Family of Erik and Lyle Menendez say the brothers were 'brutalized' and call for their release

The sister of Kitty Menendez — who was fatally shot by her two sons along with her husband — said she didn't know the extent of abuse faced by the brothers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Multiple generations of family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez pleaded for the brothers’ release from prison on Wednesday, saying they deserve to be free despite life sentences for the 1989 killings of their parents in Beverly Hills because they had been “brutalized” and sexually abused by their father.

At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, relatives of the Menendezes said the American public “vilified” the brothers in the wake of the notorious crime, which received national attention, and the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready then to hear that boys could be raped.