Menendez Brothers' Aunt Says 'Kitty Knew' About Sex Abuse as She Makes Passionate Plea for Pair to Go Free

At a hearing on Monday, Nov. 25, Kitty Menendez’s older sister testified that her sister knew about the sexual abuse Lyle and Erik allegedly suffered at the hands of their father, Jose Menendez.

“It breaks my heart that my sister Kitty knew what was happening and did nothing about it, that we knew of,” Joan VanderMolen, 92, told a judge at a status hearing at Van Nuys Courthouse in California. “They never knew if tonight would be the night they would be raped. It’s time for them to come home.”

“No child should have to endure what Lyle and Erik had to at the hands of their father,” she said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic postponed the Menendez brothers’ Dec. 11 resentencing hearing until Jan. 30, saying he needed more time to review “17 boxes” of documents and give the the newly-elected district attorney Nathan Hochman time to look at the case.

“I’m not ready to go forward,” he told prosecutors and defense attorney for the brothers.

The Menendez brothers, who are serving life sentences for the shotgun murders of their parents more than 30 years ago, were scheduled to make a virtual appearance from the San Diego prison where they are housed but did not because there were issues with the remote feed.

Lyle and Erik’s 85-year-old aunt Terry Baralt also spoke during the hearing.

“I feel 35 years is a long time,” she said. “I think it is time for them to come home.”

Prior to the hearing, the court conducted a lottery for a chance to obtain a seat in the courtroom. Sixteen seats were available to the public.

The brothers’ push for release began in May 2023, when their attorneys filed the habeas corpus petition in Los Angeles Superior Court. The petition cites new evidence that bolsters the brothers’ claims that they were sexually abused by their father Jose Menendez. The evidence includes a letter purportedly sent by Erik to a cousin months before the 1989 killings that referenced Jose’s alleged ongoing sexual assaults as well as an affidavit by a former member of the boy band Menudo, Roy Rosselló, alleging that he was raped by Jose in the 1980s.

The effort picked up steam in recent months as the Netflix hit Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and a separate Netflix documentary, The Menendez Brothers, were viewed by largely sympathetic audiences.

On Thursday, Oct. 24, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said he planned to formally recommended that the brothers each be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would pave the way for them to potentially be paroled.

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“We’re very sure, not only that the brothers have rehabilitated and that they will be safe to be reintegrated in our society, but that they have paid their dues,” Gascón said, adding that in prison, the brothers had worked to “improve the lives of so many others.” 

Six days later, on Oct. 30, Gascón also announced that he supported the brothers’ attempts to have California Governor Gavin Newsom grant them clemency.

However, Gascón lost his bid for a second term. Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who is set to take office in December, said in a statement he planned to “thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members,” according to the New York Times.

Newsom said he planned to hold off his decision about possible clemency until Hochman reviewed the case.

Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21 when they shot and killed their parents with 12-gauge shotguns in the den of their Beverly Hills, Calif., home on Aug. 20, 1989.

The brothers alleged that the murders came after Jose, the chief operating officer of RCA Records, sexually abused them for years — abuse that they claimed their mother, a former pageant queen, ignored.

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However, authorities said the two brothers’ motive was greed, citing the lavish spending spree — which involved expensive watches, cars, and tennis lessons — the two brothers went on after the slayings.

In 1996, three years after their first trial ended in a deadlock, the siblings were convicted of the first-degree murders of their parents and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.