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Erik and Lyle Menendez may walk as early as the holiday season if a judge allows the resentencing, as recommended by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
LOS ANGELES – Erik Menendez’s wife Tammi is speaking out following Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón‘s recommendation that the Menendez brothers be resentenced after serving more than three decades in prison.
“Yesterday was a difficult and emotional day,” she wrote on X on October 25. “I am Grateful to DA [George] Gascón, for his courage to seek resentencing for Erik, I am naturally disappointed he did not go further and act on his own belief that Erik and Lyle have served enough time in prison.”
Erik and Tammi began their relationship as pen pals and married in 1999 at Folsom State Prison.
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The Menendez brothers were found guilty in 1996 of the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, and were ordered to serve life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Erik and Lyle — who were 18 years old and 21 years old at the time of the murders — claimed they acted in self defense after suffering years of physical and sexual abuse by their father. However, that defense was not allowed to be used in their second trial.
Gascón announced last week that he recommends the brothers be resentenced after an investigation into new evidence presented to the DA’s office – allegations that their father also molested Roy Rossello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, in the 1980s, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, which surfaced in 2015, years after Cano’s death – was presented.
“I have to tell you that after very careful review of all the arguments that were made for people on both sides of this equation, I came to a place where I believe that under the law, resentencing is appropriate.” Gascón said during a press conference Oct. 24.
Now a judge will ultimately decide whether to accept or reject Gascón’s recommendation within the next 30 days.
Menendez Brothers: FULL PRESS CONFERENCE
LA County DA George Gascón said prosecutors will recommend that the brothers’ sentence of life without parole be rescinded, and they be re-sentenced for the pair of murder convictions, meaning a maximum of 50 years to life in prison. He said that due to their ages at the time of the crime, they would be automatically eligible for parole.
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If the judge accepts a recommendation of resentencing with time served, it is possible the Menendez brothers could be out of prison by Thanksgiving.
The final decision would come down to the parole board for approval.
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.