Renewed interest in the case has skyrocketed—from a Netflix series all the way to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.

In 1996, Erik and Lyle Menendez received life sentences without the possibility of parole for murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Seven years prior to their conviction, the two brothers walked into their family living room and fired more than a dozen shotgun rounds at their mother and father. The nationally televised trial became one of the first cases to sensationalize the courtroom in the 1990s, along with The People v. O.J. Simpson. Now, thanks to new evidence, there’s a chance that the Menendez brothers will walk free.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced on Thursday that his office is reviewing new information that’s come to light about the brothers’ case. While Gascón did not state directly that the new evidence could lead to a reduced sentencing, The New York Times reported that he does not believe that Lyle and Erik Menendez should remain in prison for their entire lives.

His renewed interest in the case follows the recent release of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Gascón revealed that his office has received many calls from people citing the highly dramatized docudrama as a reason to reexamine their case. Kim Kardashian even published an NBC News op-ed arguing for Erik and Lyle’s release.

What’s left unsaid in Gascón’s new report is exactly what new evidence has led to a potential retrial and resentencing. Most likely, he’s referring to a newly uncovered letter that supports the Menendez brothers’ claims of physical and sexual abuse by their father. CBS News obtained a copy of the letter, which Erik wrote to his cousin Andy months before his parents’ murder. Furthermore, the alleged abuse is featured as a major storyline on Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. 

Netflix
Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Erik and Lyle Menendez on Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

Erik has since dismissed the series as “lies” and “a ruinous character portrayal” on social media. He plans to tell the true story in another Netflix documentary, titled The Menendez Brothers (out October 7). But Murphy vehemently defends his work, citing to Variety the “platform” that he’s given the Menendez family “in the court of public opinion.” He also believes that “they can be out of prison by Christmas.”

“The thing that’s kind of painful is that the family was so outrageously against the show and spoke out so vociferously against it,” Murphy said. “But then the thing that they thought would hurt them is actually helping them.”