Almost 36 years after Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents with shotguns in a crime that captivated the nation, they appeared via video to address the Los Angeles judge who would decide whether they could ever be freed from prison.
“I killed my mom and dad,” Lyle Menendez, now 57, said at a resentencing hearing Tuesday. “I make no excuses. I take full responsibility.”
On Aug. 20, 1989, the brothers killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home. They were later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But after a day of testimony, and after they were backed by support letters from prison officers, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on Tuesday resentenced the brothers to 50 years to life — a change that will make them immediately eligible for parole.
Erik Menendez, who is now 54, said: “My actions were criminal, selfish, cruel and cowardly.”
“I have no excuse, no justification for what I did,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my crimes.”
The brothers admitted they lied to police after the killings. “After the killings, I denied all responsibility,” Erik Menendez said. “I am sorry for these lies. There is no excuse for my behavior.”
The pair have argued that they were sexually abused by their father.
Lyle Menendez said Tuesday that, “I was in a co-dependent relationship with my little brother” over shared trauma.
He said that after the killings, he still heard his father’s voice in his head and that he kept those secrets because he thought no one would believe the alleged sex abuse.
“Today, 35 years later, I am deeply ashamed of who I was,” Lyle Menendez said.
He said that he has had a personal evolution since 1996, when he and his brother were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
“I made a promise I would never use violence to solve a problem,” Lyle Menendez said.
If released, he said he plans to continue working with people who are incarcerated.
Jesic’s resentencing of the pair to 50 years to life in prison does not mean that they are freed yet.
Their parole will have to be approved by the state Board of Parole Hearings, which usually sets a hearing six months in advance. A decision to parole them would be up for review by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
That review process can take up to 150 days following a parole hearing, according to the governor’s website.
There is also a separate effort by the brothers to have Newsom grant them clemency, which would allow them to be released immediately, but that process is pending.
Members of the brothers’ family have sought their release from prison. Lyle Menendez on Tuesday apologized to his family members, saying, “I’m so sorry to each and every one of you.”
“I lied to you and forced you into a spotlight of public humiliation you never asked for,” he said.
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