Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says Lyle and Erik Menendez must come clean about their alleged crimes if they wish to be resentenced for killing their parents.
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Hochman emphasized on Monday that the brothers must fully acknowledge the lies they told about the shotgun murder of their parents 35 years ago before he would support their release from prison.
“If the Menendez brothers at some point, unequivocally, sincerely, and fully accept complete responsibility for all their criminal actions, acknowledge that the self-defense defense was phony, and their parents weren’t going to kill them the night of August 20th when they murdered them in cold blood. ” Hochman stated at a press conference.
In 1996, the Menendez brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The case made headlines due to the brothers’ privileged status as children of a record executive. At the time, Lyle was 21, and Erik was 18. Now, they are 57 and 54, respectively.
A recent Netflix documentary examined their claims of sexual abuse, prompting former district attorney George Gascon to advocate for resentencing and their release. However, Hochman, who succeeded Gascon in November, is preparing for a resentencing hearing set for March 20-21, but he plans to ask the judge to withdraw Gascon’s request. For now, Hochman is not buying their stories of abuse.
“If they go ahead and finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DA’s office, with their own family members, and acknowledge all these lies, and then can be said to have fully and completely accepted responsibility for their actions, in the future, the court can weigh these new insights into making a determination as to whether they now qualify for rehabilitation and resentencing,” he added.
