Relatives of Lyle and Erik Menendez have come together to call for the pair’s release from prison.
Up to two dozen extended family members gathered for a news conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, which was organised after prosecutors announced they were reviewing new evidence in their case.
Erik Menendez, now 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole after being convicted of murdering their parents at their mansion in Beverly Hills more than 35 years ago.
The killings have been in the spotlight in recent weeks following the release of Monsters, a Netflix dramatisation of their story,as well as a documentary.
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Monsters actor calls for Menendez retrial
In August 1989, the brothers shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, multiple times at close range. They were aged 18 and 21 at the time.
They admitted the shootings – but maintain they killed their mother and father in self-defence after enduring physical, emotional and sexual abuse over many years.
Speaking at the news conference, Jose Menendez’s niece Anamaria Baralt announced that relatives had formed a “new coalition” called Justice for Erik and Lyle.
She told reporters: “Both sides of the family are united, sharing a new bond of hope…
“This is about truth, justice and healing… Their continued incarceration serves no rehabilitative purpose.”
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Image: Anamaria Baralt, niece of Jose Menendez, speaks to reporters. Pic: Reuters
Ms Baralt said the brothers were victims of a “culture that was not ready to listen”, as she called on the district attorney’s office to “take into account the full picture”.
She added: “Lyle and Erik deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them.”
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Aunt of Menendez brothers gives emotional speech
The news conference was the largest gathering of the extended family since the brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in 1996, seven years after the killings and following a second trial.
However, their lawyers argue that because of society’s changing views on sexual abuse, the outcome of a trial today might be different.
Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister, also told reporters: “I had no idea the extent of the abuse they suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did.
“We know that abuse has long effects, and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand.”
Image: Joseph Lyle Menéndez and Erik Galen Menéndez. Pics: Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility
However, not all relatives agree.
Kitty Menendez’s brother, Milton Andersen, 90, has said “the appropriate sentence” for the pair was life in prison without parole.
His lawyer said: “He believes that there was no molestation that occurred. He believes that the motive was pure greed, because they had just learned that they were going to be taken out of the will.”
Earlier this month, district attorney George Gascon said there was no question the brothers committed the murders, but his office would be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether a resentencing is warranted.
The brothers’ attorneys say they should have been charged with manslaughter rather than murder, but this was not an option for the jury during the second trial. At the time, jurors rejected a death sentence in favour of life without parole.
Prosecutors had argued there was no evidence of any molestation and said the murders were committed so the brothers could inherit their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.
New evidence includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his lawyers say corroborates allegations he was sexually abused by his father.
A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Image: Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
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The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Image: Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Image: Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Image: Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
Image: James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
What does ’86 47′ mean?
The number 86 can be used as a verb in the US. It commonly means “to throw somebody out of a bar for being drunk or disorderly”.
One recent meaning of the term is “to kill”, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which said it had not adopted this meaning of 86 “due to its relative recency and sparseness of use”.
The number has previously been used in a political context by Matt Gaetz, who was President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general but withdrew from consideration following a series of sexual misconduct allegations.
Mr Gaetz wrote: “We’ve now 86’d…” and listed political opponents he had sparred with who ended up stepping down.
Meanwhile, 47 is supposedly representing Mr Trump, who is the 47th US president.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
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US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.