LOS ANGELES: Lyle and Erik Menendez, who have spent more than three decades behind bars for the grisly shotgun murders of their parents in the family’s luxury Beverly Hills home, could soon walk free after a judge on Tuesday reduced their life sentences.
The ruling came after an emotional court hearing in Los Angeles during which the men took full responsibility for the 1989 double killing.
“I do believe they’ve done enough over the last 35 years that one day they should get that chance” to be freed, Judge Michael Jesic said, delivering a ruling that makes the men eligible for parole.
Jesic reduced the men’s original sentences of life without the possibility of parole, to a term of 50 years to life. The time they have already spent behind bars means they are already eligible to apply for parole, with a hearing scheduled for next month.
The pair have have spent two years trying to get their sentences reduced, with a public campaign bolstered by celebrity support from the likes of Kim Kardashian and supercharged by the hit Netflix miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
Blockbuster trials in the 1990s heard how the men killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion, in what prosecutors said was a cynical attempt to get their hands on a large family fortune.
After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, the men shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.
Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.
The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.
Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist, and the pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.
On Tuesday, Lyle Menendez, now aged 57, addressed the court via videolink, admitting he had murdered his parents.
“I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses. I take full responsibility,“ he said, according to reporters who were in court.
His brother, Erik, 54, told the court he had been wrong to take the law into his own hands and said his actions were cruel and cowardly.
“I have no excuse, no justification. I take full responsibility,“ he said. “I reached out to my brother for help and convinced him that we couldn’t escape.
“I fired five rounds at my parents and went to get more ammunition. I lied to police, lied to my family. I am truly sorry.”
The men’s family had earlier pleaded with the judge to show mercy.
Their cousin Anamaria Baralt told the hearing they were reformed and had earned their freedom.
“We believe that 35 years is enough,“ she said. “They are universally forgiven by our family. They deserve a second chance at life.”
Diane Hernandez, niece of Kitty Menendez, said the brothers were “remarkable human beings.”
“There is absolutely no chance that they would break the law” if released, she said. “Their only desire is to do good.”
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman had opposed the resentencing.
He insisted the men had never admitted to the lies they told during the investigation of the crimes, having given several discordant explanations for the killings before settling on self-defense.
Without such a reckoning with the truth, he said, the men should not be allowed out of prison.
After the parole board hearing next month, the decision goes to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has the power to overrule the board’s recommendation.
The brothers’ fate, Jesic noted, is now “up to the parole board and the governor.”
