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Menendez Brothers Murder Case Timeline

LOS ANGELES– Los Angeles prosecutors are set to announce their decision on whether to seek resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 and are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. conditional release.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said there was no doubt the brothers killed their parents in Beverly Hills, and both men admitted to the killings. But the brothers claimed they committed the crimes in self-defense after years of abuse at the hands of their father.

Gascón said the reconsideration of the case was appropriate given a renewed understanding and empathy for victims of sexual abuse.

The brothers were convicted and sentenced in 1996.

The case made headlines following a documentary series and crime drama released by Netflix.

Here is an overview of the timeline of the case:

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August 1989: Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records in Los Angeles, and his wife Kitty Menendez, were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills mansion.

March 1990: Lyle Menendez, then 21, is arrested. Eighteen-year-old Erik Menendez surrendered a few days later. They are charged with first degree murder.

July 1993: The Menendez brothers are tried, each before a separate jury. Prosecutors argued they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ lawyers do not dispute that the two men killed their parents, but argue that they acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

January 1994: Deadlock between the two juries.

October 1995: Start of the brothers’ new trial, this time with a single jury. Much of the defense’s evidence regarding alleged sexual abuse is excluded in the second trial.

March 1996: Jurors find the two brothers guilty of first-degree murder.

July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

May 2023: Lawyers for the Menendez brothers ask the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new testimony from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who said he was raped by José Menendez while he was 14 years old. a letter Erik wrote about his father’s mistreatment before the murders.

September 2024: Netflix releases the crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a nine-episode series about murders.

October 4, 2024: Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in the case.

October 16, 2024: Several generations of family members of the Menendez brothers hold a press conference demanding their release from prison. Relatives say the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready to hear that the boys could be raped.

October 24, 2024. Prosecutors hold a press conference to announce their decision whether to recommend a resentencing.