Almost 36 years after Erik and Lyle Menéndez killed their parents with shotguns in a crime that captivated the nation, they appeared through a video to go to the judge of Los Angeles that would decide if they could ever be released from the prison.
“I killed my mother and my dad,” said Lyle Menéndez, now 57, at a resentment audience on Tuesday. “I don’t put excuses. I assume all responsibility.”
On August 20, 1989, the brothers killed their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, at his home in Beverly Hills. They were later sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of probation.
But after a day of testimony, and after they were backed by support letters of the prison officers, the judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, Michael Jesus, on Tuesday the brothers worried 50 years to life, a change that will make them immediately eligible for probation.
Erik Menéndez, who is now 54, said: “My actions were criminals, selfish, cruel and cowardly.”
“I have no excuse, there is no justification for what I did,” he said. “I assume all the responsibility of my crimes.”
The brothers admitted that they lied to the police after the murders. “After the murders, I denied all responsibility,” said Erik Menéndez. “I’m sorry for these lies. There is no excuse for my behavior.”
The couple has argued that they were sexually abused by their father.
Lyle Menéndez said Tuesday that “I was in a co-dependent relationship with my little brother” for shared trauma.
He said that after the murders, he still heard his father’s voice in his head and that he maintained those secrets because he thought that no one would believe the alleged sexual abuse.
“Today, 35 years later, I am deeply ashamed of who it was,” said Lyle Menéndez.
He said he has had a personal evolution since 1996, when he and his brother were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of probation.
“I made a promise that I would never use violence to solve a problem,” said Lyle Menéndez.
If it is released, he said he plans to continue working with imprisoned people.
The resentment of Jesus’ couple 50 years of life in prison does not mean that they are still released.
His probation will have to be approved by the Board of Probation Hearings, which generally establishes an audience six months in advance. A decision -making decision would be reviewed by the governor of California Gavin Newsom.
This review process can take up to 150 days after a probation hearing, according to the governor’s website.
There is also a separate effort from the brothers so that Newsom gives them clemency, which would allow them to be released immediately, but that process is pending.
The members of the brothers’ family have sought their release from the prison. Lyle Menéndez apologized on Tuesday with the members of his family, saying: “I’m very sorry for each and every one of you.”
“I lied to you and forced you to focus on the public humiliation you never asked for,” he said.
