 21 and 18 years old at the time of the murders.
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The brothers are not the only ones to accuse their father of abuse.
Roy Rocero, a former member of the boy band Menudo, said last year that Jose Menendez, then an executive at RCA Records, He was abused. Early 1980s.
Fox News’ Christina Coulter and Laura Caglione contributed to this report.
