Contains themes of sexual abuse
Menendez’s story has dominated the news since Netflix’s twin releases, Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menedez and The Menéndez brothers. The latest documentary landed firmly on the view that her brother’s murder of her parents in 1989 was brought about as a result of years of sexual, physical and mental abuse by José Menendez, her father. The Menéndez brothers Netflix Documentary further suggested that after the initial mistrial and the hung jury, Judge Stanley Weisberg, hurt by the failure to reach a verdict, suppressed much of the abuse evidence at the retrial, leading directly to the boys’ murder conviction.
Newly emerging evidence appears to support the Menendez brothers and may well force current Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s hand in reviewing their life sentences, a process he had already begun after other new evidence emerged as result of Netflix’s dramatic intervention. The first involved new revelations of Roy Rosello, former member of the boy band Menudo, and the second was a recently discovered letter from 18-year-old Erik to his cousin Andy Cano in December 1988, in which he reported his father’s abuse. The new evidence could overturn the conviction of the Menéndez brothers, upheld in their second trial.
Erik Menendez’s Letter to His Cousin Andy and How It Could Change the Case Explained
Erik Menendez, 18, revealed his father’s abuse to his cousin
Erik’s handwritten note to his cousin, as reported by the New York Post Officetalks about his fear of his father: “I’ve been trying to avoid Dad. It still happens daily, but now it’s worse for me…every night I lie awake thinking he might get in.“No explanation was offered for the note’s absence for 30 years, which would almost certainly have materially affected the 1993 suspended verdictand may have impacted Judge Weisberg’s stubborn resistance to the abuse defense at the retrial a year later.
The letter was filed last year in Los Angeles Superior Court, but was only released to the public by the district attorney’s office this week. This prompted a press conference in which some Family members and friends of Menendez have issued a public plea for the immediate release of Erik and Lylearguing that if Erik’s letter had been available for any of his trials, the charge would have been reduced to manslaughter, for which they would have served no more than 15 years.
Boy band member Roy Rosello accused Jose Menendez of sexual assault
The letter follows new testimony from Roy Rosello, former member of the boy band Menudo, who claims that Jose Menendez, then head of RCA Records, drugged and raped him in 1984 when he was a teenager, again giving substantial credibility to the boys’ abuse defense. Despite The Menéndez brothers documentary that largely supports Erik and Lyle’s version of events, strangely omits Rosello’s accusations entirely. The allegations were enough to spark a “Free the Menendi” TikTok campaign, which in turn convinced District Attorney George Garcon to reconsider the case.
Meanwhile, the brothers still incarcerated continued to defend their case, asking for a new sentence or a new trial. Prosecutors continue argue that the brothers meticulously planned their parents’ murder and that it was motivated by greed for their inheritancewhich Joseph threatened to deny them. It should be noted that not all members of the Menéndez family joined the call for his early release. Milton Anderson, the boys’ uncle, released a statement through his lawyers, according to the BBCthat the murders were a “heinous“act in which”Jose was shot six times and Kitty was shot ten times, including one shot in the face after Erik reloaded..”
What the new evidence means for the Menendez brothers’ upcoming trial hearing
District Attorney Gascon appears to support a new hearing
Despite these pockets of resistance, it seems inevitable that the Menendez brothers will be granted at least one reexamination of their case. The second trial was almost certainly marred, not only by Judge Weisberg’s prejudiced directions after what he considered the embarrassment of the abandoned first trial, but also by the the proximity of the retrial to the acquittal of OJ Simpson, which took place a week before the start of the Menendez trial. In The Menéndez brothers, A theory is put forward that the boys’ murder conviction was revenge for a justice system hurt by Simpson’s release.
There has been a sea change in public sympathy over the last 30 years for victims of abuse, so Gascon’s support for a new audience would be better received.
Los Angeles District Attorney Gascon’s willingness to make Erik’s letter to his cousin public and to endorse the Menendez family’s pleas for Erik and Lyle’s sentences to be adjusted suggests that he agrees. Furthermore, there has been a sea change in public sympathy over the last 30 years for victims of abusetherefore Gascon support for a new hearing would be better received. A new manslaughter charge, rather than the first-degree murder conviction that saw the brothers sentenced to 30 years without parole, would naturally get them released from prison immediately, a potentially appropriate conclusion after The Menéndez brothers.
SOURCES: New York Post Office, BBC
Lyle and Erik Menendez, arrested for killing their parents, recount the crime and dramatic trials in this documentary.