California Gov. Gavin Newsom has brought Lyle and Erik Menendez one step closer to freedom by asking the state parole board to assess whether or not the high-profile killers should be set free.
Newsom ordered the board to conduct a “risk assessment” of the brothers, a precursor to a potential commutation of their sentences, the governor announced Wednesday on his new podcast “This is Gavin Newsom.”
“The question for the board is a simple one: Do Erik and Lyle Menendez, do they pose a current, what we call unreasonable risk to public safety?” Newsom said.
The assessment will call on public safety experts and forensic psychologists to help determine whether or not the brothers should be set loose more than thirty years after gunning down their parents in the living room of their Malibu mansion.
The announcement offers a new way forward in the brothers’ ever-narrowing path to freedom.
Last Friday, LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced his recommendation that the LA County Superior Court deny the brothers’ request for a retrial due to new evidence that the pair had been molested by their father.
The brothers’ attorneys also urged the court to downgrade their charge from murder to manslaughter, which they have already served the maximum sentence for.
Lyle and Erik became household names in the 90s during two high-profile trials in which they were convicted of killing José Menendez, a wealthy music producer, and his wife Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez for their inheritance money.
A 2024 Netflix documentary brought them back into the spotlight, and new evidence emerged backing the brothers’ story, including a letter by Erik, dated before the murders, that describes being sexually assaulted by his father.
A member of the band Menudo came forward and claimed that José had molested him, too.
But the DA’s office doubts the veracity of the letter and the more recent accounts, said the newly-elected Hoffman, who ran on a tough-on-crime platform.
