Top Los Angeles prosecutor deletes post sharing new evidence in Menendez case

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón mysteriously deleted a social media post sharing one of the new pieces of evidence his office is considering in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez, the brothers who sparked the national intrigue and horror after gunning down their wealthy parents. to death in 1989, CNN reported.

On Sunday, Gascón posted a photo of a handwritten letter Erik sent to his cousin Andy Cano, which the brothers’ lawyer said supports their claim that they were sexually assaulted by their father and that the murder brutal was due to fear. for their safety.

“I tried to avoid Dad. This still happens, Andy, but it’s worse for me now,” the letter read. “I never know when it’s going to happen and it drives me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.

However, as of Tuesday, CNN reported, the letter was no longer visible on Gascón’s account – having apparently been deleted.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on why the letter was removed.

A lawyer for the brothers confirmed that the letter Gascón published was authentic and was the one included in a May 2023 court filing, arguing that the brothers, imprisoned for nearly 35 years, should be released.

On October 3, Gascón held a press conference in which he said his office had a duty to review both pieces of evidence presented by the brothers’ legal team. In addition to the letter, the May filing included another allegation of sexual assault made against the brothers’ father, José Menendez, a former RCA Records executive, by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.

“We are not ready at this stage to say that we believe or do not believe this information,” Gascón said at the time. “We are here to say that we have a moral and ethical obligation to review what has been presented to us.”

He said the question is whether the jury that sentenced the brothers to life imprisonment in 1996 would have reached a different verdict if it had seen the new evidence.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for November 29, but this week Vanity Fair reported that an aunt of the brothers said that a significant portion of Menendez’s extended family had been invited by Gascón to a press conference at a Los Angeles courthouse on October 16, where they would speak in favor of the release of their imprisoned loved ones.

Gascón, who is currently fighting for re-election, will not be in attendance despite hosting the press conference, NBC News reported.

“No decision regarding the Menendez case has been made. Once DA Gascón makes a decision, family members of the victims and the public will be informed,” said a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

This new move in the brothers’ long battle for freedom comes amid a surge of interest in the brothers’ case – the most significant since they seized America in the 1990s – since the release of a glitzy new true crime series from Ryan Murphy, Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezon Netflix last month.

The show, which alluded to an incestuous relationship between the brothers, was called “ruinous” and “full of horrible lies” by the Menendez family.

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