Menendez Brothers' Relatives Claim D.A. Has 'Personal Bias': 'Treated Us Like We Don't Matter'

At a press conference on Thursday, March 20, family members of the Menendez brothers claimed Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has a “personal bias” against the brothers’ bid for release.

“Hochman doesn’t seem to want to listen or engage with us,” said Lyle and Erik’s cousin Tamara Goodell. “At every turn, we feel like D.A. Hochman has dismissed us, ignored us, and quite frankly, treated us like we don’t matter. Why? Why does he seem to be making this case so personal? A district attorney is supposed to be fair, impartial, and focused on the law, but Hochman is not acting like a neutral party.”

The press conference comes 10 days after Hochman announced he would not recommend resentencing for the Menendez brothers, who are serving life sentences for the 1989 killing of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez.

Lyle and Erik claimed they killed their parents because they feared for their lives, and that Jose had sexually abused them both for years.

Hochman, at a March 10 press conference, said the brothers had not taken full responsibility for their crimes and accused them of telling “lies” for the “past 30 years.”

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Hochman suggested that their claim of self-defense was fabricated.

“In looking at whether they have exhibited full insight and complete responsibility for their crimes — they have not,” Hochman said.

Hochman also offered the brothers a “pathway” for his office to stand behind their resentencing, saying they would have to “admit” to 16 lies he alleged they told after they killed Jose and Kitty.

“If they acknowledge the lies they have told for over 30 years,” Hochman announced, “then we will certainly evaluate the quality of that sincerity.”

But Goodell said Hochman is “re-litigating a case from 35 years ago with the same outdated lens that ignored abuse and trauma and compassion in the first place. And now he’s saying that Erik and Lyle are still a danger to society. But to who? Anyone who spends even five minutes with Erik and Lyle will tell you that it’s just not true.”

Goodell added, “They have done more good from the inside of a prison than most people do in their lifetime. And yet, Hochman is hyper-focused on one thing: What they said as scared kids.”

In February, Hochman delivered the first setback to the brothers’ chances of going free when he announced he would oppose a habeas corpus petition filed by the pair in 2023. The petition cited sexual abuse allegations by Roy Rosselló, a Menudo boy band member, against Jose, whom he claims raped him in the 1980s. It also focused on a letter Erik purportedly wrote to his now-deceased cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse before the murders.

A resentencing hearing is scheduled for April 11.

The brothers are also set to appear in front of a parole board on June 13 after Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that he asked the California parole board to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment investigation into whether the brothers are risks to the public if they go free.

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.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.