LOS ANGELES — Cousins of Erik and Lyle Menendez spoke out Thursday criticizing the Los Angeles district attorney’s recent decision to oppose a new trial for the brothers, who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for the 1989 killing of their parents.
The Menendez cousins applauded California Gov. Gavin Newsom for his decision a day earlier to order the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they are released, the first step for the governor to eventually decide whether or not to grant clemency.
The brothers, 18 and 21 at the time, were found guilty in the murders of their mother, Kitty Menendez, and entertainment executive father, Jose, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. They began their latest bid for freedom in recent years after their attorneys said new evidence emerged about their father’s sexual abuse, and with the support of most of their extended family.
In a lengthy press conference last week, District Attorney Nathan Hochman cast doubt on the new evidence of sexual abuse and characterized the brothers’ own testimony of sexual abuse as untrustworthy because they had told five different explanations for why they committed the murder.
Anamarie Baralt, Jose Menendez’s niece, called Hochman’s decision “extra hurtful” to the family after they had met with his office weeks prior to share their experiences.
“It ignores how far we have come in recognizing the long-term effects of abuse and the systemic barriers that keep victims silent,” Baralt said. “The expectation that victims should have immediately disclosed their abuse ignores the reality of trauma.”
Baralt said their relationship with the current administration was different from theirs with the previous district attorney George Gascón, and questioned whether Hochman’s decision took into account current knowledge of trauma.
“Is he applying the laws as it exists today, with a modern, trauma-informed understanding? Or is he relying on an outdated harmful framework that has since been rejected,” Baralt said.
Tamara Goodell, Erik and Lyle Menendez’s second cousin, also expressed her disappointment at the lack of acknowledgment of the brothers’ achievements in prison.
She said the brothers, who are now in their 50s, have “created careers for themselves” while incarcerated, detailing the many peer support groups and initiatives they started in prison.
For Erik Menendez, this includes an Alternatives to Violence project, a series of workshops promoting nonviolent conflict resolution; a disabled and elderly inmate support group; and a 12-step meditation class.
Lyle Menendez created the Green Space project for the beautification of prisons through murals and landscaping, “marking the first time prison administration entrusted an inmate to lead such a redesign,” according to Baralt. He also started a mentoring group for teens with life sentences without possibility of parole, and a bulletin for fostering communication within the prison population.
The proposed resentencing for the brothers is set to be taken up at a March hearing and would make them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman said he would share an update on his position in the coming weeks, and that the decision would take into account the brothers’ rehabilitation during their time in prison.
Goodell and Baralt said it was clear from their own interactions with the brothers over the decades that they had “immense remorse” for their actions the night they killed their parents.
Baralt recalled something that Lyle said to her in a 2006 letter.
“He said, ‘I need you to understand that I recognize my actions are your own personal tragedy and I know I can never take it back, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it better,’” Baralt said.
