The Menéndez brothers’ family wants the couple to be released from prison immediately without going through the parole process, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, have been locked up for nearly 35 years since they were arrested for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home.
Now they have been thrown a lifeline after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon revealed last week that he recommended the couple be resentenced and given the possibility of parole, promising to have them home by Time for Thanksgiving.
Relatives of the Menendez brothers want the parole process to be overturned entirely so they can be reunited with elderly relatives who have supported them during their incarceration.
Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, have been locked up since March 1990, when they were arrested for the shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home the previous August.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon announced at a news conference last week that he was recommending the brothers be resentenced, promising to get them home in time for Thanksgiving.
But even if a judge agrees to the new sentence, the parole process could last up to a year, and any decision in favor of release could still be vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Now sources close to the Menendez family have told DailyMail.com that they would like to see that process suspended so that the brothers can be released immediately, pointing to the fact that many of their surviving relatives are aging, including their aunt and his former supporter. Joan Andersen VanderMolen, who is now 92 years old.
Another aunt, Terry Baralt, 85, whose brother was her father Jose, is currently battling stage three colorectal cancer and is enduring chemotherapy treatment.
The source said: “For more than 35 years, and as victims, Eric and Lyle’s families have fought for their release.
“Now, decades later, with the older members’ health declining, they pray for the chance to meet in the real world one last time.”
The source added: ‘When Eric and Lyle were sentenced, so was the family, beginning a decades-long journey of heartbreak, pain and uncertainty.
“It’s time for all their suffering to end before it’s too late.”
The brothers’ family, including cousin Diane Hernandez (left) and aunt Joan Andersen VanderMolen, want the brothers to be released so they can spend time with their elderly relatives.
They both admitted to the horrific murders, but said they broke after enduring years of sexual abuse at the hands of Jose and did it in self-defense.
The case to free the brothers has gained new momentum thanks to the Netflix docuseries Monsters, starring Nicholas Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik.
The Menendez brothers are currently locked up at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where they are both serving life sentences without parole for the brutal shotgun murders of their parents.
They both admitted to the horrific murders, but said they broke after enduring years of sexual abuse at the hands of Jose and did it in self-defense.
That argument failed at their 1993 trial, when prosecutors successfully argued that the murders were carried out for financial gain after the brothers spent $700,000 in the weeks after their parents were murdered.
As a result, both were sentenced to life in prison without parole and sent to separate prisons, although they were eventually reunited in San Diego jail in 2018.
New evidence has since come to light in the form of a letter written by Lyle to a cousin detailing the abuse at the time, something that influenced Gascon’s decision.
His case was further bolstered by the testimony of former youth band singer Roy Rosselló, who last year came forward to say he was raped by José during a visit to the family home when he was just 14 years old.
Gascón was persuaded by evidence such as the testimony of former boy band singer Roy Rosselló, who said he was raped by José during a visit to the family home when he was 14 years old.
A letter written by Lyle before the murders to a cousin detailing his father Joseph’s abuse also increased the brother’s credibility.
Both brothers married while in prison. Lyle married defense attorney Rebecca Sneed in 2003, having previously been married to model Anna Eriksson for five years.
Last week, Gascón said: “I think they have paid their debt to society, and I think the brothers were subjected to tremendous dysfunction in the home and sexual abuse.”
The brothers’ case has repeatedly made headlines since their trial in 1993, most recently following the release of the hit Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The hit show fueled a new round of stories about the brothers and they were also visited in prison by Kim Kardashian, who is a long-time advocate for prison and prison reform.