The Menendez Brothers Could be Released From Prison. Here’s What to Know.

Prosecutors have recommended that the brothers be resentenced, which could lead 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.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles County district attorney, George Gascón, recommended that Lyle and Erik Menendez be resentenced, which could ultimately lead to their release.

“I came to a place where I believe that under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow,” Mr. Gascón said at a news conference.

“I believe that they have paid their debt to society,” he added.

He said he would recommend the brothers be resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Given the brothers’ age when they committed the murders and their time served, they would be eligible for release under current law, Mr. Gascón said.

Mr. Gascón had announced earlier this month that his office was reviewing the case.

The reconsideration of their life sentences comes as the 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 happens next?

Once Mr. Gascón makes his formal recommendation to the court, it will be up for a judge to decide whether resentencing is warranted

If the judge agrees with the prosecutor’s conclusion that they should be resentenced, the brothers will then need to appear before a parole board. The process could take many more weeks and their release is far from guaranteed.

Mr. Gascón’s recommendation is expected to carry some weight with the court.

While acknowledging that the brothers committed “horrible acts” and that “there is no excuse for murder,” Mr. Gascón said on Thursday that he believed that they engaged in “a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation” while incarcerated.

A lawyer for the Menendez brothers recently called them “exemplary” prisoners, highlighting that they had created programs, counseled and mentored others and pursued higher education behind bars.

The recommendation comes as Mr. Gascón, a Democrat, is trailing a conservative challenger running as an independent in next month’s election for Los Angeles County district attorney. He has said that his office’s interest in the case was not politically motivated and had been in the works for more than a year.

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 their conviction?

In the past several years, new evidence has come to light in the Menendez brothers’ 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 brought forward a letter that Erik wrote when he was 17 to his cousin, detailing his father’s sexual abuse.

On Thursday, Mr. Gascón said that he believed the brothers’ molestation claims.

Where does the family stand?

On Thursday, several members of the Menendez family were at the news conference when Mr. Gascón announced his decision.

“Today is a day filled with hope for our family,” said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers who supports 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.”

But not everyone in their family agrees. Milton Andersen, one of Kitty Menendez’s brothers, recently retained a lawyer to oppose the brothers’ release. In 2023, he told The New York Times that Lyle and Erik “do not deserve to walk on the face of this earth after killing my sister and my brother-in-law.”

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.

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

On Thursday, Mr. Gascón said that the recent documentary “brought a tremendous amount of public attention” and requests for information to his office.

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.

Hank Sanders contributed reporting.