Ana Garcia has some discovery of her personal.
After deep diving into the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who have been sentenced to life with out parole for the 1989 homicide of their mother and father, Kitty and José Menendez, the “True Crime Information” podcast host is bringing a chunk of proof that doesn’t sit proper along with her into the forefront.
“The one factor that has at all times bothered me about Erik and Lyle,” Garcia completely instructed The Submit, “is that what number of extra Erik and Lyles are there behind bars with comparable circumstances? They don’t seem to be getting the assist and a spotlight and possibly the compassion that they are getting. And that goes to equity for me, and that’s what I take into consideration rather a lot. They’re so excessive profile it’s all about them. What concerning the others?”
After two trials, Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, have been convicted in 1996 and sentenced to 2 consecutive phrases of life with out parole. Nonetheless, all that modified after the decide decreased their sentence to 50 years to life in Might. Now, the brothers are eligible for parole.
Though Lyle and Erik have served over 30 years behind bars, Garcia posed the query weighing on everybody’s thoughts: “Have they served sufficient time for his or her murders?”
“I’ve additionally seen different convicted killers spend a fraction of the time behind bars that these two have. Is that honest?” The Emmy award-winning journalist continued. “I imply, there’s a case in Texas that I coated the place this man killed an 11-year-old lady. He sexually abused her. He killed her, and he threw her in a trash bin. He served solely 11 years for that homicide. That’s not proper. That’s not honest. So the place is the equity in our justice system?”
Garcia additionally wished to remind the general public {that a} listening to doesn’t essentially equal freedom.
“Let’s remember, they’re nonetheless in jail,” the true crime professional acknowledged. “They haven’t been launched. What has occurred is now, they’re eligible for parole. Effectively, within the state of California, the parole charge of inmates who go earlier than the board and are literally launched is 14%. That’s the final statistic we’ve got in California. Lots of people view California as being a really liberal state, however if you happen to take a look at the parole charge of 14%, that’s not a parole board that lets folks out simply.”
Lyle and Erik’s parole board listening to was initially scheduled for June 13 however has been pushed again to August 21 and August 22.
“One of many brothers really mentioned on Fb that they thought it was a good suggestion,” Garcia added, “as a result of it provides them extra time to arrange, extra time for the protection, their attorneys to current as a result of rather a lot goes to occur at this parole listening to.”
The pair getting the possibility to be heard in entrance of the board can also be because of these on-line who introduced their case again into the limelight a long time later.
In 2024, Ryan Murphy aired the restricted sequence “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” starring Cooper Koch as Erik and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle. Koch additionally supported the brothers at their resentencing listening to.
“I do imagine that the present had an influence,” Garcia defined. “I additionally imagine the documentary did. I additionally imagine that Kim Kardashian writing her essay about why she believed that we should always decide them primarily based on how all of us now view the type of sexual abuse they are saying that they skilled. I believe there was a groundswell of assist to have their case re-examined primarily based on how we now perceive victims of crime. That means they have been victims right here.”
“However as I’ve mentioned earlier than to you, if each baby who was abused killed their mother and father, we’d have a whole lot of useless mother and father. What I ask myself again and again – this was clearly premeditated. That they had so many alternatives to not kill their mother and father. But they went by way of with this plan, after which it was the cover-up afterwards.”
Together with a powerful assist system from across the nation, Lyle and Erik even have their members of the family standing by them. Joan VanderMolen, Kitty’s sister, has fought for his or her freedom together with Terry Baralt, José’s solely dwelling sister.
“I hear the Menendez household talking loudly and clearly to each decide who will take heed to them, each prosecutor who will take heed to them,” Garcia shared, “that they imagine Lyle and Erik have already served sufficient time. Is that sufficient for a homicide? For some instances, it’s.”
Which may enhance Lyle and Erik’s probabilities of being launched.
The siblings will even get an opportunity to jot down an announcement of non-public change, which is “their clarification to the board of what they have been considering on the time, why they did it, what they now know, and the way they’ve been rehabilitated.”
“What I see a whole lot of is if you happen to deny your crime, if you happen to’re nonetheless saying that you just’re harmless, that you just’re nonetheless saying you didn’t kill her or him, that the parole board doesn’t like that,” Garcia expressed. “They need to hear you admit to your crime. They need to see that you just’ve been rehabilitated, they usually actually need you to take duty, in order that’s going to be actually necessary.”
“The query is, the violence,” she famous. “The extent of violence on this crime and full disregard for human life. How are you going to elucidate this?”
Their crime is one which Los Angeles County District Legal professional Nathan Hochman can’t reconcile.
“He has tried to dam every part,” Garcia confessed. “He doesn’t imagine they’re rehabilitated. He didn’t need them to be resentenced. Actually, it was so fascinating – you not often have the precise DA arguing a case in courtroom, however this time, he stood with the opposite prosecutor assigned to the case and argued the case in entrance of the decide. That’s how strongly the DA feels about this. Is he proud of the resentencing? No.”
Hochman, 61, who was elected late final yr, isn’t trying to again down.
“He has mentioned he’ll or his prosecutors will probably be attending the parole board listening to, and I believe he’s going to make his case as to what he believes,” Garcia mentioned. “He described them in that listening to as being a average danger to society. That’s one of many largest hurdles that the parole board has to determine. Are you a danger to society? Irrespective of how a lot everybody has screamed, we have to see some change we’ve got. Their sentence has been decreased, however they’re nonetheless not free.”
