The Los Angeles County District Prosecutor, Nathan Hochman, said he would reconsider the resentment of Lyle and Erik Menéndez only if the brothers admitted what they said they are decades of lies, doubling their position into a new interview with ABC News on Wednesday.
“If they sincerely and unequivocally admit for the first time in more than 30 years, the full range of their criminal activity and all the lies they have told about it,” Hochman told the National correspondent of ABC News, Matt Gutman, who would later be willing to recommend resentment.
The comments occur after Hochman announced last week that he is asking the Court to withdraw the motion of his predecessor of resentment, arguing that the brothers do not comply with the standards of resontent or rehabilitation because “they persist in saying these lies during the last 30 years about their self -defense defense.”
The Los Angeles County District Prosecutor, Nathan Hochman, speaks with ABC News, March 19, 2025.
ABC News
When Gutman asked him if he has a verification list of each individual lie, Hochman said: “I really do it.”
“The essence of that verification list is that they would finally have to admit that after 30 years they killed their parents deliberately, deliberately and premeditatedly, not because they believed that their parents would kill them that night,” said Hochman.
Hochman said that his office has identified 20 lies that they have said since the day of the murder, and that the brothers have admitted to four of them, while there are 16 additional lies “who are the essence of their self -defense” that remain unrecognized.
The brothers are fulfilling life without the possibility of probation for the murders of the 1989 shotgun of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menéndez.
When asked if he believes that the brothers deserve to die in prison, Hochman said: “My personal belief is completely irrelevant.”
“What I do is follow the facts and the law in each case,” he said.
Hochman deviated from whether the brothers were definitely sexually abused by their father, like them, and surviving family members have declared for decades. But Hochman emphasized that sexual abuse was never his defense.
This combination of two reserve photos provided by the California corrections department shows Erik Menéndez, on the left and Lyle Menéndez.
California corrections department through AP
“There was no additional corroboration of anyone in 12 years, be it another adult, a friend, a coach, a teacher, who reported on any information about the receiver that sexual abuse occurred during those 12 years. But there was evidence presented at the trial? Yes. Was the defense that the Menendezes used to kill in first degree? Absolutely not,” said Hochman. “We have focused on that.”
The members of the Menéndez family who want to free the brothers have said that the brothers suffered horrible abuses, admitted guilt and apologized, and have rejected Hochman’s insistence that the brothers were not sexually abused, and a cousin called the tone of the district prosecutor “hostile, derogatory and condescending.”
When Gutman asked him if he understands the family’s desire to free the brothers, Hochman said: “I do it.”
“I absolutely see the sincerity of their belief, who want to go out to the Menéndez brothers. 100%,” he said.
A hearing on the motion of the Office of the District Prosecutor of Los Angeles County to withdraw the request for resentment is scheduled for April 11.
Depending on what the Court decides then, a resontent hearing can be established for April 17 and April 18, said the District Prosecutor’s Office.
On whether he would appeal if the judge decides that the brothers must be seen by a probation board, beginning the way for resentment, Hochman said: “We would certainly see the judge’s justification for any resentment, and if the judge does his job and looks at all the factors and we reach a different conclusion than us, but a law would also support, we would not be in a position to appeal that.”
If the case progresses, a probation board would present its recommendation to the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who can then accept or reverse his recommendation, or that the entire probation Board intervenes, said Hochman.
Hochman initially announced the measure of withdrawing the motion of resentment on March 10, calling the personal defense statements of the brothers of a litany of “lies.” After the newspaper of the press, Lyle Menéndez published on Facebook that “of all those ‘lies’ [Hochman] Talking about them, several of them were admitted/stipulated in the first trial. … and several other ‘lies’ were absolutely refuted or disputed. “
The predecessor of Hochman, George Gascón, announced in October that he supported the resentment for the brothers. Gascón recommended that their life sentences without the possibility of removal of probation, and said they should be sentenced by murder, which would be a 50 -year sentence to life imprisonment. Because both brothers were less than 26 years old at the time of crimes, they would be eligible for probation immediately with the new prayer.
The Prosecutor’s Office said at that time that their resentment recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work that Lyle and Erik Menéndez did behind bars to rehabilitate and help other inmates.
Weeks after Gascón’s announcement, he lost his career for re -election against Hochman. When Hochman assumed the position on December 3, he promised to review all the facts before reaching his own decision.
In addition to resentment, the brothers have been following two other ways towards freedom.
One is his request for habeas corpus, which they presented in 2023 for a review of two new evidence not presented at the trial: a letter that Erik Menéndez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detail his alleged abuse of his father, and the accusations of a former member of the band of children who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.
Hochman announced in February that he asked the court to deny the request of habeas corpus, arguing that the new evidence is not credible or admissible.
The third way to freedom is through the clemency application of the brothers, which has been submitted to Newsom.
On February 26, Newsom announced that it is ordering the Board of probation to carry out a “90 -day comprehensive risk assessment” on whether the brothers represent “an unreasonable risk for the public” if clemency and released are granted.
