Ana Garcia has some discovery of her own.
After deep diving into the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were sentenced to life without parole for the 1989 murder of their parents, Kitty and José Menendez, the “True Crime News” podcast host is bringing a piece of evidence that doesn’t sit right with her into the forefront.
“The one thing that has always bothered me about Erik and Lyle,” Garcia exclusively told The Post, “is that how many more Erik and Lyles are there behind bars with similar circumstances? They are not getting the support and attention and maybe the compassion that they are getting. And that goes to fairness for me, and that’s what I think about a lot. They are so high profile it’s all about them. What about the others?”
After two trials, Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole. However, all that changed after the judge reduced their sentence to 50 years to life in May. Now, the brothers are eligible for parole.
Although Lyle and Erik have served over 30 years behind bars, Garcia posed the question weighing on everyone’s mind: “Have they served enough time for their murders?”
“I have also seen other convicted killers spend a fraction of the time behind bars that these two have. Is that fair?” The Emmy award-winning journalist continued. “I mean, there is a case in Texas that I covered where this man killed an 11-year-old girl. He sexually abused her. He killed her, and he threw her in a trash bin. He served only 11 years for that murder. That’s not right. That’s not fair. So where is the fairness in our justice system?”
Garcia also wanted to remind the public that a hearing doesn’t necessarily equal freedom.
“Let’s keep in mind, they are still in prison,” the true crime expert stated. “They haven’t been released. What has happened is now, they are eligible for parole. Well, in the state of California, the parole rate of inmates who go before the board and are actually released is 14%. That’s the last statistic we have in California. A lot of people view California as being a very liberal state, but if you look at the parole rate of 14%, that’s not a parole board that lets people out easily.”
Lyle and Erik’s parole board hearing was originally scheduled for June 13 but has been pushed back to August 21 and August 22.
“One of the brothers actually said on Facebook that they thought it was a good idea,” Garcia added, “because it gives them more time to prepare, more time for the defense, their attorneys to present because a lot is going to happen at this parole hearing.”
The pair getting the chance to be heard in front of the board is also thanks to those online who brought their case back into the limelight decades later.
In 2024, Ryan Murphy aired the limited series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” starring Cooper Koch as Erik and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle. Koch also supported the brothers at their resentencing hearing.
“I do believe that the show had an impact,” Garcia explained. “I also believe the documentary did. I also believe that Kim Kardashian writing her essay about why she believed that we should judge them based on how we all now view the kind of sexual abuse they say that they experienced. I think there has been a groundswell of support to have their case re-examined based on how we now understand victims of crime. Meaning they were victims here.”
“But as I’ve said before to you, if every child who was abused killed their parents, we’d have a lot of dead parents. What I ask myself over and over again – this was clearly premeditated. They had so many opportunities not to kill their parents. Yet they went through with this plan, and then it was the cover-up afterwards.”
Along with a strong support system from around the country, Lyle and Erik also have their family members standing by them. Joan VanderMolen, Kitty’s sister, has fought for their freedom along with Terry Baralt, José’s only living sister.
“I hear the Menendez family speaking loudly and clearly to every judge who will listen to them, every prosecutor who will listen to them,” Garcia shared, “that they believe Lyle and Erik have already served enough time. Is that enough for a murder? For some cases, it is.”
Which might increase Lyle and Erik’s chances of being released.
The siblings will also get a chance to write a statement of personal change, which is “their explanation to the board of what they were thinking at the time, why they did it, what they now know, and how they’ve been rehabilitated.”
“What I see a lot of is if you deny your crime, if you’re still saying that you’re innocent, that you’re still saying you didn’t kill him or her, that the parole board doesn’t like that,” Garcia expressed. “They want to hear you admit to your crime. They want to see that you’ve been rehabilitated, and they really want you to take responsibility, so that’s going to be really important.”
“The question is, the violence,” she noted. “The level of violence in this crime and complete disregard for human life. How are you going to explain this?”
Their crime is one that Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman can’t reconcile.
“He has tried to block everything,” Garcia confessed. “He does not believe they are rehabilitated. He didn’t want them to be resentenced. In fact, it was so interesting – you rarely have the actual DA arguing a case in court, but this time, he stood with the other prosecutor assigned to the case and argued the case in front of the judge. That’s how strongly the DA feels about this. Is he happy with the resentencing? No.”
Hochman, 61, who was elected late last year, isn’t looking to back down.
“He has said he will or his prosecutors will be attending the parole board hearing, and I think he’s going to make his case as to what he believes,” Garcia said. “He described them in that hearing as being a moderate risk to society. That’s one of the biggest hurdles that the parole board has to figure out. Are you a risk to society? No matter how much everyone has screamed, we need to see some change we have. Their sentence has been reduced, but they are still not free.”
