LOS ANGELES (AP) — The district attorney of Los Angeles County said Monday that he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Resentencing, which could make the brothers immediately eligible for parole, is just one of the pathways they are pursuing to walk free after their 1996 convictions for murder. District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s predecessor, who lost reelection, had backed resentencing, and advocates for the siblings had waited anxiously to see whether the new DA would do the same.
Hochman told reporters his decision hinged on the fact the brothers had failed to take “complete responsibility” for lies told as the case unfolded, including their original claim that they did not kill their parents. He said their repeated argument that they shot their parents in self-defense does not match the facts of the case that show their premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it look like a gang hit.
“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.
Hochman compared the Menendez case to that of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He noted that, like the Menendez brothers, Sirhan had many letters of support and was determined to be a low-risk inmate. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked his parole in 2022, saying Sirhan still posed an unreasonable threat to the public.