Tag: Lived

THE family of Erik and Lyle Menendez have had enough.

It’s been 35 long years since the brothers were arrested for gunning down their parents amid accusations of sickening sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

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Yet in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, the brothers’ cousin admitted the family would pay even the price of being dragged back into court again to get them home.

Anamaria Baralt hopes to see a change after she claims the brothers were “mocked” in previous trials for alleging their dad was guilty of abuse.

GLOBAL ATTENTION

The harrowing murder was headline news back in 1989 and has dramatically been revived in the public eye following two recent Netflix series about the killings.

Lyle, now 56, and Erik, 53, have been locked away for life, with no chance of parole, after brutally killing their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, in their swanky Beverly Hills mansion on that fateful August day.

After years of campaigning, having served over three decades behind bars in San Diego, and with their family pleading for their release, the brothers are said to be “cautiously optimistic” about the future.

A resentencing hearing initially slated for the end of January has now been pushed back until March with the California wildfires holding proceedings up.

While the delay was unavoidable, the family hope it will allow the authorities to complete a “deep dive” on everything pertaining to the case.

Lyle and Erik, caged for so long, can take another few weeks before learning their fate.

Many different outcomes are on the table when their hearing finally occurs.

They could be released immediately, forced to go before the parole board and relive the nightmare – which could take months and be “traumatic” for the family as old wounds would be reopened – or even be denied their freedom entirely.

A separate petition includes bombshell evidence unearthed by indefatigable investigative journalist Robert Rand in which a former boy band member accuses Jose, a former RCA executive, of sexual abuse.

It has been on the table for two years.

The pressure on new Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman to deliver an acceptable outcome is growing with the spotlight burning bright.

But for cousin Anamaria and most of her family, the time is now to finally release their loved ones finally.

HEARTFELT APPEAL

In an emotional interview with The U.S. Sun, Anamaria’s eyes began to well up when talking about the surge of interest and reaction in one of the most infamous murder cases of all time.

The Washington state-based yoga instructor has lived with the pain of seeing her cousins jailed and vilified for almost four decades and, before opening her heart to The U.S. Sun last year, had never spoken publicly about her – and her family’s – indescribable pain.

“We don’t love the global spotlight,” she said before taking to the stage in Washington DC last week to take part in a talk about the case with Rand.

“But at the same time, we are grateful for it because, hopefully, it will help us get them back.”

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Anamaria was able to cast her mind back to the two trials in 1994 and 1996 – the first one was a mistrial and the second, coming just days after the stunning OJ Simpson verdict – and shudders.

With people less open about mental health struggles and sexual abuse, she says the boys’ pleas fell on deaf ears.

“The feeling of injustice was inescapable. They were mocked openly by the prosecutors in the trial,” she said, “that just wouldn’t happen today.”

She speaks with authority because the messages of support for her two cousins have sometimes left her totally floored.

Timeline of the Menendez brothers case

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s case dates back more than three decades since their parents were found shot to death at their Beverly Hills mansion.

Below is a timeline of the brothers’ case, starting at the gruesome crime scene:

August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are found dead from multiple shotgun wounds.

March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested outside his parents’ Beverly Hills mansion.

March 11, 1990 – Erik surrenders to police after flying back into Los Angeles from Israel.

December 1992 – Murder charges against the brothers are officially filed.

July 20, 1993 – The murder trial, highly publicized on Court TV, begins in Los Angeles with Erik and Lyle each having a separate jury.

January 28, 1994 – The first trial ends with two deadlocked juries.

October 11, 1995 – Lyle and Erik’s second trial begins with one jury.

March 20, 1996 – The Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

July 2, 1996 – Lyle and Erik are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons.

February 22, 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison, where Erik is held.

April 4, 2018 – Lyle was moved into the same housing unit as Erik – the first time the brothers were reunited in over 20 years.

May 2023 – Lyle and Erik’s attorney files a habeas corpus petition after Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez in a Peacock docuseries.

September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story releases on Netflix.

October 3, 2024 – Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in connection with Lyle and Erik’s convictions.

October 7, 2024 – The Menendez Brothers documentary film comes out on Netflix.

October 16, 2024 – Family members of the Menendez brothers hold a press conference begging for the siblings to be released from prison.

October 24, 2024 – Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommends the brothers be resentenced.

November 25, 2024 – The Menendez brothers appear in court for a status hearing to learn their resentencing hearing is pushed back from December 11 to allow new DA Nathan Hochman more time to review the case.

January 30-31, 2025 – Erik and Lyle are set to go before a judge in a scheduled hearing.

INCREDIBLE RESPONSE

Naturally, in this often toxic age of social media, there have been a few jibes, people messaging that Erik and Lyle are getting their just desserts.

“There have been some hurtful messages,” she said.

But, in the main, Anamaria has been hit with an emotional, “touching” barrage of support, mostly from people who have also suffered their sexual abuse nightmares yet have been too scared to speak up – until now.

“I’ve had so many men reach out to tell me that it feels like we are fighting for them, too,” she admitted with a tear in her eye. “I can’t even begin to express what that feels like.”

“Resentencing is designed for people like them who have done the work and changed their lives.

Anamaria Baralt, the cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez

Emotions also ran high when she talked about her beloved mother, Terri, and Aunt Joan.

Both ladies, 85 and 93 years old respectively, are fighting their own health battles.

Anamaria and the rest of her family pray that the boys are freed to see them before it’s too late.

“It would mean everything for my mother to hug them,” she said.

A 2023 documentary has blown the lid off the controversial Menendez case, spotlighting the jaw-dropping work of Rand, whose findings back the brothers’ claims that they killed their parents in self-defense after enduring years of alleged sexual abuse.

Adding fuel to the fire, explosive testimony from former Menudo star Roy Rosselló and a chilling letter Erik wrote months before the murders to his late cousin Andy Cano have surfaced as crucial evidence.

The Menendez legal team handed it to the DA’s office two years ago, yet progress has been slow.

“We wanted an expedited timeline but that’s just what we’ve had to deal with,” said Anamaria.

Ex-Republican-turned-Independent Hochman says he feels for the brothers but isn’t buying everything their lawyer, Mark Geragos, is selling.

Hochman slammed Geragos’ claims that they didn’t get a fair shake in court as “too simplistic” for such a high-profile case.

“Knowing the Geragos narrative is wrong, the issues that we’ll be looking at for the trial will be whether or not these two young men faced an immediate threat to their life,” Hochman, who has admitted he’s combing through “dozens” of confidential files ahead of the March hearings, told Deadline.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

The brother’s extended family, however, wants them out now.

Anamaria admitted they were “grateful” to sit down with Hochman for three hours at the back end of 2024 and were able to “communicate to him about their rehabilitation process and their journeys.”

Erik and Lyle have been trumpeted as perfect prisoners, going above and beyond to help others in jail.

They have, says Anamaria, been designing programs over the years “without any help of release” to help vulnerable young offenders to help make a “real change.”

She describes both boys as “joyous people” with a “real lightheartedness about them.”

“I’m a believer in redemption. Resentencing is designed for people like them who have done the work and changed their lives,” said their cousin.

“The amount of personal growth is stunning. I hope that’s what matters at the end of the day.”

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