The Menendez brothers fought for freedom for decades. Why they suddenly have a chance

The Menendez brothers have waged a decades-long fight for freedom since they were convicted in 1996 of the high-profile murders of their parents in the family's Beverly Hills home.

For years they made little progress.

But a series of events over the past year have brought them closer to their goal after spending 34 years behind bars.

There is no doubt that they killed their parents. However, they have long maintained that the outcome of the case would have been different if the jury had heard evidence that they were sexually abused by their father.

Well, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón says he will investigate new evidence related to the harassment allegations.

The trial could pave the way for the brothers to be retried, resentenced to a lesser prison sentence or released from prison. Gascón said he has not yet made a final decision.

Why now?

The case has received intense focus in recent years.

• In a documentary, a former member of the boy band Menudo said the Menendezes' father molested him.
• The brothers' lawyers filed petitions citing new evidence related to the harassment allegations.
• Family members have rallied to seek her release.
• A new hit Netflix miniseries has brought more attention to the case.
• Some have argued that times have changed and that the brothers' abuse allegations may have been received differently in the trial today.
• Kim Kardashian, a celebrity who has also advocated for prison reform, called on officials to release her. “We owe it to the little boys who lost their childhood and who never had the chance to be heard, helped or saved,” she wrote in an article for NBC News.

The Menendez brothers in 2016.

(AP)

What do we know about the killing?

In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez bought a pair of shotguns for cash, went into their Beverly Hills home and shot their parents while they were watching a movie in the family living room. Prosecutors said Jose Menendez was hit five times, including in the back of the head, and Kitty Menendez crawled on the ground, wounded, before the brothers reloaded and fired a final fatal shot.

It was a sensational murder case that captivated the nation.

Initially, the police assumed that the murders were a mafia attack because of the gruesome scene in the house. Erik and Lyle Menendez were eventually charged with murder after Erik, then 18, confessed the murders to his therapist in March 1990.

Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez in Beverly Hills Municipal Court in 1990.

(Nick Ut/Associated Press)

What happened in court?

Prosecutors argued that the brothers' motivation in the murders was simple: they wanted to gain access to their parents' multimillion-dollar estate. But the brothers' defense attorneys countered that the shootings followed years of violent sexual abuse by their father and justified the killings as a form of self-defense.

The first trial ended with two hung jurors. In the second case, allegations of abuse and supporting testimony were limited, and Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder in March 1996.

After their conviction, the brothers launched unsuccessful appeals.

How about this new look?

More recently, lawyers and advocates have urged the court to reconsider the case because of new sexual assault allegations that they say confirm a history of abuse against the brothers.

A recently discovered letter that attorneys say was written by Erik Menendez suggests that his father's sexual abuse continued into his late teens.

And new allegations from a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo suggest that Lyle and Erik Menendez were not the only alleged victims of abuse. Roy Rosselló, who made the allegations in the Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” said he was raped by Jose Menendez in the 1980s when he was 13 or 14 years old.

A Petition submitted on behalf of the brothers The Los Angeles County Superior Court argued in May that the new evidence directly challenges prosecutors' arguments at trial: that the murders were about money and that Jose Menendez was not the “type of man to abuse his sons.” “. They want the convictions overturned or a new evidentiary hearing scheduled.

Cooper Koch (left) and Nicholas Chavez in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

(Netflix)

Why is the prosecutor's office opening a new investigation?

Gascón said there was no doubt that the brothers committed the murders; The question was whether the jury heard evidence that her father molested her. Evidence of sexual abuse was presented during the brothers' first trial, which ended with a hung jury, while evidence of sexual abuse was largely withheld in the second trial, in which they were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

“We are not ready to say at this point that we believe or disbelieve this information,” Gascón said. “But we are here to tell you that we have a moral and ethical obligation to consider what is presented to us and make a decision.”

Gascón said he has not yet made a decision on the new evidence and that the attempt to review the case has nothing to do with the recent Netflix series “Monsters” about the Menendez case.

What's next?

Gascón did not say how long the review would take. Depending on officials' decision, the brothers could receive shorter sentences.

Cliff Gardner, one of the lawyers who represented the brothers, said prosecutors had asked the court several times since the lawsuit was filed last year to postpone the hearing date to review the case.

“They're obviously looking at it closely, which is great,” he said. “This encourages me because I think anyone who looks at this evidence will come away with the understanding that these boys were abused as children.”