(KTLA) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon to announce whether his office will recommend Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced in light of new information in their murder case.
The Menendez brothers are serving life sentences for killing their parents in Beverly Hills more than three decades ago, although a recent television series and documentaries have pointed out that the boys’ father was possibly sexually abusive, a potential mitigating factor that wasn’t considered in trial.
Recently, the boys’ family came forward to ask that they be released from prison, and Gascón has previously said that “there is a possibility being alleged by his lawyers, not by us, that there was evidence that, had it been presented to the jury, the outcome of the trial would have been different.”
Among the new evidence is a letter purportedly written by Erik Menendez that reads in part: “I never know when [the abuse] is going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking [my father] might come in.”
Another allegation against José Menendez has surfaced from a former member of the boy band Menudo. Roy Roselló claimed he was raped by Menendez while he was a record executive.
His allegations were detailed in the three-part documentary series, “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” and the brothers themselves were subjects of a Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” which reignited public interest in the case.
Gascón is facing a tough reelection fight against challenger Nathan Hochman, who is leading by a wide margin in polls.
“It’s not even close … This now appears to be Hochman’s race to lose. He’s way ahead,” Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month.