Menendez brothers timeline: The murders, trials and effort to free them from prison
Follow a timeline of key dates to know after Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their mother and father at the family’s Beverly Hills home in 1989.
In the summer of 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez burst into the den of their family’s Beverly Hills home armed with shotguns and opened fire, killing their mother and father.
After the brothers were charged in the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez, they said they gunned down their parents after years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of their father — an allegation disputed by prosecutors, who argued the claims were false and the siblings were motivated by financial gain.
Their televised trial, which captured the brothers recounting the alleged abuse in grim and graphic detail, ended when the jury could not reach a verdict. After a second trial, the siblings were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
In October, Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor said the brothers had been model prisoners and recommended that they be resentenced to 50 years to life in prison. If a judge agrees, they could be eligible for parole immediately and potentially released from prison.
Here are key dates in the case:
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