Menendez brothers “deserve a chance,” relatives say as they push for release

Nearly two dozen relatives of Lyle and Erik Menendez gathered in Los Angeles on Wednesday to urge the district attorney to recommend resentencing of the brothers – who are currently serving life behind bars.

Lyle and Erik Menendez “were failed by the very people who should have protected them – by their parents, by the system, by society at large,” Kitty Menendez's sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, said at Wednesday's news conference.

“While their actions were tragic, they were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive their father's unspeakable cruelty,” she said of the murders. “As their aunt, I had no idea of ​​the extent of the abuse they suffered.”

In the 1990s, VanderMolen said, “The world was not ready to believe that boys could be raped. … Today we know better.”

“It is time to give them the opportunity to live the rest of their lives free from the shadow of their past,” she said.

Anamaria Baralt, Jose Menendez's niece, added: “If Lyle and Erik's case had been tried today, and given the understanding we now have about abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, there is no doubt in my mind that their conviction would be “It would have been completely different.”

The siblings “held out” behind bars, Baralt said. “They have sought to better themselves and serve as support and inspiration to survivors around the world. Their continued detention serves no rehabilitation purpose.”

The brothers “deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them,” Baralt emphasized.

The Menendez case dates back to August 1989, when then-21-year-old Lyle Menendez and then-18-year-old Erik Menendez shot and killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family's Beverly Hills home.

Prosecutors claimed Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their wealthy parents for financial gain, while the defense argued the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

The first trials against the brothers ended in mistrials. In 1996, at the end of a second trial in which the judge rejected much of the sexual abuse evidence, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Now the brothers have two paths to potential freedom.

One lead hinges on Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón seeking a resentencing based on factors such as rehabilitation.

The other lead is new evidence that Gascón's office is currently evaluating: allegations from a member of the boy band Menudo who said he was molested by Jose Menendez, and a letter written to Erik Menendez eight months before the murders wrote a cousin detailing his alleged abuse.

Erik Menendez's cousin testified in court about the alleged abuse, but Erik Menendez's letter – which would have corroborated the cousin's testimony – was not unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers' attorney Mark Geragos.

“Given the totality of the circumstances, I don't believe they deserve to stay in prison until their death,” Gascón told ABC News.

Gascón said he plans to make a resentencing decision later this month. If Gascón recommends a resentencing, his recommendation will be presented to a judge who will decide whether the brothers should be released, given a lighter sentence or given a new trial.

Brian Andersen Jr., nephew of Kitty Menendez, said at the press conference that his cousins ​​”are not the villains they have been portrayed to be.”

The brothers had “shown that they are more than their past,” he said. “They are survivors and deserve a chance to rebuild their lives. They no longer pose a threat to society.”

“If they came to my house, knocked on my door, I would open that door, I would welcome them with big hugs, my wife would make them dinner and I would give them a pillow and a place to sleep. “,” said Andersen.