“New evidence, including abuse allegations and a crucial letter, could potentially lead to the release of the Menendez brothers, who have been serving life sentences for the murder of their parents.”

TRIAL OF BROTHERS LYLE & ERIK MENENDEZ, PARRICIDES (Photo by Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images)Sygma via Getty Images

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents in Beverly Hills in 1989.

The second installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Netflix anthology series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, revisits the infamous true crime story. Read on to learn where the Menendez brothers are now and the new evidence that could set them free.

On Aug. 20, 1989, Jose and Kitty Menendez were found shot multiple times at close range in the family room of their Beverly Hills mansion. The brutality of the killings led police to believe that the mob was responsible at first. Lyle and Erik, who were 18 and 21 years old at the time, reported to the police that when they got home, they discovered their parents had been shot to death.

After their parents’ deaths, the Menendez brothers appeared to be spending their inheritance extravagantly on Rolex watches, real estate, and business ventures. A major breakthrough in the case happened when Judalon Smyth, the mistress of Erik’s psychologist, Jerome Oziel, tipped off authorities. She revealed that Erik had confessed to the murders during therapy sessions, and there were audiotapes of the confessions.

Menendez brothers 1989 — BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. – NOV. 30, 1989 – Menendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle on the steps of … [+]Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The brothers were detained in March 1990 on suspicion of killing their parents in the first degree. A well-publicized, multi-year legal battle involving two juries, two trials, and one mistrial resulted from the case. The defense team for Menendez contended that the brothers killed their parents out of self-defense. According to their testimonies, both brothers suffered abuse at the hands of their parents.

Prosecutors countered that the motivation was financial. They alleged that the brothers wanted control of their parents’ $14.5 million estate. The brothers reportedly spent up to $700,000 of their inheritance on luxury items, business ventures, and travel.

The first trial ended on Jan. 13, 1994, in a mistrial. Jurors couldn’t agree on whether the brothers should be convicted of manslaughter because of the alleged abuse or first-degree murder.

The jury ultimately found Lyle and Erik Menendez guilty of first-degree murder at the conclusion of the second trial. The brothers received life sentences that would not be reduced, with no chance of release.

Where Are Erik Menendez And Lyle These Days?

Erik and Lyle Menendez Mug Shots — Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving life terms for the 1989 shotgun murders of their … [+]Getty Images

Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving out their life sentences at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The brothers are not eligible for parole.

After their conviction, the two men were transferred to separate prisons. The last time they saw each other was in 1996, when they could see each other across the prison yard but couldn’t communicate. Separate transports took them to different facilities.

Over the years, Lyle repeatedly requested a transfer closer to his brother. On February 22, 2018, he was moved from Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California to San Diego’s Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where Erik had been incarcerated since 2013.

On April 4, 2018, the brothers were finally reunited when Erik moved to Lyle’s unit. Journalist Robert Rand told ABC News that when the guard opened the door, Lyle saw his brother, and they both “burst into tears immediately.”

“They just hugged each other for a few minutes without saying any words to each other,” Rand added. “Then the prison officials let them spend an hour together in a room.”

In January 2017, Lyle told ABC News that he had come to terms with his actions. “I am the kid that did kill his parents, and no river of tears has changed that and no amount of regret has changed it,” he explained. “I accept that. You are often defined by a few moments of your life, but that’s not who you are in your life, you know. Your life is your totality of it…You can’t change it. You just, you’re stuck with the decisions you made.”

Lyle still claims that they experienced abuse by their father, which he said bonded him and his brother Erik through secrets. “It’s so painful and complicated and confusing,” he said. “We have an intimacy related to that shared experience… [and] the bond become very great and intense.”

“I’m the older brother so I find myself trying to protect Erik quite a bit through childhood, but pretty much trying to survive,

” Lyle continued. “It was pretty crushing to in the end to realize that I had not been able to protect to or save him from such horrible abuse as I thought. I thought we had sort of survived early childhood pretty well and that turned out not to be true.”

While Erik declined to be interviewed by ABC News in 2017, he told ABC’s Barbara Walters in a 1996 interview that he felt “tremendous remorse” for the killings. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened and wish I could take that moment back,” he said at the time.

What Is The New Evidence Supporting Lyle and Erik Mendendez’s Allegations of Abuse?

TRIAL OF THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS IN LOS ANGELES (Photo by Kim Kulish/Sygma via Getty Images)Sygma via Getty Images

The question now isn’t whether Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their parents but rather whether they did so in fear and self-defense after enduring a lifetime of abuse. New evidence could support this claim, and the brothers’ defense attorney, Cliff Gardner, is hoping to secure their release.

The newly surfaced evidence includes a letter Gardner claims was written by Erik Menendez to his cousin, Andy Cano, in December 1988 — about eight months before the crime —

Letter Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County — Letter from the Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County

Around 1985, in New York City, New York, singer Roy Rossello of the pop group Menudo is pictured for a portrait…. [+]Getty Images I still experience it, Andy, but it is getting worse. Every night I worry that he is going to come in. I am afraid. He is crazy. He has admonished me numerous times not to tell anyone, especially Lyle.”

Years prior to the murders, Andy Cano, a witness at the brothers’ trial, claimed that Erik had informed him that his father was inappropriately touching him. But according to CBS News, Cano was allegedly lying to the prosecution during the trial.

Roy Rosselló, a former member of Menudo, a Puerto Rican boy band, claimed in April 2023 that he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by Erik and Lyle’s father, Jose.

In a sworn affidavit filed in 2023, Rosselló said that he visited Jose Menendez’s home in the fall of 1983 or 1984 as a teenager. After consuming “a glass of wine,” he claimed to have felt as though he had “no control” over his body. He claimed Jose led him into a room and sexually assaulted him. Additionally, Rossello claimed in the affidavit that Jose had abused him sexually twice.

Roy Rossello Portrait Session — Singer Roy Rossello of the pop group Menudo poses for a portrait circa 1985 in New York City, New … [+]Getty Images

“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló said in the Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, according to People. “That’s the man here that raped me… That’s the pedophile.”

Erik responded to Rosselló’s claim in a phone call with Rand, the journalist who has kept in touch with the brothers. “It’s sad to know that there was another victim of my father. I always hoped and believed that one day the truth about my dad would come out, but I never wished for it to come out like this – the result of trauma that another child has suffered,” he said.

Gardner submitted a habeas corpus in May 2023, citing the letter and Rossello’s affidavit as fresh proof that his clients’ convictions ought to be reversed. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told “48 Hours,” that it is investigating the claims made in the habeas petition