We had “gut feelings” fears that Erik and Lyle were being sexually abused

Relatives of Lyle and Erik Menendez spoke in an interview Wednesday about their longstanding fears that the brothers had been abused for years before they killed their parents.

After a press conference calling for the jailed siblings’ release, family members told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that their suspicions grew over time.

“Over the years we really knew there was visceral abuse. But the more time passes and we all talk to each other more and more, the more our fears and gut reactions are confirmed,” the brothers’ cousin, Karen VanderMolen-Copley, told Cuomo. “That solidified the knowledge that the sexual abuse actually happened, because you don’t want to believe that, and then when you talk to each other it becomes more and more obvious.”

Lyle and Erik were convicted in the fatal shooting of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at the family’s Beverly Hills estate in 1989, when the brothers were 21 and 18. They have spent the last 35 years behind bars, but have said all along that they were motivated by their father’s physical, emotional and sexual abuse – which allegedly began when they were children – and by the silence and complicity her mother.

However, prosecutors in this case argued that the abuse was a “complete fabrication.” The brothers simply wanted to inherit the family’s multimillion-dollar estate, prosecutors said, evidenced by the fact that they went shopping in the days after the murder rather than turn themselves in.

The jury apparently agreed and handed down a murder verdict with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. But now the Los Angeles district attorney’s office is examining new evidence that the brothers were indeed abused – a fact that the family believes explains the brothers’ behavior both during and after the murder, they told Cuomo.

“When you look at how much pain they endured, how much torture they endured, how much abuse they survived, it shows in the way they committed the act,” cousin Tamara Goodell said.

She described the violent killing and its aftermath as “learned behavior” and continued: “When I think about it now, it’s an act of pain, it’s an act of misery and it’s something they wanted so desperately .” from.”

Kitty’s sister, Joan VanderMolen, said she could not explain why Kitty remained silent while her sons were abused, except that her sister may have been influenced by her husband and his wealth.

“When we finally realized the depth of the terrible treatment [Erik] he got it from his father, and then [Kitty] “She has to admit that she knew it all along… it’s beyond anything we can even describe right now because it’s so painful,” VanderMolen told Cuomo, adding, “The cat I grew up with , would never have allowed something like that to happen at home.”

The brothers’ attorney filed a writ of habeas corpus more than a year ago, presenting the new evidence of abuse and arguing that the brothers acted in self-defense. He also requested a resentencing on the grounds that the brothers had been rehabilitated and should be released.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon has scheduled a hearing for November 29 to consider the new evidence.

Meanwhile, Ryan Murphy’s hit Netflix show Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez has generated significant interest in the case, despite the brothers’ criticism of their portrayal on the series.