Oct. 24 (UPI) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez have paid their debt to society and should be made eligible for immediate parole.
Gascon said the ages of the brothers when the crime occurred and their subsequent efforts to improve themselves and help others while imprisoned without any hope of eventual release shows they have rehabilitated themselves and would not be a danger to society if released from prison.
“We’re going to recommend to the court that life without possibility of parole be removed,” Gascon said.
Gascon said he will file for the re-sentencing on Friday and, if approved by a judge, the brothers would be immediately eligible for parole after serving nearly 35 years in prison.
Each of the Menendez brothers is serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders of their parents on Aug. 20, 1989.
Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, shot and killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, while inside the family’s home in Beverly Hills.
Lyle was 21 and Erik 19 when they murdered their parents with shotguns that they bought several days prior to the killings, Gascon said.
He said some of his staff don’t believe the brothers were molested while others do, including Gascon.
He said the brothers “were subjected to a tremendous amount of dysfunction in the home and molestation” prior to murdering their parents.
Gascon said those on his staff who oppose the brothers’ re-sentencing have the right to oppose the re-sentencing request during future proceedings.
The Menendez brothers “were two very young people when they committed this horrible act,” he said, adding that sexual abuse is “no excuse for murder.
“Even when you get abused, the right path is to call the police and seek help,” Gascon said.
Despite each brother being sentenced to two consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole, Gascon said they sought to improve themselves through education and helping others in prison.
“They could have done what many others have done” and “misbehaved, joined gangs,” Gascon said. “They didn’t do that.”
Instead, he said “they engaged in a different journey — a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.”
