Thirty-five years after Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, the extended family has come together to hold a press conference pleading with the public to come to their aid by joining them in signing a petition urging DA George Gascon to move forward with a re-sentencing trial.
The family unanimously agrees, “It’s time for Erik and Lyle to come home.” The Menendez brood believes that society’s understanding of the impact on sexual abuse victims has improved and is not limited to only the female gender, as there are also male victims.
The Menendez brothers’ lawyer, Mark Geragos, hinted that “if it was the Mendenzez sisters, they would have been released already.” He claimed the world wasn’t ready to believe that boys could be raped as evidence and testimony about their father’s abuse was intentionally excluded during their second trial.
Geragos introduced the Menendez brothers’ cousin, Anamaria Baralt, who read a statement of support from Jose’s 85-year-old sister. The brothers’ aunt could not make the press conference because of her health issues. Kitty’s 92-year-old sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, was able to attend the conference, where she said:
“If the case was tried today, the evidence of their father’s abuse would not only be admitted in court, it would provide essential context for why they acted the way they did, and no jury today would issue such a harsh sentence without taking their trauma into account.”
Family Starts Petition For The Menendez Brothers’ Release After 35 Years
The Menendez brothers’ family urged the entire public to help sign their petition at Justiceforerikandlyle.org to push for the re-sentencing of Lyle and Erik’s case in light of the new evidence of sexual abuse. One of the said evidence is a recently discovered letter by Erik to his cousin in 1988, before the murder of their parents.
In the note, he alluded to the sexual abuse continuing in their household. This letter is critical proof that the abuse allegations were not fabricated as a defense strategy but a painful reality the brothers lived with for years.
Another new piece of evidence is the sworn affidavit by Menudo Boy band member Roy Rosselló. He wrote that Lyle and Erik’s father, José, drugged and raped him in the 1980s. José was a music executive at RCA at the time. Rosselló corroborated the Menendez brothers’ story that if José was with any of the boys, no one was allowed to walk down the hall.
The family members all agreed that the Menendez brothers “aren’t the villains,” noting, “They are the victims, they would continue to be victimized, they would be called cold blooded killers, allow them the second chance they deserve, let the 34-year old nightmare end.”
Where will the hammer of justice swing for the Menendez brothers? The world eagerly waits!
