(NewsNation) — The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is reviewing the convictions of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers who’ve been imprisoned since 1996 for the gruesome shotgun murders of their parents.
“We have not decided on an outcome. We are reviewing the information,” DA George Gascón told reporters.
He said his office has a copy of a letter alleged to be from a cousin of the Menendez brothers accusing their father of molesting him. A former member of the band Menudo has written a letter also accusing Jose Menendez of molesting him.
“None of this information has been confirmed,” Gascón cautioned, but added that “we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review” the information.
“We have not conceded one way or the other. We are not saying there was anything wrong with the original trial,” Gascón added.
The Menendez brothers were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of Kitty and José Menendez. They were tried separately in 1993, then jointly in 1995, before being convicted in 1996.
Lyle and Erik Menendez say the crime, which happened when they were 21 and 18, came after years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
Recently, Netflix aired a series called “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” but the show’s portrayal of the brothers’ lives, crime and trial has garnered much criticism, including from its subjects, who say it is “disheartening slander.”
In a statement shared by Erik Menendez’s wife, Tammi, on X, he explicitly blames Murphy for the show’s portrayal, saying he “cannot be this naïve and inaccurate about the facts of our lives,” adding that the show had to have been created with “bad intent.”
NewsNation digital producer Anna Kutz contributed to this report.