The brothers, who admitted to killing their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989, are serving life terms without the possibility of parole.
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County district attorney expressed his opposition to the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez on Monday, citing their consistent deceit regarding the motives behind the murders of their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills residence.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman emphasized that his stance was based on the brothers’ failure to fully acknowledge their falsehoods during the course of the investigation, such as their initial denial of the killings. He asserted that their self-defense justification does not align with the established facts of the case, revealing their deliberate planning of the murders to simulate a gang-related incident.
“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.
Hochman drew parallels between the Menendez case and that of Sirhan Sirhan, the assailant who fatally shot U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He highlighted the similarity in the abundance of support letters for both parties and Sirhan’s classification as a low-risk inmate. Nonetheless, Governor Gavin Newsom intervened in 2022 to prevent Sirhan’s parole, citing persistent concerns over his potential danger to society.
Hochman called it an “instructive case” because, like Sirhan, the Menendez brothers “fell short” of taking full responsibility for their crimes.
The county’s top prosecutor said he would support resentencing in the future if the brothers “finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DA’s office, with their own family members and acknowledge all these lies.” He acknowledged the siblings have taken positive steps toward rehabilitation, including earning advanced degrees and repeatedly scoring low on inmate risk assessments.
A resentencing hearing initiated by a court has been scheduled for later in March.
The pair began their bid for freedom in recent years after new evidence of their father’s sexual abuse emerged, and they have the support of most of their extended family.
Family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez slammed Hochman’s assertion that the brothers do not meet the standards for resentencing.
“Let’s be clear: Erik and Lyle are not the same young boys they were more than 30 years ago,” the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition said in a statement Monday. “They have apologized for the horrific actions they took. They have apologized to us. And, they have demonstrated their atonement through actions that have helped improve countless lives. Yet, DA Hochman is effectively asking for them to publicly apologize to a checklist of actions they took in a state of shock and fear.”
Hochman, who took office in December, said last month that he opposed a new trial for the Menendez brothers. The siblings, who are now in their 50s, were sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted in 1996 of the murders of their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez.
In October, then-District Attorney George Gascón, whom Hochman defeated in November’s election, recommended the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman called his predecessor’s recommendation a “desperate political move.”
Hochman filed a motion to rescind Gascón’s request that includes a step-by-step analysis of the case showing the brothers crafted alibis and lied to police immediately after the killings.
In addition to pursuing resentencing, the siblings have also submitted a clemency plea to Newsom, who had said he would not make a decision until Hochman reviewed the case. The governor last month ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they are released.
Newsom didn’t immediately comment on Hochman’s news conference. But the governor did announce Monday that he would propose a new parole board process similar to the review the Menendez brothers are undergoing that could clear a path for more prison sentences to be shortened.
Tamara Goodall, a cousin of the brothers, last week asked that Hochman be removed from the case, citing bias. The district attorney rejected that claim.
“I will follow the facts and the law wherever they take us,” he said.
