Letter From Menendez Brother Proves Dad’s Sexual Abuse, Attorneys Say

Lawyers for Erik and Lyle Menendez claim they’ve obtained “newly discovered evidence” that corroborate the brothers’ allegations that they were sexually molested by their father in the years before they killed both their parents in 1989, according to newly filed court records. Central to the writ of habeas corpus filed by the Menendezes’ attorneys is a handwritten letter allegedly penned by Erik to his cousin, Andy Cano, eight months before the double slaying. The letter’s existence was first reported by TMZ, with Los Angeles magazine publishing it in full shortly afterward. In it, Erik writes, “I’ve been trying to avoid dad… I never know. When it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking he might to come... He’s crazy!” Attorney Cliff Gardner told the magazine that the jury never saw the letter—and that, if they had, it would have changed the outcome of the brothers’ trial. “The crime was manslaughter, not murder,” he said. “That has been the defense position from day one, not that they should walk but their punishment should be commensurate with what they did. These were kids who were sexually abused their whole lives.”