NewsBite

Erik Menendez hospitalised as lawyer calls for release

Parent killer Erik Menendez has been hospitalised with a “serious condition” as his lawyer makes a bid for his release.

Erik Menendez has been hospitalised with kidney stones and now the famed parent killer’s lawyer is calling for his client’s release ahead of an August parole hearing, according to a report.

“It’s a serious condition,” lawyer Mark Geragos told TMZ of Menendez’s diagnosis.

“I just think he should be parole furloughed, I think is the proper term, and he could be medically furloughed in advance of the hearing so that he can work with the parole lawyer and get up to speed and be ready and do it and give it his best shot.

Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez (right) were resentenced in May to 50 years to life in prison and have a parole hearing on August 21. Picture: AP Photo
Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez (right) were resentenced in May to 50 years to life in prison and have a parole hearing on August 21. Picture: AP Photo

“I think that it’s the only fair and equitable thing to do,” the lawyer told the outlet.

Menendez is undergoing treatment for kidney stones, a relatively common urinary condition, TMZ confirmed.

He and his brother, Lyle Menendez, were originally sentenced to life without parole in 1996 for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

The siblings were resentenced in May to 50 years to life in prison and they have a parole hearing on August 21 following a months-long delay.

The Menendez brother’s lawyer Mark Geragos has called for their release ahead of August’s parole hearing. Picture: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images/AFP
The Menendez brother’s lawyer Mark Geragos has called for their release ahead of August’s parole hearing. Picture: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images/AFP

Having already served 35 years behind bars, the two were automatically eligible to pursue parole under California’s youthful offender law.

At the time of the murders, Erik was just 18 years old and Lyle was 21.

The brothers insisted that intruders had broken into their family’s Beverly Hills home and killed their parents.

They later confessed to the killings, but insisted that they’d done it to stop their father’s cycle of sexual abuse.

Erik Menendez during testimony in the double-murder trial of Erik and his brother Lyle Menendez of their parents. Picture: AP Photo/Reed Saxon
Erik Menendez during testimony in the double-murder trial of Erik and his brother Lyle Menendez of their parents. Picture: AP Photo/Reed Saxon

During the trial, prosecutors argued that the brothers’ claims were false and purported that they were motivated by financial gain.

In the years since their imprisonment, Erik and Lyle both expressed remorse even as they garnered support from more than 20 family members who have ceaselessly advocated for their release.

The brothers’ case was put back in the limelight after Netflix released a season about them in its hit true crime series “Monsters” in 2024.

Fans quickly rallied around the brothers, calling for their release.

They have a parole hearing on Aug. 21 following a months-long delay.

The Menendez brothers were resentenced in May to 50 years to life in prison.

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/erik-menendez-hospitalised-as-lawyer-calls-for-release/news-story/28d41047b444ad9e1c35c9bc949a9267