Lyle and Erik Menendez have a chance at freedom after being convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle, 56, were 18 and 21, respectively when they killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Netflix is set to release a documentary on the case, titled “The Menendez Brothers.” The documentary will begin streaming on October 7.
Los Angeles County prosecutors are reviewing new evidence uncovered in the documentary. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said his office will make a decision on whether to release the brothers or re-sentence them. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for November 29.
After their first trial ended in a hung jury, Erik and Lyle were convicted at a second trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Both brothers claimed they acted in self-defense. They said they were sexually and physically abused by their parents for years. According to Lyle, he was just 6 years old when the abuse started.
The local D.A. will take new evidence of abuse into consideration.
That is good news to influencer Kim Kardashian who wrote an essay for NBC News calling for the brothers to be freed.
“Some witnesses from the first trial were barred from testifying about the alleged abuse, depriving the jurors of crucial evidence,” Kardashian wrote. “The prosecutor, having successfully argued to exclude the abuse testimony, mocked the brothers’ defense during his closing arguments for not producing any evidence of abuse.
“Erik and Lyle had no chance of a fair trial against this backdrop. Back then, there were limited resources for victims of sexual abuse, particularly for boys,” she added.
Kardashian continued: “I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men. In prison, they both have exemplary disciplinary records… The killings are not excusable. I want to make that clear. Nor is their behavior before, during or after the crime. But we should not deny who they are today in their 50s.”
She concluded: “With their case back in the spotlight — and considering the revelation of a 1988 letter from Erik to his cousin describing the abuse — my hope is that Erik and Lyle Menendez’s life sentences are reconsidered. We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped or saved.”
