Could the Menendez brothers walk free? Here’s everything you need to know

Few TV series have sent a ripple through the justice system in the manner of two Netflix shows about the Menendez brothers, who are currently serving life sentences for the murder of their parents in 1989.

The first series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a docudrama, landed on the streamer in September last year, followed a month later by the true-crime documentary The Menendez Brothers.

While the case has featured in many film and TV dramas and docos before, these two triggered a huge public response and pushed the brothers into the limelight, which has prompted a broader public rethink of their case and triggered a bid to have the pair resentenced for the crime.

The story of Lyle (left) and Erik (right) Menendez has captured the attention of millions worldwide.Credit: AP

Last year in the wake of the response to the series, now-former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said he would recommend they be resentenced for the crimes. That bid has been opposed by current District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

Their shot at freedom seemed to be in arm’s reach last week – despite numerous delays, a highly anticipated resentencing hearing was scheduled to take place on April 17 and 18. However, it was pushed back again, with a procedural hearing to be held on May 9.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Menendez brothers and what could happen to them.

Who are the Menendez brothers?

On August 20, 1989, brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, aged 18 and 21 respectively, walked into the television room of their family’s Beverly Hills mansion and shot dead their parents.

In the first of two trials, the brothers argued they had killed their mother, former journalist Kitty, and their father, record company executive Jose Menendez, as an act of self-defence. They claimed their father subjected them to sustained sexual abuse over many years, while their mother knew of it and had done nothing to protect them.

This argument was deemed inadmissible in the second trial and was largely depicted in media coverage at the time as a thin veneer for the real motive behind the murders – financial access to their multimillion-dollar inheritance.

What were they convicted of?

The Menendez brothers were found guilty and convicted of first-degree murder in 1996, and a judge sentenced them to life in prison without parole.

Now 54 and 57 years old, they have spent the past 35 years in prison.

The story of Lyle and Erik Menendez has captured the attention of millions worldwide.Credit: AP Laserphoto

Why is this happening now?

Public opinion of the Menendez brothers has shifted since more evidence has come to light, splitting open the case and forming the basis of an appeal in which the brothers have sought to have their sentences overturned.

In 2023, Roy Rosselló made allegations that Jose Menendez had sexually assaulted him at the Menendez family home in New Jersey when he was a 14-year-old member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.

CBS News also revealed that lawyer Cliff Gardner had been given a letter allegedly written by 17-year-old Erik Menendez to his cousin detailing the abuse.

“I’ve been trying to avoid Dad,” Erik writes. “It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now … every night I stay up thinking he might come in … I’m afraid … He’s crazy. He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle.”

The Monsters series and The Menendez Brothers, a Netflix documentary released last October featuring prison interviews with the brothers, has also created a swell of public support.

The multi-perspective series stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik Menendez. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, it amassed 12.3 million views in its first four days. With 22.7 million views, the documentary was also the most-watched film worldwide in its first week.

Cooper Koch as Erik and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle in Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.Credit: Miles Crist/Netflix

“The things that will be re-examined when their sentencing is looked at is not stuff we uncovered,” Brennan told Deadline at this year’s Golden Globes. “That’s been in the public eye for years now. It just shows the power of what a television show can do to shine a light on things.”

However, Erik himself has since criticised the show for its “dishonest portrayal” which has “taken the painful truths several steps backward,” in a statement released on X by his wife Tammi Menendez.

What happened with the resentencing trial? Will they walk free?

The resentencing hearings, which were supposed to take place last Thursday and Friday (local time), centre on whether the brothers have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence that could reduce their charges to manslaughter, which would allow them to be immediately released.

However, their bid for freedom was again delayed due to disputes among prosecutors and the brothers’ lawyers.

Now a procedural hearing is scheduled for May 9 to tackle two issues in the brothers’ resentencing case: whether material from risk assessments completed by the state parole board at the governor’s order can be used in court, and whether the Los Angeles County district attorney should be removed as prosecutor in the case.

The resentencing hearings will be on pause until those issues are resolved next month.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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With AP