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Lyle and Erik Menendez may become free men after spending decades behind bars for killing their parents.
Here’s a look at life in prison for the notorious brothers and three paths to potential freedom:The case
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to buying shotguns and firing 16 rounds at Jose and Kitty Menendez inside the family’s Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Prosecutors alleged they killed their wealthy parents for money, but the defense argued they acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father.
The first trial, which had separate juries for each brother, ended in mistrials. In 1996, after the second trial — during which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence — Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted and both sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole.Life in prison
Nery Ynclan, an ABC News freelance producer and an executive producer of « Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed », has visited Lyle Menendez multiple times at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
She stressed that Lyle and Erik Menendez have spent their decades in prison rehabilitating themselves, as well as helping other inmates.
» [ Lyle ] and his brother spent their whole adult lives trying to counsel other victims of sexual abuse and start programs at the prison », she said. « Even though they had no chance of parole, they really felt that the prison system could be improved. »
Erik Menendez has provided hospice care to inmates, their attorney said, while for the last 20 years, Lyle Menendez’s fellow inmates have elected him as their representative with the prison administration, Ynclan said.
« He’s like a soft-spoken CEO who is very busy with multiple projects », Ynclan said of Lyle.
« He wants to talk about prison reform », Ynclan said. « He would talk to me about the college courses he was taking. . I was really impressed that someone in their early 50s, in prison without any chance of parole . would want to take calculus and statistics to continue bettering themselves. »
With freedom now a possibility, Ynclan described this as an « emotional and tense time » for Lyle Menendez.
« For the first time in decades, he actually feels like there’s a glimmer of hope that the two of them might get home to their families one day », Ynclan said.Path 1: Habeas corpus petition
One track to freedom is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which was filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.
