Menendez brothers could be freed in major twist to one of America’s worst true crime sagas

Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents with a shotgun in the summer of 1989 (Picture: AP)

Two brothers at the centre of one of the most horrific murder cases in the 20th century will have a new shot at freedom after rotting for 35 years in prison.

Erik and Lyle Menendez – better known as the Menendez brothers, whose tale was engraved into public memory through Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ series – have had their life sentences reduced by a California judge.

This means the murderers could soon be freed in what would be an almost unbelievable twist to one of America’s worst true crime sagas.

Last year, the then Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon requested a change to their sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life.

Because they committed the crime under the age of 26, they are eligible for parole.

LA County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said: ‘I am not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide,’

‘I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years that they should get that chance.’

The state parole board must still decide whether to release the brothers from prison.

Erik and Lyle Menendez, 54 and 57 years old, did not show any apparent emotion during most of the testimony as they appeared via livestream video.

They chuckled when one of their cousins, Diane Hernandez, told the court that Erik received A+ grades in all of his classes during his most recent semester in college.

The judge said on Tuesday that prosecutors must prove that if released, the brothers still pose a risk of committing a violent crime again.

How one of America’s worst murder cases unfolded

Erik and Lyle Menendez were just 18 and 21 when, in August 1989, they walked into their Beverly Hills mansion and shot their wealthy parents, José and Kitty Menendez.

In August 1989, the bodies of Jose and Kitty Menendez are found in their sprawling Beverly Hills mansion.

Their two sons, Lyle and Erik Menendez, survive.

In March 1990, Lyle Menendez, 21, was arrested. Just days later, Erik Menendez, 18, turns himself into authorities. The pair are then both accused of first-degree murder of their parents.

It took years for the case to go to trial, with each brother facing trial with a separate jury in July 1993.

The court heard from the prosecution that the brothers killed their parents to get their money.

But the brothers argued they acted out of self-defence after emotional and sexual abuse from their father, spanning years.

In January 1994, both juries deadlocked, meaning a retrial had to begin with a single jury in October 1995.

In March 1996, seven years after the murders of Kitty and Jose, their sons Lyle and Erik are convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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