Prosecutors argue Menendez brothers should stay in prison amid controversial parole debate

Prosecutors believe Erik and Lyle Menendez should remain in prison as their potential release nears, 30 years on.

Prosecutors involved in the case against Erik and Lyle Menendez believe the brothers should remain incarcerated as the possibility of their release approaches nearly 30 years after they murdered their wealthy parents.

Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich, who was part of the prosecution team in the first trial, argues that new evidence suggesting the brothers were regularly sexually abused by their father during their childhood should not justify their release.

“They killed their parents,” Bozanich, who expressed skepticism about the abuse allegations, told Dateline.

“They slaughtered their mother. Why should they live among us?”

Last month, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office was recommending parole eligibility for the Menendez brothers, now in their 50s, after they have served over 30 years for the 1989 murder of their parents.

Gascón stated that the notorious brothers had served their time and no longer posed a threat to society.

If a judge concurs with Gascón’s recommendation in the upcoming month, the brothers could immediately qualify for parole under California’s youthful offender law if re-sentenced.

“Are they trying to pull another fast one on the court?” asked Juan Mejia, who served as a young deputy district attorney during the Menendez brothers’ second trial, as reported by NBC.

Mejia, who strongly opposes the release, questioned the credibility of the new evidence, citing the brothers' history of dishonesty.

The Menendez brothers killed their parents, Jose and Kitty, using a shotgun while their parents watched television in August 1989 at their Beverly Hills home.

In 1996, they were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the murders after a highly publicized trial that turned Erik and Lyle, then 21 and 18, into household names.

During the trial, the defense argued that the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual and physical abuse by their father, with other family members testifying in support of these claims. Prosecutors contended that the motive was to inherit their parents' $15 million fortune.

The initial trial ended in a hung jury in 1994.