The Menendez Brothers’ Case Is Under Review. Here’s What to Know.

Prosecutors are revisiting the brothers’ convictions in the killings of their parents, and the district attorney is expected to request a resentencing today. It could pave the way for a path to their release from prison.

Over 35 years ago, Lyle and Erik Menendez — then 21 and 18 years old — walked into the den of their Beverly Hills mansion and fired more than a dozen shotgun rounds at their parents.

Now, after serving decades behind bars as part of a life sentence without the possibility of parole, the Menendez brothers may be getting a chance at freedom.

In early October, the Los Angeles County district attorney, George Gascón, announced that his office was reviewing the case after lawyers representing the Menendez brothers asked prosecutors to recommend a resentencing, a move that could lead to their release. On Thursday afternoon, he is expected to request the resentencing of the Menendez brothers, according to a person familiar with the prosecutor’s decision.

The reconsideration of their life sentences comes at a time when the Menendez brothers have been thrust back into the media spotlight thanks to the revelation of new evidence, an army of social media defenders and a recent television series and documentary examining their crime and trials.

Here’s what to know about the Menendez brothers’ case:

What were they convicted of?

In 1996, the Menendez brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents, Jose, a music executive, and Mary Louise, a former beauty queen who went by the name Kitty.

It was their second trial. Two years prior, a mistrial was declared after two separate juries (one for each brother) deadlocked over a verdict.

The trials proceeded quite differently.

In the first trial, defense lawyers claimed that the brothers had killed their parents after years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by their father and feared for their lives. Their mother, they said, knew about the abuse but didn’t stop it.

Interviews with jurors after the mistrial revealed that some of them questioned how serious the abuse was and to what it extent it justified their actions.

In the second trial that led to their convictions, where the brothers were tried in front of a single jury, lawyers for the brothers were limited in what evidence and testimony could be presented.

The judge, Stanley M. Weisberg, prohibited their lawyers from using the “abuse excuse,” essentially leaving only two options for jurors: an acquittal or a murder conviction. They went with the latter.

What has happened since then?

In the past several years, new evidence has come to light that may prove favorable for the Menendez brothers in the review of their case.

Last year, Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, publicly revealed in the Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that Jose Menendez had sexually assaulted him at the Menendez family home in New Jersey when he was 14.

The journalist Robert Rand, who had written extensively about the brothers in his book “The Menendez Murders,” also uncovered a letter that Erik wrote when he was 17 to his cousin, detailing his father’s sexual abuse.

At a news briefing on Oct. 3, Mr. Gascón said that none of this new information had been confirmed by his office but that prosecutors had a “moral and ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us.”

What happens next?

Prosecutors are currently reviewing new evidence and considering whether, if it had been available at the time, it could have affected the outcome of the trial. They are also evaluating whether the defendants have been rehabilitated during their incarceration.

Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the Menendez brothers, said at a media briefing on Oct. 16 that Lyle and Erik Menendez had been “exemplary” prisoners who created programs, counseled and mentored others and pursued higher education even when they had no hope of being released.

Mr. Gascón initially did not indicate which way his office was leaning. But he later said in a televised interview in an “IMPACT x Nightline” episode on Oct. 17 that “given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die.”

Prosecutors can make a recommendation, but the court will ultimately have the final say over the brothers’ fate. Their next court date is scheduled for Nov. 26.

Where does the family stand?

Many members of the Menendez family have been supportive of their release.

Earlier this year, two dozen family members called for their resentencing in a letter submitted to the court, arguing that “time has provided perspective” and that “continued incarceration serves no rehabilitative purpose.”

Joan Andersen VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty Menendez, spoke in support of their release.

As the abuse came to light, she said, “it became clear that their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable” cruelty of their father.

But not everyone in their family agrees. Milton Andersen, one of Kitty Menendez’s brothers, told The New York Times in 2023 that the brothers should not be set free.

“They do not deserve to walk on the face of this earth after killing my sister and my brother-in-law,” he said.

Why has there been renewed interest in the case?

The Menendez brothers have been the subject of two recent high-profile releases on Netflix.

The first, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” an anthology series created by Ryan Murphy, premiered in September.

While Erik Menendez has spoken out publicly against the show, calling it riddled with falsehoods, Mr. Murphy has doubled down, arguing to The Hollywood Reporter that the brothers should be grateful to him for bringing more attention to the case.

At the Oct. 3 briefing, Mr. Gascón acknowledged that his office had been “getting a lot of calls” about the Menendez brothers, especially since the series was released.

Weeks later, Netflix premiered “The Menendez Brothers,” a documentary by Alejandro Hartmann featuring exclusive interviews with Lyle and Erik Menendez.

Over the past several years, the Menendez brothers have also been backed by a legion of fans on social media who have examined the case in hindsight and expressed sympathy amid the brothers’ claims of sexual assault.