Menendez brothers closer to freedom as parole recommended

Interestingly, no trial will be needed. Instead, the judge will be asked to resentence them. "We are going to recommend to the court [on Friday] that the life without the possibility of parole be removed and they would be sentenced for murder. But because of their age -- they both were under 26 at the time of the crimes -- they would be eligible for parole immediately," emphasized Gascon.

The prosecutor acknowledged that Eric and Lyle committed a terrible act, but noted that 30 years ago, the circumstances that led to their actions were not fully considered. "When you look at the case of the Menendez brothers, you see two very young people. One was 19 and the other was 21 when they committed these horrible acts. And I want to underline they were horrible acts. There is no excuse for murder, and I will never imply that what we are doing here it to excuse that behavior. Because even if you get abused, the right path is to call the police and seek help. But I understand also how sometimes people get desperate. …And I do believe the brothers were subjected to a tremendous amount of dysfunction in the home," added Gascon.

Eric and Lyle Menendez have come back into the spotlight due to the series "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" by Ryan Murphy. The show remained in Netflix's top 10 worldwide for an extended period. On August 20, 1989, Erik and Lyle shot their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. Initially, no one suspected the brothers of murder. Investigators considered a mafia connection due to the Menendez family's significant wealth. The brothers eventually confessed to their psychologist, who then shared the information with his lover, revealing that the sons had murdered their father and mother. The trial spanned several years and concluded in 1996, with the brothers being sentenced to life without parole.

During the trial, the brothers testified that their father had abused them from early childhood until his death.