Erik and Lyle Menendez delivered an emotional statement to the court, in which they revealed gruesome details of how they shot their parents at their home when they were 18 and 21, respectively.
“I had to stop being selfish and immature to really understand what my parents went through in those last moments,” Erik Menendez, 54, told the court.
He said he now understood the “shock, confusion and betrayal” his parents must have felt when seeing their sons pointing guns at them and opening fire.
Both Erik and Lyle Menendez apologised for their actions, with the latter’s voice cracking as he described the “unfathomable” impact on his family.
“I lied to you and forced you into a spotlight of public humiliation,” Lyle, 57, told his family members, who pleaded with Judge Jesic to open the path to their freedom.
The brothers expressed a desire to work with sex abuse victims and former prisoners if released.
A large portion of yesterday’s hearing focused on the brothers’ behaviour in prison over the past 30 years.
Those who worked with them in prison, as well as family members, told the court that they had completed education programmes and engaged in work to improve the lives of other inmates.
Judge Jesic said they had carried out “remarkable” work but said their 1996 life sentences were justified at the time. Under new guidelines, he said, they were eligible for re-sentencing, giving them 50 years to life.
The brothers smiled and waved to their lawyers and family members who had gathered inside the courtroom.
Given their new sentence, the brothers are now immediately eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed their crimes under the age of 26.
If they are denied parole at next month’s board meeting, they will have subsequent hearings until they are granted release.
Gavin Newsom, the California Governor, also has the power to override the parole board and ensure the brothers’ freedom.
The Democrat recently ordered the state parole board to conduct a comprehensive review of the danger they could pose to the public if released.
Newsom had already set a hearing date for the brothers that will determine whether a clemency application goes forward. The hearing is scheduled for June 13.
“Today is a great day,” Mark Geragos, the Menendez brothers’ lawyer, told journalists outside court. They were “one huge step closer to bringing the boys home”, he added.
Anamaria Baralt, Erik and Lyle Menendez’s cousin, said their family was happy with the decision after testifying in court earlier in the day.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough,” she told the court. “They are universally forgiven by our family.”
Tamara Goodell, another cousin, said she had recently taken her 13-year-old son to meet the brothers in prison, and that they would contribute a lot of good to the world if released.
Prosecutors argued that the brothers lied to police immediately after they killed their parents, lied to family members and gave false evidence at the trial.
“There’s no doubt they’ve done all these positive things in prison,” Habib Balian, deputy district attorney, said in court, but added that it was important to “make certain they are truly rehabilitated”.
Their case was recently thrust back into the limelight after a new drama featured on Netflix, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
