LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors will recommend Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills home, providing the brothers with a chance at freedom after 34 years behind bars. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced during a Thursday news conference that his office would recommend the brothers be sentenced to 50 years to life. Because they were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they will be eligible for parole immediately, he said.
“I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate," Gascón said. He said some members of his office oppose the decision. Prosecutors will file the petition on Friday and a hearing before a judge could come within the next month or so.
The Menendez brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lyle Menendez , then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez. The brothers said they feared their parents were about to kill them to stop people from finding out that Jose Menendez had sexually abused Erik Menendez for years.
The brothers’ extended family has pleaded for their release , saying they deserve to be free after decades behind bars. Several family members have said that in today’s world — which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse — the brothers would not have been.