Bombshell letter written by Erik Menendez could see brothers released from jail after 35 years despite murdering parents
ERIK Menendez said he lived in constant fear of his father coming into his bedroom at night in a handwritten letter that could set him and his brother free after almost 30 years in prison.
He reportedly sent the note to his cousin Andy Cano – eight months before Jose and Kitty Menendez were killed while they watched television in their plush Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
The Menendez brothers were convicted of killing their parents after two trials but have always claimed they acted in self-defense following a spate of alleged abuse.
Erik’s note was among the evidence that has since been uncovered in the decades since the brothers’ convictions in 1996.
In the note, Erik told Cano, who testified in the brothers’ first murder trial, that he had tried to avoid his father.
“It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now,” he claimed.
“I can’t explain it. He’s so overweight that I can’t stand to see him. I never know when it’s going to happen, and it’s driving me crazy.
“I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do.”
In the note, Erik described his dad as crazy and asked himself if he was a “whimpus.”
“I don’t know I’ll make it through this. I need to stop thinking about it,” he said in the letter.
The note is just one piece of potential evidence that is being probed by Los Angeles investigators.
Officials are also investigating claims made by the former Menudo band star Roy Rosselló.
Rosselló claimed that he was sexually assaulted by Jose Menendez at the age of 14.
He claimed that he was also drugged during a visit to the Menendez’s home in New Jersey.
Rosselló delved into the allegations in an interview that was used in the three-part docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.
“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló said.
Erik Menendez letter
Erik Menendez's letter to his cousin about his dad's alleged abuse has sparked a review of the case that could set him and his brother free from jail. The letter reads in full:
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad,” the letter begins.
“It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it.
“He so overweight that I can’t stand to see him.
“I never know when it’s going to happen, and it’s driving me crazy.
“Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind.
“I know what you said before but I’m afraid.
“You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy!
“He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle.”
At one point during the docuseries, Rosselló pointed at a photo of Jose and claimed: “That’s the man who raped me.”
George Gascon, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, said he’s keeping an open mind as his team combs through the evidence.
He warned that he would make the final decision.
It’s possible the brothers could be freed, or their sentence could be revised.
The Menendez brothers were sentenced in 1996 for the killings that happened seven years prior.
Jose was shot five times, including in the back of the head, while Kitty was shot 15 times.
Prosecutors said the brothers opened fire as their parents were watching a movie.
Lyle and Erik, then 21 and 18, initially told cops that they found their parents dead.
Timeline of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving life sentences in prison after being found guilty of shooting their parents to death over 30 years ago.
August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are shot to death
March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested for the murders
March 11, 1990 – Erik turns himself in
July 20, 1993 – Highly publicized trial begins and ends weeks later in a mistrial
October 11, 1995 – Second trial begins
March 20, 1996 – Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder
July 2, 1996 – Menendez brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons
February 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison where Erik is held
April 4, 2018 – Erik and Lyle are reunited
May 2023 – Attorney representing the Menendez brothers files a habeas petition
September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story comes out on Netflix
October 3, 2024: Los Angeles authorities reviewing new evidence in connection with the brothers’ convictions
Mystery initially seemed to surround the killings as cops feared Jose and Kitty may have been targeted by a mafia-style group.
Jackie Lacey, a former Los Angeles District Attorney, told CBS News in October: “I think one of the Beverly Hills detectives … described it as one of the most … brutal crime scene he had ever seen in his life.”
Harrowing pictures taken inside the home showed a white sofa covered in blood stains.
The brothers went on a lavish spending spree before Lyle was arrested for the murders in March 1990.
The Menendez brothers bought Rolex watches and also invested in real estate.
BROTHERS ARRESTED
Erik, now 53, surrendered to the authorities after returning from Israel – just days after Lyle, now 56, was arrested.
The sexual assault allegations were examined during the first trial, which kicked off in 1993. But it ended in a mistrial.
Juries were split over whether the brothers should be convicted of murder or manslaughter.
During the trial, Lyle claimed he was sexually abused by Jose from the age of six, while Erik alleged the abuse never ended.
The second trial kicked off in October 1995, and prosecutors claimed the Menendez brothers lied about the alleged abuse.
Both were found guilty on charges of first-degree murder.
For more than 20 years, the Menendez brothers served their sentences at different prisons before being reunited in 2018.
NETFLIX HIT
The killings are the subject of the hit Netflix drama series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Lyle and Erik opened up about why they killed their parents.
Erik claimed that “something very wrong” was unfolding in the family.
In 2005, he told People that it was a relief when he was arrested.
“My life was over, and I was glad,” he said.
“I didn’t want the money. I had thought about giving it all away, but I didn’t want to disappoint my dad.”
The brothers have been imprisoned for almost 30 years, and Kim Kardashian is among those calling for the duo to be released.
“Following years of abuse and a real fear for their lives, Erik and Lyle chose what they thought at the time was their only way out — an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare,” she wrote in an essay obtained by NBC News.
She claimed there were “limited resources” for sexual abuse victims.
Kardashian also stressed that the Menendez brothers are not monsters.
Kardashian’s essay came just days after Anamaria Baralt, the first cousin of the Menendez brothers, claimed the Netflix documentary was “way off the mark” in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun.