A Los Angeles prosecutor said on Thursday he is asking the court to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez after they have spent 34 years in prison for the shotgun murders of their parents, Associated Press reported, after new evidence emerged indicating they were sexually abused by their father for years.
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The recommendation raises the possibility that the brothers will be released on parole.
“I believe that under the law resentencing is appropriate and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon told a press conference.
Gascon said he would recommend that their life sentences be removed and replaced with a sentence of 50 years to life, but that they would be eligible for parole because of their young age at the time of the murders.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society,” Gascon said.
The Menendez brothers, now 56 and 53, were convicted after the second of two highly publicised trials that captivated the United States at the time because of their wealth and privilege as the sons of a record company and entertainment industry executive.