Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón will ask a judge to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez, two brothers serving life terms for killing their parents, a move that could pave the way for their release.
Gascón will request the brothers’ prior sentence of life without the possibility of parole be rescinded and that they instead be sentenced to 50 years to life, a move that could make them eligible for parole as youthful offenders because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.
“I came to a place where I believe that under the law resentencing is appropriate, and I am going to recommend that,” Gascón said.
The two brothers were convicted of murder with special circumstances, a charge that is punishable only by life without parole or the death penalty. On Thursday, Gascón said he would ask the court to resentence the brothers to a murder charge, which leaves open the possibility of parole.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society,” he said.
The brothers were sentenced to life without parole after a jury found them guilty of killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. The 1989 killings, and the televised trial that followed, has sparked documentaries, movies and television series that have made the brothers two of the most publicly recognizable convicts.