Lyle and Erik Menendez bought two shotguns with cash. The next day, the brothers drove to a shooting range. He was struck five times, including in the back of the head. Their year-old mother, wounded, crawled on the ground as the brothers reloaded before administering a final fatal blast. The brutality of the crime led many β including law enforcement β to speculate whether the killings were mob hits. The answer prosecutors offered was simple: money. But during two highly scrutinized trials that launched the Menendez brothers into true crime notoriety, defense attorneys argued the killings came after years of violent, repeated physical and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of their father, a top executive at RCA Records.
The first trial ended with two hung juries. In the second, allegations of abuse and supporting testimonies were restricted, and Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder in March Twenty-seven years later, attorneys and advocates want the court to take another look at the case amid new sexual assault allegations they say corroborate a history of abuse against the brothers.
New evidence backs their claims, lawyers say, and again raises the specter that the story behind the murders β and the Menendez family itself β may be more complicated. A recently discovered letter that attorneys say was written by Erik Menendez suggests sexual abuse by his father continued into his late teenage years. And new allegations made by a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo suggest Lyle and Erik Menendez were not the only alleged victims of abuse.
Erik and Lyle Menendez point to a documentary that alleges Jose Menendez sexually assaulted an underage member of Menudo. In particular, the judge asked prosecutors to address whether the recently discovered evidence could have been found during the trial and if prosecutors believe the letter would have been admissible.
A spokesperson for the D. The petition could be the last shot the brothers have at revisiting their convictions and life sentences. After years of legal debate β and countless movies and TV miniseries recounting the grisly killings β would prosecutors, judges and juries view the allegations of abuse in a different light, and would it change the outcome?
