Menendez Brothers' Lawyer Says He Believes Erik and Lyle Will Be Home By Thanksgiving

Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez are hoping for a positive end to 2024. 

While the brothers are currently serving life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents José Menendez and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez—which they maintain stemmed from years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father—Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced he recommends they be resentenced to add the possibility for parole. Needless to say, Erik and Lyle's lawyer was very happy about the decision.

"I believe before Thanksgiving, they will be home," Mark Geragos, who was joined by Erik and Lyle's family, said during an Oct. 24 press conference following the D.A.'s announcement. "I still believe that."

"The family is uniform behind me in their resolve that these boys need to come home," he continued. "And today is a monumental, monumental victory on that path."

According to the lawyer, the Menendez family members traveled from all over the country on only six hours' notice to be present for the decision.

"They dropped everything," he said. "They left work, they canceled appointments to come here in a show of force because enough's enough. They want them to come home."

He also gave a special nod to Kitty's sister Joan Andersen VanderMolen who has become a staunch supporter for the Menendez brothers to be released.

"It's an amazing, an amazing testament to her ability to forgive for her ability to see the goodness in these young men," the attorney shared. "And we're just very very hopeful, very hopeful that we get them released."

He added, "Nothing would make me happier than to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, with Joan and have them out."

While their lawyer is hopeful, Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, will still need a judge to support the DA's decision, as well as a parole board to approve their release. The decision will ultimately go to California governor Gavin Newsom, who could reject the board's final decision.

During the Oct. 24 press conference, the DA pointed to two new pieces of evidence presented by their lawyer as the impetus to recommend resentencing.

The first was a letter that Erik wrote to their cousin Andy Cando eight months before the 1989 murders, in which he described the allegations of abuse against their father. The other was a declaration by former Menudo band member Roy Rosselló alleging that he was assaulted by José—who worked with the band while COO of RCA Records—in the Menendez family home.

"There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their life, and they do not believe that they were molested," the DA explained during the press conference. "And there are people in the office that strongly believe that they should be released immediately, and that they were, in fact, molested."

He added that he does not want the alleged abuse to "excuse" the murder of their parents, but that "after a very careful review of all the arguments" he felt the case deserved to be resentenced.

As he had previously noted, Erik and Lyle—who were 18 and 21 at the time of the murders, respectively—have the support of so many of their family members.

"The truth is, Lyle and Eric were veiled by the very people who should have protected them, by their parents, by the system, by society at large," their aunt Joan said on behalf of the family at an Oct. 16 press conference. "When they stood trial, the whole world wasn't ready to believe that the boys could be raped, or that young men could be victims of sexual violence. Today, we know better. We know that abuse has long lasting effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand."

She continued, "If it were 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 as they did. No jury today would issue such a harsh sentence without taking their trauma into account."

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