More than 30 family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences for the shotgun murders of their parents Jose and Kitty more than 30 years ago, are calling for their release from prison.
The family members spoke out at a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in front of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Numerous family members cited the sex abuse the brothers have claimed they endured at the hands of their father, Jose, describing them as victims, not murderers.
Brian A. Andersen Jr., the nephew of the brothers’ slain mother, Kitty Menendez, described them at the time of the 1989 killings as “young, scared and abused.”
“They lived in constant fear” of their father, Jose, Karen VanderMolen, niece of Kitty said, who added, “The feeling in their house and the father and son interactions were just off.”
Mark Geragos, the post-conviction attorney for the brothers, said society’s understanding …