Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is expected to recommend a resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, convicted of murder for killing their parents in 1989, which could pave the way for the brothers to be released in the wake of Netflix’s controversial Ryan Murphy series “Monsters.”

Menendez brothers 1989

BMenendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989.

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Key Facts

Gascón earlier this month said his office is evaluating whether the brothers, who claimed they killed their parents out of fear for their lives following years of sexual abuse, should remain in prison for the rest of their lives and said he has a “moral and ethical obligation to review what is being presented.”

On Monday, he told People he does not believe the brothers are a danger to society.

Gascón can recommend a resentencing for the brothers, which The New York Times reports he is expected to do, but the final decision will be made by a judge—and his office is expected to announce a recommendation at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

The legal review comes as Netflix’s dramatic series based on the murders continues to rank high on the streamer’s most-watched charts and a boast from creator Ryan Murphy the show is “best thing to happen to the Menendez brothers in 30 years.”

“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was the most-watched series on Netflix for two weeks in a row before falling to second, third and fourth places in the subsequent weeks for a total of 506.5 million viewing hours from Sept. 23 to Oct. 20.

The second season of the anthology series “Monster” from Ryan Murphy focuses on the murders of José and Kitty Menendez, who were killed by their then 18- and 21-year old sons Erik and Lyle, though the two men have slammed the show as a “blatant lie” amid its portrayal of sexual abuse trauma and the suggestion they had an incestuous relationship.

On Sept. 19, the day of the show’s premiere, Erik Menendez shared a statement to X through his wife Tammi’s account that accused Murphy of “bad intent,” slammed the show as a step backward in accurately portraying male sexual abuse, and said it included “vile and appalling character portrayals of Lile and of me.”

The more controversial depictions in the show, like the incest implication and scenes showing Lyle using cocaine, are largely based on the far-flung theories of the late Vanity Fair journalist Dominick Dunne, with no real evidence behind them.

Murphy said he found Erik Menendez’s commentary “interesting because I know he hasn’t watched the show” and said he stands by how “Monsters” portrayed the story, later slamming the Menendez brothers for claiming “lies after lies” without specific criticisms and then labeled the show “the best thing to happen to the Menendez brothers in 30 years.”

The Hollywood Reporter published an article with interviews from the show’s main actors—including Cooper Koch, who played Erik, and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, who plays Lyle—who expressed sympathy for the Menendez brothers but also agreed with Murphy that press from the show stands to benefit, more than harm, the family.

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Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez in “Monsters.”

Miles Crist/Netflix

Did The Menendez Brothers Have An Incestuous Relationship?

Most of the controversy surrounding “Monsters” focuses on the implication the Menendez brothers had a sexual relationship. In the show, Erik and Lyle share a kiss in the second episode and their mother finds them showering together in episode six. Both have vehemently denied a sexual relationship, and Murphy has said “there are people who say that never happened, there were people who said it did happen.” Robert Rand, an expert on the case, told the Hollywood Reporter he doesn’t think the pair were “ever lovers” and said any inappropriate contact between the two would not have been a real relationship, but a “response to trauma.”

Key Background

José and Kitty Menendez were shot six and 10 times, respectively, in their home in August of 1989. Initially, Erik and Lyle told police they’d been out of the house when the murders occurred, but Erik later confessed the killing to his psychologist, whose mistress told police about the brother’s involvement. The Menendez trial was a huge news event, and while the brothers never denied killing their parents, they claimed they shot them out of fear for their lives after a lifetime of sexual abuse at the hands of their father. They said their mother, who they accused of being an alcoholic and drug addict, enabled her husband’s behavior and was also physically abusive. The defense presented pornographic images of the boys taken by their father, and two people testified in support of the abuse claims. One prosecutor claimed “men could not be raped.” The first trial ended with deadlocked juries and a second trial, which focused much less on the abuse claims, ended in the conviction of both brothers on two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. They were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and remain in prison.

What To Watch For

In addition to the new investigation from the Los Angeles District Attorney, Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53, are awaiting a habeas corpus petition filed last year that asked for a new evidentiary hearing or for the Menendez brothers’ convictions to be vacated. Last year, new evidence emerged in the case when Roy Rosselló said he, too, had been raped by José Mendenez, and the brothers’ defense team discovered a letter written by Erik to his cousin in 1988 opening up about his father’s abuse.