A Los Angeles judge has reduced the sentences of Erik and Lyle Menendez, making them eligible for parole after 35 years in prison for the murder of their parents.
In the true crime case that gripped America in the 1990s, the Menendez Brothers were convicted of first-degree murder after they brutally shot and killed their father, José, and their mother, Kitty, a former beauty queen. In the first prosecution, the brothers walked due to two hung juries and a mistrial after the defense successfully argued they killed their parents in a panic after confronting their father about years of sexual abuse. Two years later, when prosecuted a second time, the sexual abuse failed to sway the jury, and the brothers were convicted.
In 2023, the Menendez Brothers’ claims of sexual abuse gained some credibility when Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, alleged that José Menendez repeatedly sexually abused him as a teenager. As the New York Times reported at the time:
Roy Rosselló, a former member of Menudo, the boy band of the 1980s that became a global sensation, is coming forward with an allegation that he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by Jose Menendez.
The assertion was aired on Tuesday in a segment on the “Today” show that outlined some of the findings of a three-part docuseries scheduled to air on Peacock, the streaming service from NBCUniversal, beginning on May 2. The series, “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” based on reporting by the journalists Robert Rand and Nery Ynclan, is largely focused on Mr. Rosselló. He describes an encounter with Mr. Menendez but also recounts separate incidents of sexual abuse that he says were inflicted on him by one of Menudo’s former managers when he sang as part of the group.
In the docuseries, Rosselló described being drugged and raped by José Menendez when visiting his New Jersey home at the age of 14.
“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló says of Menendez in the documentary.
In another clip, Rosselló points at a photo of José Menendez and says, “That’s the man here that raped me. That’s the pedophile.”
“It’s time for the world to know the truth,” he also said.
José Menendez had signed the group Menudo, sometimes referred to as the most “Iconic Latino Pop Music Band,” when he served as an executive of RCA Records. Rosselló and other members of the band said they were verbally, emotionally, and sexually abused in the four-part HBO Max docuseries Menudo: Forever Young.
Since the explosive allegations were made public, the Menendez Brothers sought to have the charges reduced to manslaughter. While Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic did not reduce the charges, he reduced the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life. Per the Associated Press (AP), the brothers would be “eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26.”
A state parole board will now decide if the brothers will walk free.
In a livestream video before the hearing, Lyle Menendez said he makes “no excuses” for the murder of his parents.
“I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle said. “The impact of my violent actions on my family … is unfathomable.”
Erik apologized to his family. “You did not deserve what I did to you, but you inspire me to do better,” he said.
The judge said he extensively pondered over whether or not to reduce the sentences and ultimately gave them “a lot of credit for changing their lives.” He was also “especially moved by a letter that was submitted by a prison official who wrote in support of the resentencing, something he had never done for any incarcerated person in 25 years,” per the AP.
“I’m not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide,” the judge said. “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years, that they should get that chance.”
During the famous trial, the Menendez defense could not produce one witness to testify that the boys had been sexually abused or that their father had sexually abused others, which largely swayed the jury into ultimately convicting them of murder. The defense had tried to bring the charges down to manslaughter, claiming that the brothers killed their parents in a panic after confronting them about the sexual abuse. Prosecutors argued that the brothers killed their parents to access their $14 million estate. Regardless of the motives, the murders were undeniably gruesome, with José Menendez being shot five times, including once in the back of the head.
