Menendez Brothers: What is the new evidence causing DA Gascón to review the case?
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gasón announced Thursday that his office is reviewing new evidence in the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers convicted of murdering their parents in Beverly Hills in 1989. Gascón's office is working to determine if the brothers are entitled to having their case reheard, or even being resentenced.
Lyle and Erik Menendez have been serving life sentences since 1996 for killing their parents, José and Mary "Kitty" Menendez. While the brothers never denied killing their parents, at trial, attorneys argued they feared for their lives after suffering years of sexual abuse from their father.
"We have people in the office that are looking at this very carefully, very experienced lawyers that are looking at this," Gascón said at a press conference Thursday. "That evidence will be presented to me. Their recommendations will be presented to me, but the final decision will be mine."
The Menendez brothers have appealed their convictions multiple times over the years without success, but a new petition a year and a half ago points to two pieces of evidence that the brothers' lawyers say bolster their sexual abuse claims.
The first is a letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano, in which Erik allegedly complained about the abuse he suffered from his father months before the killings.
"That letter shows, at least from our standpoint, and their standpoint, that they were not fabricating this after the fact," Attorney Mark Geragos said on the FOX 11 News at 6 p.m. Thursday. "That letter had been mailed and received by Andy Cano fully eight months before [the murders.]"
According to the brothers' attorneys, Cano's mom found the letter nine years ago. Cano testified at trial that Erik had told him about his father's abuse when Erik was 13. Cano died in 2003.
The second piece of evidence was a sworn statement from a third person who claimed he was abused by José Menendez as a teenager. Roy Rosselló, a former member of the band Menudo, alleged that José Menendez drugged and sexually assaulted him when he was about 14, during a visit to the Menendez home in New Jersey. José Menendez was an executive at RCA Records, which signed Menudo to a recording contract.
"None of this information has been confirmed," Gascón said Thursday. "We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information."
Interest in the case has recently been renewed by the release of Netflix's "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," and an upcoming documentary, in which the brothers will tell their side of the story.
But, Geragos refuted any idea that Gascón's announcement Thursday was spurned by the recent media attention.
"Over a year and a half ago, before the Ryan Murphy [show] or these docuseries were a twinkle in any producer's eyes, the DA was taking this seriously," Geragos said.
The brothers have a hearing on Nov. 29.