Erik and Lyle Menendez have been resentenced to 50 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the 1989 murder of their parents.
The ruling means the brothers could one day walk free from prison – nearly three decades after they were sentenced to life without parole for the killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez at their Beverly Hills home.
Erik and Lyle have admitted to the murders but argued the killings were self-defense after enduring years of their father’s abuse. Their defense has been supported by several family members who’ve taken the stand to plead for their release.
Now, the California state parole board must decide whether to grant the brothers’ parole. Two hearings are scheduled for August 21 and 22 as part of a separate bid for freedom by the brothers.
Here’s a look at a timeline of the decades-long case.
August 1989: Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records, and his wife Kitty Menendez, are shot and killed by shotgun blasts in their Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle calls 911 and says, “Someone killed my parents.”
March 1990: Lyle is arrested by police and Erik turns himself in days later after they confess to their therapist. They are accused of first-degree murder.
July 1993: The Menendez brothers go on trial in a Los Angeles courtroom, each with a separate jury, in a trial televised on Court TV. Prosecutors argue they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ defenses admit they killed their parents but argue they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional, psychological and sexual abuse by their father.
January 1994: Both juries deadlock and cannot come to a verdict.
October 1995: A retrial of the brothers begins, with one jury. This time around, much of the defense evidence about sexual abuse is excluded, according to defense attorneys.
March 1996: The jury convicts both brothers of first-degree murder.
July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
May 2023: In the Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” a former member of the boy band Menudo says in an affidavit that he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was about 14.
Attorneys for the Menendez brothers file a habeas petition asking the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new evidence from the Menudo band member and from a letter Erik wrote about the abuse prior to the killings. The attorneys ask the court to either vacate the brothers’ conviction and sentence or permit discovery and an evidentiary hearing in which they can provide proof, the document says.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office says it is reviewing the petition.
September 2024: Netflix releases the crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a nine-episode series co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan about the killings.
“(The show) is really more interested in talking about how monsters are made as opposed to born,” Murphy says during a panel discussion at an early screening of the show’s first episode, according to Netflix. “We try to not have too much judgment about that because we’re trying to understand why they did something, as opposed to the act of doing something.”
In a statement shared on social media by his wife, Erik Menendez accuses the show of portraying “horrible and blatant lies” and of returning to “an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.”
October 5, 2024: LA County District Attorney George Gascón tells CNN he “increasingly became concerned that it was critical that we reviewed the new evidence” put forth by the defense.
He notes that times have changed regarding how the public and the courts treat victims of sexual abuse.
“There is no question that our sensitivity to sexual assault is much more significant today,” he says. “(It) has been clearly established that both men and women can be sexually assaulted, or boys and girls. I think 35 years ago cultural norms were a little different. … There is no question that a jury today would look at this case probably very differently than a jury did 35 years ago.”
He also notes that the shows and films about the case have had an impact.
“But for the documentary, quite frankly, we probably would not be talking at this point,” he said. “We may be talking later, but that certainly has increased the attention by the public, and that’s why we’re being public about where we are.”
October 16, 2024: More than two dozen relatives of the Menendez brothers announce a coalition urging authorities to review the case and to either throw out their convictions and hold a new trial or resentence them in light of evidence suggesting the brothers were victims of their father’s abuse.
October 24, 2024: Gascón recommends that a judge resentence the brothers, leaving the next step of the decision process to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
November 18, 2024: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he will delay his decision on clemency for Lyle and Erik Menendez until the newly elected Los Angeles County district attorney completes his review of the case.
“The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect (Nathan) Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” Newsom’s office says. “The governor will defer to the DA-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”
February 21, 2025: Newly elected LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announces his office will not support a petition brought by the brothers requesting the court reconsider their murder convictions due to newly raised evidence of sexual abuse by their father.
March 10, 2025: Hochman asks the court to withdraw a resentencing motion filed last year by his predecessor, who advocated for the brothers to receive a sentence that would make them eligible for parole.
The move comes a month after Hochman said he opposed the brothers’ request for a new trial.
Hochman calls the self-defense claim “fabricated” and says the brothers had displayed “lack of acceptance of responsibility for their murderous actions.” He urges the court to consider what he says was a string of lies told during the trial and maintained over their three decades behind bars.
April 11, 2025: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic rules that Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearings can continue despite opposition from Hochman, saying he has full authority to proceed with resentencing under a California law passed in 2023 that allows a court to recall a sentence and initiate resentencing at any point in time.
May 13, 2025: Jesic resentences Erik and Lyle Menendez to 50 years to life in prison –– making them immediately eligible for parole.
During the hearing Jesic says he is not suggesting they should be released, but “one day they should get that chance.”
“It’s now up to the parole board and the governor of California,” Jesic says. CNN has reached out to the governor’s office and the state parole board for comment on the ruling.
May 15, 2025: The California Board of Parole Hearings converts a previously scheduled June 13 clemency hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez into a “parole suitability” hearing.
The parole board has up to 120 days after the hearing to make a decision, and the governor then has 30 days to change it. This means that, depending on the outcome, the brothers could be freed in a matter of months.
Newsom still holds significant authority over the brothers’ fates: even if the parole board votes to release them, he could block their decision. He could also grant them clemency at any time, with or without a recommendation from the parole board.
May 19, 2025: Mark Geragos, the brothers’ attorney tells CNN the June parole hearings have been delayed by two months – with new dates set for August 21 and 22. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation also confirmed the date change to CNN.
In the department’s parole handbook, officials note 90 days is the standard amount of time to schedule a parole hearing. Mid-August is roughly 90 days from the brothers’ May 13 resentencing.
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