Topics: Menendez Brothers, Crime, US News
Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Audio from Erik Menendez's hearing was released online during Lyle's parole date on Friday (August 22), sparking uproar from the family.
Erik and his brother, Lyle Menendez, were both sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole in 1996 as a result of the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in August 1989.
Both brothers claimed during their trial that they'd experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse, especially at the hands of their father José, which they say pushed them into an unprecedented state of mind to want to kill their parents.
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Nonetheless, Erik and Lyle were sentenced to life without possibility of parole, though the brothers were given hope this year after they were resentenced, meaning it is possible they could be freed.
This came after a letter emerged which Erik had penned to his cousin in 1988 detailing the alleged abuse he was suffering at the hands of his father.
Decision time came last week, with Erik first to be denied parole on Thursday (August 21) by parole board commissioner Robert Barton due to him posing an 'unreasonable risk to public safety'.
Lyle suffered the same blow on Friday, though his hearing wasn't without its controversy.
As proceedings were wrapping up on Friday, an audio recording of Erik's hearing was published by ABC 7 through a public records request, which sparked a fiery backlash inside the hearing room.
Tiffani Lucero Pastor, one of the brothers' relatives, said: "This is disgusting."
The audio sees Erik speak in detail about what happened on the night of the killings.
He said: "Fear was driving me to that den, and rage. The idea that dad was going to come to my room.
"Dad was going to come to my room and rape me that night, that was going to happen one way or another…
"And so I just went and I ran and I got the gun in my room and went down to the car and I loaded it and I ran into that den before Lyle could."
In a separate excerpt, Erik explained why the brothers targeted their mother in the attack too.
"She was his [dad’s] victim, I should have known that, I should have separated it in my mind. But that night, I saw them as one person," he said.
"I was raised purposely without the moral foundation that I should not do wrong when I know the difference between right and wrong. I was raised to lie, to cheat, to steal, steal in a sense, in an abstract way."
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org
