Erik and Lyle Menendez’s names are rarely said without the other, but the new Los Angeles County district attorney said their fates may lie separately.
‘While they’re called the “Menendez brothers case,” there’s an Erik Menendez case and Lyle Menendez case,’ District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who ousted former DA George Gascón, told NBC’s Lester Holt.
‘So we will look at each case separately, which is the way they actually should be handled.’
The brothers, aged 53 and 56, are currently serving life in prison without parole for fatally shooting their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Gascón announced during his failed reelection campaign that the LA District Attorney’s Office would review the case after the brothers’ second trial, which saw them convicted of murder, failed to show the abuse they suffered.
Gascón recommended a judge give the brothers a new sentence of 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole.
After Hochman’s win, he said he would reevaluate the case, but that the brothers would not be getting out as soon as their supporters had hoped.
Despite that, Hochman said described his office’s pace with the case as ‘expeditious,’ with a hearing is set for January 30.
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s names are rarely said without the other, but the new Los Angeles district attorney said their fates may lie separately
‘While they’re called the “Menendez brothers case,” there’s an Erik Menendez case and Lyle Menendez case,’ Nathan Hochman said. ‘So we will look at each case separately, which is the way they actually should be handled’
‘I’m reading thousands of pages of confidential prison files,’ the new DA told Holt.
Hochman went on to say that the resentencing law requires prosecutors to look at each person involved separately and how they fit into the crime.
He’s also aware of the case’s gravity and how the verdict will shape resentencing requests in the future.
‘We have to be consistent,’ he said.
Although the district attorney has not tipped has hand any further, he recently removed two deputy district attorneys who worked with his predecessor on the recommendation to downgrade their sentencing, according to Variety.
Hochman has been vocal about his disdain for Gascón’s handling of the case, as he claimed the former DA was using it to seek publicity.
The brothers’ family, however, agreed with Gascón and are requesting the men be set free as they were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father.
Two deputies also submitted a 57-page filing in October stating the brothers were fully rehabilitated and recommended their sentence be reduced.
‘We now understand that public safety is not best achieved through overly harsh punishments that ignore rehabilitation,’ the filing stated.
The brothers, aged 53 and 56, are currently serving life in prison without parole for fatally shooting their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989
Former DA George Gascón announced during his failed reelection campaign that the LA District Attorney’s Office would review the case after their second trial, which saw them convicted of murder, failed to show the abuse they suffered
They argued the brothers had ‘transformed’ and ‘taken advantage of meaningful opportunities to mature, move beyond criminal thinking, repent, and become productive community members.’
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Lyle was having a fling with British university student he met online.
Sources said Lyle is so besotted with blonde Milly Bucksey, 21, that he has even told her he wants to divorce his devoted wife – who he married in 2003, the month before his new love was born.
‘Lyle adores Milly’, an insider with knowledge of the romance told DailyMail.com. ‘And she refers to him as her boyfriend even though he’s married.’
The romance first blossomed at the start of this year, when Lyle spotted Milly on a Facebook group in his name that is run by his wife Rebecca Sneed, 55.
According to those familiar with the situation, he initially approached her under an alias before confessing his true identity to the smitten student.
Since then, their romance has spiced up and even led to Lyle getting busted by prison guards at the top-security Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego for possessing a contraband cell phone he was using to contact his new squeeze.
A record of that incident was included in Gascón’s resentencing memo, filed in Los Angeles at the end of October. It showed he was caught with the phone on March 15 in the cell he shares with ‘multiple other people.’
Despite being busted, DailyMail.com learned that Lyle had acquired a second illicit cell phone, which he has been using to stay in touch with the University of Manchester student.
