23 hours ago
5
The Menendez Brothers’ Fight for Freedom
CASE UPDATE: In May 2025, Lyle and Erik Menendez were resentenced to 50 years to beingness with the anticipation of parole. Due to that resentencing, they are present eligible for parole hearings nether younker offender parole laws. In August 2025, the brothers' archetypal bids for parole were denied.
This nonfiction was primitively posted connected March 1, 2024.
Lyle and Erik Menendez person been down bars successful California for much than 3 decades for the 1989 sidesplitting of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. They were convicted of first-degree execution and sentenced to beingness successful situation successful the notorious lawsuit that captured the nation's attention. Now, the brothers are hoping that caller grounds volition reopen their lawsuit and acceptable them free.
"48 Hours" contributor Natalie Morales speaks to Lyle Menendez from situation arsenic helium awaits a judge's determination successful an encore of "The Menendez Brothers' Fight for Freedom," now streaming connected Paramount +.
The Menendez brothers admit that they killed their parents. Instead, the absorption of the lawsuit has agelong been connected wherefore they did it. They importune that they killed retired of fearfulness and successful self-defense aft a beingness of physical, affectional and intersexual maltreatment suffered astatine the hands of their parents.
One of their lawyers, Cliff Gardner, tells "48 Hours" that caller grounds corroborates those longstanding claims and lessens their culpability. Gardner argues that Lyle and Erik Menendez should person been convicted of manslaughter alternatively of first-degree murder, and that if they had been, they would person received a overmuch shorter condemnation and been retired of situation a agelong clip ago.
New grounds successful the lawsuit includes this missive written by Erik Menendez to his relative Andy Cano successful December 1988.
Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County
The caller grounds includes a missive that Gardner says was written by Erik Menendez to Erik's cousin, Andy Cano, successful December 1988, astir 8 months earlier the crime. The missive reads, successful part, "I've been trying to debar dad. It's inactive happening, Andy, but it's worse for maine now. … Every nighttime I enactment up reasoning helium mightiness travel in. … I'm afraid. … He's crazy. He's warned maine a 100 times astir telling anyone, particularly Lyle."
Andy Cano did attest astatine the brothers' trials. He said that Erik Menendez astatine property 13, years earlier the killings, told him that his begetter was touching him inappropriately. Prosecutors astatine proceedings suggested that Cano was lying.
The brothers were tried twice. Their archetypal proceedings ended successful a mistrial erstwhile 2 juries, 1 for each brother, couldn't scope a unanimous determination arsenic to whether Lyle and Erik Menendez were blameworthy of manslaughter oregon murder. When they were tried a 2nd time, prosecutors attacked the maltreatment allegations much aggressively. They referred to the allegations arsenic "the maltreatment excuse." That proceedings resulted successful the brothers' convictions for first-degree murder.
Gardner says this missive is impervious that the maltreatment allegations were not made up. He says the missive was ne'er presented astatine either trial, and that it was discovered successful retention wrong the past fewer years by Andy Cano's mother. Andy Cano died successful 2003.
The missive isn't the lone portion of grounds that has surfaced. Roy Rossello, a erstwhile subordinate of the Puerto Rican lad set Menudo, has travel guardant claiming that helium was besides sexually abused by Jose Menendez, backmost successful the aboriginal 80s, erstwhile Rossello was a insignificant and a subordinate of the band. At the time, Jose Menendez was moving arsenic an enforcement astatine RCA Records, and RCA signed Menudo to a signaling contract.
Jose Menendez, apical row, 2nd from left, is pictured with erstwhile members of Menudo successful 1983, including Roy Rossello, bottommost right.
Sony Music/RCA Records
Rossello is present 54 years old. He says successful a sworn affidavit filed successful 2023 that helium went to Jose Menendez's location successful the autumn of 1983 oregon 1984. Rossello would person been betwixt 14 and 15 years aged astatine the time. He says helium drank "a solid of wine," past felt similar helium had "no control" implicit his body. He says Jose Menendez took him to a country and raped him. Rossello besides states successful the affidavit that helium was sexually abused by Jose Menendez connected 2 different occasions, close earlier and close aft a show astatine Radio City Music Hall successful New York.
"When I archetypal heard astir it … I cried," Lyle Menendez told Morales. "For me, it was precise meaningful to conscionable person things travel retired that caused radical to truly realize, OK … astatine slightest this portion of what it's astir is true."
The Menendez brothers' attorney, Cliff Gardner, filed a habeas petition successful May 2023 citing the missive and Rossello's affidavit arsenic caller grounds that proves his clients' convictions should beryllium vacated.
"The boys were abused arsenic children. They were abused their full life. … And this is simply a manslaughter case, not a execution case. It's conscionable that simple," Gardner said to "48 Hours" astir the Menendez brothers. "My anticipation successful the lawsuit is that the justice volition recognize that this caller grounds is so credible and persuasive, and he'll vacate the convictions."
If that happens, it would beryllium up to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office whether to retry the case. In a statement, the territory attorney's bureau told "48 Hours" it is investigating the claims made successful the habeas petition. It is unclear erstwhile a justice volition regularisation successful the case.
On Oct. 3, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said the Menéndez execution lawsuit is being reviewed by his office, naming 2 caller factors that prosecutors are looking astatine up of a tribunal proceeding adjacent month.
Gascón said successful a quality league that determination could beryllium imaginable for resentencing oregon perchance adjacent a caller trial.
English (US) ·