The Menendez brothers’ resentencing would have shocked 1990s L.A.

I never caught the slew of documentaries and dramatizations about The Menendez Brothers, whose notoriety in Southern California is such that they should just trademark their names already. So imagine my surprise last year when then-L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced he backed a resentencing of the brothers, arguing 35 years was enough time for the crime of murdering their parents — and besides, they had expressed enough remorse.

And imagine my surprise yesterday, when L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic agreed.

The Menendez brothers now face 50 years to life in prison, which makes them eligible for parole because they committed their murders before they were 26 years old, according to my colleagues James Queally and Richard Winton — the Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani of local crime reporting. Not only that, they have a clemency hearing before the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom next month.

From heinous rich boys to sympathetic characters

Growing up in a Latino Catholic household in Southern California in the 1990s, there were no monsters worse than Erik and Lyle Menendez.

I was 10 years old when their parents, Jose and Kitty, were brutally killed in their Beverly Hills home. Their sons were arrested on suspicion of murdering their parents the following year and went through two trials before a jury found them guilty of first-degree murder in 1996. A judge sentenced them to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Everyone figured that was that.

Erik and Lyle garnered next to no public sympathy that I could remember. Lyle did them no favors by going on spending sprees in the months after their parents’ deaths, according to witnesses. Nobody bought the story that the two did it because Jose sexually abused them while Kitty did nothing. It also didn’t help that courtroom footage and photos of the Menendez brothers — Erik’s intense stare, Lyle’s dead eyes, both wearing pastel sweaters in an effort to soften their image — cast them as poor little rich boys who thought they could get away with anything.

The teenage part of me today still can’t believe Erik and Lyle have any supporters at all. Who would ever support someone who shot their mother dead while she was trying to crawl away, as Lyle testified in the first trial? The adult part of me knows that public perception of them has dramatically changed in the time they’ve been imprisoned.

A series of updates supported their story that their father had abused them. A Netflix show produced by Ryan Murphy softened their image; a Netflix documentary retold their story to a new generation. More important, their extended family united to argue they and the brothers have suffered enough and want to close the sad Menendez saga once and for all.

“I don’t think they are the same people they were 30 years ago,” Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers, said on the stand during the resentencing hearing.

At this point, the only person who seems to be angry about the idea of the Menendez brothers having a chance at parole is L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman. He unsuccessfully fought to overturn Gascon’s request for a resentencing hearing, and his prosecutors unsuccessfully argued against it at the Van Nuys courthouse on Tuesday. Hochman’s office was so unsuccessful, in fact, that Judge Jesic issued his ruling after just a day of hearings, when everyone expected at least two.

The Menendez brothers’ parole hearing still hasn’t been scheduled, and Newsom and future governors can keep them incarcerated forever. But teenage me never would have believed they could get to this point. What’s next, he would have asked: OJ Simpson, a criminal?

Today’s top stories

A view of 7th Street downtown, where Skid Row is located.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

California faces an additional $12-billion budget deficit

• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget plan walks back his promise to provide free healthcare to undocumented immigrants, caps overtime for in-home support service workers and reduces Medi-Cal benefits for Californians.
• This marks the third year in a row that Newsom and lawmakers have been forced to trim back their overspending.
• Newsom also said that Trump’s tariffs will reduce California revenue by $16 billion.

Why El Chapo’s relatives were escorted into California from Mexico

• Mexico’s security chief Omar García Harfuch characterized the transfer of El Chapo’s relatives as part of a “negotiation” between the U.S. Justice Department and representatives of one of El Chapo’s sons who faces drug smuggling and other charges in federal court in Chicago.
• Mexico extradited that son, Ovidio Guzmán López, to the U.S. in 2023.

AI is coming to the permitting process for fire rebuilds

• The software aims to speed up a process already being criticized as moving too slowly.
• Disaster recovery and government technology experts said permitting was a good use of AI technology but cautioned that human oversight was needed.
• L.A. approved its first permits for rebuilding homes after the Palisades fire back in March, but the process has been slow.

Trump wants to shift disaster response onto states

• In recent months, the president has called for shrinking or even eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he accused in a Jan. 24 executive order of overspending and political bias.
• But California, along with the rest of the nation, is struggling to keep pace with more frequent and destructive environmental disasters fueled by human-caused climate change.
• Earlier this year. FEMA declined to lease apartments to L.A. fire victims, despite doing so for other disasters.

What else is going on

• A new fantasy film offers a vision for how Californians can coexist with other large mammals.
• Officers are winning massive payouts in ‘LAPD lottery’ lawsuits.
• Foster children were tortured for up to 10 years inside a Victorville home, authorities say.
• Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service Max becomes HBO Max — again.
• The future of Angel Stadium? Anaheim puts the issue on hold.
• Santa Monica approves a public drinking proposal to turn Third Street Promenade into an entertainment zone.
• South L.A. residents who allegedly tried to chase and block immigration officers face federal charges.

Commentary and opinions

• Crypto was already in bad odor before jumping into bed with Trump, argues columnist Michael Hiltzik. Now it smells worse.
• Columnist Jackie Calmes asks, Will the Qatar gift to Trump fly?
• California isn’t backing down on healthcare for immigrants, despite Trump threats, columnist Anita Chabria argues.
• Nuclear reactors help power Los Angeles, argues columnist Sammy Roth. Should we panic, or be grateful?

This morning’s must-reads

Lifestyle

Are salmon sperm facials really good for your skin?

Med spas across L.A. and the nation are offering salmon sperm or salmon DNA facials, some for upwards of $1,000.

May 14, 2025

Other must-reads

• 45 years later, New Order’s music is ‘more successful’ than ever — but why? ‘It’s got soul.’
• Nerves, acting chops and a Google Doc: How a ‘Poker Face’ guest star is born.
• Orange County’s original punks describe the birth of the world-famous ‘Orange County sound.’

For your downtime

(Eleanor Davis / For The Times)

Going out

• Relationships: 5 social skills you can improve to make new friends as an adult.
• Experiences: Dance with a K-pop star? Wrestle a luchador? Airbnb wants to expand beyond its roots by offering 22,000 experiences.

Staying in

• Television: 15 TV shows we’re looking forward to watching this summer.
• Books: 30 must-read books for summer.
• Recipes: Here’s a recipe for strawberries and oranges in basil syrup.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What is your go-to karaoke song?

Sky says: “Midnight Rider by the Allman Brothers.”
Paul says: “Lyin’ Eyes by The Eagles.”

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... from our archives

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

On May 15, 1940, the first McDonald’s restaurant was opened by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald in San Bernardino.

Three years ago, Times columnist Patt Morrison wrote about how Southern California has given the world so much, including fast food giants that began as mom-an-pop undertakings, or pop-and-son enterprises, and wound up as corporate owned chains.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Gustavo Arellano, California columnist
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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