Major update in Menendez brothers case

A huge development has emerged in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez, as the killer brothers make a last-ditch bid for freedom.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has set a date for the final parole hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez — emphasising that his office could choose to let the killer duo out of jail even if the court decides to keep them in prison.

“On June 13th, both Lyle and Erik Menendez, independently, will have their final hearing. A report will then be submitted to me on the 13th of June for consideration,” the governor said on his podcast This is Gavin Newsom.

Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle during a pre-trial hearing in December 1992 in Los Angeles. Picture: AFP

If the state parole board decides that the brothers are fit to re-enter society, the governor could set them free on parole regardless of the decision by Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The announcement came the day after LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman urged the court not to re-sentence the brothers for the 1989 execution of their wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills mansion.

The brothers have been fighting for their freedom for decades.

The brothers claimed they were subjected to years of horrific abuse at the hands of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez.

Mr Newsom acknowledged that Mr Hochman’s announcement was “significant,” but he said it has no bearing on whether he will grant the brothers clemency after more than 30 years behind bars.

“It doesn’t fundamentally change the facts as it relates to the independent investigation in my office, the board of parole hearings, or fundamentally change or alter the process that’s underway with the resentencing,” Mr Newsom said.

The June 13 hearing will be the final phase of a “risk assessment” conducted with the aid of public safety experts and psychologists to determine if the brothers are fit to re-enter society.

The assessment will call on public safety experts and forensic psychologists to help determine whether or not the brothers should be set loose more than thirty years after gunning down their parents in the living room of their Beverly Hills mansion.

The announcement offers a glimmer of hope for the brothers, whose path to freedom has been rapidly shrinking since Mr Hochman reversed the soft-on-crime policies of his predecessor George Gascon, who had recommended that the court change their sentences from life in prison without parole to them to 50 years to life.

Erik and Lyle Menendez claimed they killed their parents as they feared for their lives. Picture: AFP

With the more than three decades served, Mr Gascon’s re-sentencing request would’ve made them immediately eligible for parole.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, 57 and 54, have long claimed that they shot their parents Jose and Kitty on an August night 35 years ago because they were fearful their abusive father might kill them.

Their case recently became a cause celebre among the true crime set in recent months after a Netflix documentary and new evidence that they were sexually abused by their father.

On Monday, Mr Hochman detailed 16 instances in which the brothers had lied about killing their parents, beginning with the first 911 call.

Mr Hochman said he would consider resentencing them only if they own up to the numerous lies they have told about the killing of their parents – and “come clean” once and for all.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. Picture: AFP

“We are prepared to go forward with the court’s initiated resentencing proceedings, and look forward to a resentencing hearing on that motion,” Mr Hochman announced.

“However, we are asking the court to withdraw the previous district attorney’s motion for resentencing because we believe there are legitimate reasons, and the interests of justice justifies that withdrawal,” he added, according to America’s ABC 7.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post

Originally published as Major update in Menendez brothers case