New evidence could open the prison doors for Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez. The brothers — convicted of killing their parents, José Menendez and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 — had long claimed their actions were sparked after enduring years of sexual and emotional abuse. Their resentencing hearing, held May 13, 2025, was prompted by two major developments: a former Menudo singer’s claim that José raped him as a teenager and a newly uncovered letter Erik wrote to a cousin before the murders, describing alleged molestation.

What Did Lyle and Erik Menendez Do?

Lyle and Erik Menendez became household names in the late 1980s after they murdered their parents in their Beverly Hills homes with shotguns. They brothers claimed they feared for their lives after threatening to expose their father’s alleged physical and sexual abuse. 

They were each convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole. They were placed in separate prisons until 2018 when the brothers were reunited at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.

Why Is the D.A. Considering Resentencing Erik and Lyle?

More than three decades after the death of their parents, numerous family members have signed a letter asking the judge to resentence the two men. According to Cliff Gardner, one of their lawyers, Lyle and Erik should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of first degree murder.

“The boys were abused as children. They were abused their whole life. … And this is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It’s just that simple,” Gardner said during a 48 Hours interview.

In May 2023, the brothers’ attorney filed a habeas petition seeking permission to present new evidence — specifically, a letter Erik allegedly wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano. In the document, Erik provided detailed accounts of the alleged sexual abuse he and Lyle endured at the hands of their father.

“I found a letter that Erik Menendez had written to his cousin Andy Cano in November of 1988, nine months before Jose and Kitty Menendez were killed,” Randy Rand, one of the producers of the documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, told KTLA in September 2024. “And in that letter, Erik Menendez complains about the ongoing sexual abuse by his father.”

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s Case Was Under Review in 2024

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on October 3, 2024, that Erik and Lyle’s case was under review, and a hearing was set for November 29, 2024, regarding whether they could be resentenced. The news followed multiple Netflix documentaries that renewed public interest in the case.

“Today, what I wanted to be very clear, we have not conceded one way or the other, we are not saying that there was anything wrong with the original trial,” Gascón said during a press conference. “We have been giving evidence, we have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation.”

Weeks later, Gascón announced in a press conference on October 24, 2024, that Erik and Lyle could be eligible for parole immediately, pending a resentencing hearing.

“We are going to recommend to the court that the life without the possibility of parole be removed and that they will be sentenced for murder. Because there was two murders involved that would be 50 years to life,” Gascon said. “However, because of their age, under the law because they were under 26 years of age at the time that these crimes occurred, they will be eligible for parole immediately.”

He continued, “They went to prison for life without the possibility of parole. … Even though they didn’t think that they would ever be let free, they engaged in a different journey: a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.”

New Los Angeles D.A. Opposes the Menendez Brothers’ Bid for New Trial

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who took office in December 2024, announced his opposition to granting a new trial for Erik and Lyle during a press conference on February 21, 2025. Hochman questioned the admissibility of the letter Erik allegedly wrote to his cousin and said that the men have a history of “lies, deceit and fabricating stories.” He pointed out that Erik and Lyle have given differing stories since their parents’ murder and have even pressured their friends into helping them by lying in court.

In yet another turn of events, Hochman filed a last-minute motion on April 16, 2025, to push back the resentencing hearing set for April 17, 2025. He argued that the court needed more time to review the California parole board’s risk assessment report before proceeding.

The filing noted the parole board completed its assessment of the jailed brothers, and Governor Gavin Newsom has invited the court to request the completed report for the resentencing hearing, according to multiple reports.

Hochman suggested the judge should push back the resentencing hearing as more time would likely be needed for the review since the governor plans to use the report as part of a June 13, 2025, hearing, in which Erik and Lyle will each appear before the board for their individual reviews.

Erik and Lyle’s lawyer called Hochman’s filing appalling and said he didn’t believe the judge would oblige.

The Menendez brothers were later in virtual attendance as scheduled from a prison near San Diego. However, the judge stopped proceedings on April 17, 2025, not long after they began in a Van Nuys courtroom.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic called for a long recess in the planned two-day hearing so he and the attorneys can speak with Newsom about whether they can use his office’s newly released risk assessment report in the proceedings.

“There is no way I’m going to make a decision in the next two days to resentence,” the judge said amid the latest developments as neither the judge nor the brothers’ attorneys had seen the governor’s report.

What Is Erik and Lyle Menendez’s New Sentence?

On May 13, 2025, a judge ruled that the Menendez brothers were resentenced to 50 years to life in prison, which makes them immediately eligible for parole, according to reports by NBC News.

After the judgment, Judge Michael Jesic told the outlet that he’d given “long thought” to the matter, acknowledging they committed an “absolutely horrific crime, and there’s no way around it.”

“Life without parole gives an inmate no hope, no reason to do anything good. And I give them a lot of credit. It’s remarkable what they did when they had no hope of getting out,” the judge said.

The decision now rests with the California parole board and possibly the governor to determine whether the brothers will be released.

What Have the Menendez Brothers Said About Getting Resentenced?

“I still have a chance to be a productive person,” Lyle said in a collect call from prison to his attorney, Mark Geragos, during a live CrimeCon panel in June 2024. Lyle added he’s pursuing a master’s in urban planning after earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Irvine.

In a rare update, Lyle also opened up about his life goals during a live phone call with Laura Ingle at the Nashville event.

“I’ve had these discussions with corrections officials who are in charge of letting formerly incarcerated people return to the prisons to do good work and they are definitely open to and would like me to continue to work on this idea of transforming prison yards so that it creates living environments and communities that produce better neighbors,” he said, adding that a lot of prisoners “had difficult childhoods and come from difficult circumstances.”

He went on to thank his supporters and the “enormous number of people around the world and around the country who have written my brother and I or visited the Facebook created for victims to express themselves on through my family’s help and just express gratitude for their support, their belief that we should be given a second chance.”