Fresh breakthrough could blow Menendez brothers case wide open as Kim Kardashian speaks out

In 1989 Lyle and Erik Menendez brutally murdered their own parents then went on a half-million-dollar spending spree, but new evidence has led many including Kim Kardashian to now plea to the court to set them free as district attourney review announced

The incarceration of infamous brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, as depicted in the new Netflix drama Monsters, has been a topic of hot debate across social media in recent years - with millions of Gen Z and Millenials calling into question the 1996 Murder In The First Degree verdict.

TikTok videos in support of Lyle and Erik have been viewed over 700 million times. Now reality star Kim Kardashian has joined the TikTokers and dupped the new Menendez Defenders.

In a personal essay published by NBC News on Thursday, Kim, 43, said that the court case of the Menendez brothers, who were charged with first-degree murder in the 90s in connection with the murder of their parents, should be “reconsidered.”

She said: “We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped or saved,”

The star, who has previously advocated for criminal justice reform, also said that she has spent time with Lyle and Erik, and she believes they brutally gunned down their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez due to years of sexual abuse.

Explosive new evidence is currently being evaluated by the US DA office that could reopen the case.

Monsters creator Ryan Murphy who was inspired to write the series after seeing all the TikTok support, added that he believes Lyle and Erik "could be out by Christmas"

He revealed that he had shown Kim a preview of the drama and led her to do research into the appeal launched with the DA office.

The explosive evidence, which backs up their sexual abuse defence, was uncovered by Lyle and Erik's long-time friend, writer Robert Rand. He spoke exclusively to The Mirror, about how he found the crucial information that could see the siblings finally walk free.

Robert handed the evidence to the brothers' lawyers, and a habeas corpus action was launched last year - challenging the legality of their imprisonment. The petition has been waiting to be reviewed since then.

However the Netflix drama has appeared to speed up matters. Robert tells the Mirror: “The judge in charge of the petition and the DA's office can make a decision together to review the evidence -which is what District Attorney George Gascon has just announced. I'm hopeful they will make a decision and Lyle and Erik will be released. They should never have gone to jail for murder."

This week George Gascón confirmed his office would review what he said was new evidence that the Menendez brothers were allegedly molested. He said: “We have not decided on the outcome. We are reviewing the information. But I think it’s also important that we recognize that both men and women can be the victims of sexual assault,”

Robert, now 70, discovered a letter from Erik claiming they were the victims of abuse. But for Robert it all started in September 1989. He says: “When I saw them in their whites they were happy. It was strange. I remember thinking ‘People grieve differently’. I never thought I’d be linked to their story 35 years on. That I would still be writing about them, finding new evidence and being friends with them.”

In March 1990, within a year of that first meeting, the brothers would be arrested. Erik had confessed to his therapist that they burst into the room while Kitty and Jose were watching TV. Jose was shot five times, including once with a shotgun aimed at the back of his head. Kitty survived eight bullets and was trying to crawl away when Lyle shot her in the face with a shotgun. The brothers then began a £500,000 spree buying Rolex watches, holidays and a Porsche.

Days after their arrest Robert visited the brothers in jail. He says: “They told me ‘Don’t make up your mind yet. Wait for the story to come out’.” That story emerged in court. The defence claimed music mogul Jose was an overbearing tyrant who had abused the boys for years. Family members testified that they were aware of abuse and that Erik had told them it was happening. But this was the 1990s and the world still had a way to go in understanding the mental impact of such trauma.

The first trial jury couldn’t agree a verdict. At the re-trial the judge disallowed many abuse allegations. The pair were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. Robert says: “What became known as the “battered wife defence had only been in California for around a decade. The “abuse defence” became the “abuse excuse”, ridiculed by commentators. One prosecutor even argued that “men could not be raped because they lack the necessary equipment.”

Robert says: “I remember sitting in the court in shock. Can you imagine that being said now? In the first trial there were juries for each brother. All the women voted for manslaughter and all the men went for murder. Afterwards, all the men said the same thing: a father would never do that to sons.”

The brothers always maintained they killed their mother because she failed to help them. Says Robert: “She told them she knew what was happening. Her marriage meant more to her than her sons.” In the Netflix trailer, Kitty tells her sons she wishes she “never had them”. Says Robert: “That’s based on what she told a family member.”

The second trial did not end until 1996 – months after the LA District Attorney had lost the OJ Simpson case. Robert says this was the reason the judge ruled out much of the sex abuse evidence. He adds: “It was bad timing. I believe Lyle and Erik paid the price for OJ’s acquittal. The District Attorney’s Office was determined to win at all costs.”

Now, 30 years on, it’s hoped a new hearing will finally get to consider the abuse claims. The brothers’ lawyers have launched a habeas corpus action challenging the legality of their imprisonment. It has the support of more than two dozen Menendez family members who say Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, have served enough time. It’s been backed by new evidence unveiled by Robert.

This includes a letter said to be from 17-year-old Erik to his cousin, Andy Cano, 15. Andy died from an accidental overdose in 2003. But in 2018 his mother invited Robert to look through his possessions and see if there was anything to help to the brothers.

The letter he found reads: “I’ve been trying to avoid Dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I’m afraid. He’s crazy. He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone.” Robert also spoke to Roy Rossello, a member of 80s Latino boyband Menudo, for a 2023 documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. In it Rossello claimed Jose abused him. The habeas corpus petition, including Rosello’s affidavit about alleged abuse, was launched a day after the film aired.

The new details are included in an updated version of Robert’s 2018 book The Menendez Murders, out this week. He says: “The boys should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. They would have still served time but would be out now. But they spoke about abuse at a time when it was taboo. It was before the Catholic Church abuse scandal.”

Both Jose’s sister Marta and Kitty’s sister Joan Vandermolen have always supported their nephews. Speaking in 2017 Joan, now in her 90s, said: “My sister could have protected her kids. That was her job.” There’s also been an explosion of videos by Gen Z TikTokers dubbed New Menendez Defenders. Robert says: “My son alerted me to the videos. I couldn’t believe it! I went down a rabbit hole for a few hours. I hope these and the Netflix drama will further highlight the case.”

Lyle and Erik – played in the Netflix series by Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch – were at first in separate jails. But in 2018 they were reunited at San Diego Donovan Correction Facility. Robert saw them in February in neighbouring cells. He says: “We were all emotional as we hugged and laughed. The brothers see each other throughout the day and are so grateful to be finally together. They know about the Netflix drama but won’t see it because they are only allowed to watch broadcast channels. What matters to them right now, above all, is the court outcome of the petition.”

Of course not everyone wants the pair freed. Kitty’s brothers Milton and Brian Andersen testified for the prosecution. Brian has since died but Milton has always said he doesn’t believe there was any sexual abuse. Last year he spoke out again, saying it was his dearest wish his nephews should never be released.

What they did was monstrous. But many of their growing band of supporters, including Kim and Monsters writer Ryan are hoping for the court to rule that monsters are made - not born.

Speaking on Kim's support, Ryan said: "She knew a lot about the case, and she grew up with it. But she didn’t know about a lot of the sexual abuse and she immediately became very interested in helping them.