Menéndez Brothers' Bid for New Trial Denied After Parole Rejection

The endeavor by Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez to secure a new trial was turned down less than a month after the siblings' parole was denied.

As per a report published by The New York Times on Tuesday, September 16, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan rejected the convicted killers' appeal just one day earlier. This refusal occurred after both brothers, found guilty of fatally shooting their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, in 1989, had been denied parole during two separate hearings held in August.

The rejected retrial request, submitted by the brothers’ legal team in May 2023, solidifies their unsuccessful attempts to reduce their convictions, with Erik, now 57, and Lyle, 54, both currently serving sentences of 50 years to life in prison following a May resentencing that made them eligible for parole. (They were initially handed life sentences without parole in 1996 after a prior mistrial where jurors couldn't reach a unanimous verdict amidst evidence concerning alleged abuse by their parents.)

Erik and Lyle's 2023 request for a retrial brought forth two novel pieces of evidence that surfaced after the release of the Peacock docuseries Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. (Public awareness of Erik and Lyle’s conviction significantly grew when Netflix later launched the Ryan Murphy production Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in October 2024.)

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One piece of evidence involved a letter Erik purportedly penned at age 17 to his cousin Andy Cano, detailing accusations of sexual abuse by his father.

The second piece of evidence was a sworn statement from Roy Rosselló, a former member of the musical group Menudo, who alleged that José sexually abused him in 1983.

In a 16-page letter, obtained by The New York Times, which outlined his rejection of the retrial plea, Judge Ryan characterized the evidence as not "particularly strong.”

According to the publication, Judge Ryan's ruling included these words: “The purported new evidence that slightly corroborates that petitioners were sexually abused, does not negate the finding of premeditation and deliberation and the lying-in-wait special circumstance.”

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Judge Ryan further stated, “The evidence alleged here is not so compelling that it would have produced a reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one juror or supportive of an imperfect self-defense instruction.”

Regarding the letter Erik allegedly wrote to his cousin, Judge Ryan noted that it “does not additionally inform the jury of petitioners’ alleged fear at the time of the murders,” while Rosselló’s declaration was deemed “not relevant to the petitioners’ state of mind at the time of the murders.”

The outlet indicated that Erik and Lyle are permitted to “petition to go before the board again after 18 months.”