BEVERLY HILLS—On Aug. 20, 1989, the Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle, killed their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, with loaded shotguns in the family home in Beverly Hills, and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now the brothers are seeking a new trial because they claim their murderous actions were motivated by years of sexual abuse inflicted upon them by their father and years of abuse inflicted upon them by their mother. However, the Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Thursday that he would oppose the brothers receiving a new trial.
In May, Judge Michael Jesic, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, sentenced the two brothers to serve a sentence ranging from at least 50 years in prison up to life imprisonment because of the work the brothers did in prison to help their fellow inmates. However, the District Attorney opposes this because of the actions Erik and Lyle Menendez took after they murdered their parents to create an alibi, because the brothers admitted on tape to killing their parents, and because they had previously claimed they acted in self-defense when they killed their parents.
By Daniel Diquinzio