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The Menendez brothers are feeling “hope” for the first time in decades as the possibility of parole looms — more than three decades after the killer siblings were convicted of viciously
gunning their parents down in their posh Beverly Hills home. “Hope for the future is really kind of a new thing for us,” Lyle Menendez, 57, told TMZ in a recent interview from jail that’s
due to air Monday night on Fox. “I think Erik would probably agree with that. It’s not something we’ve spent a lot of time on,” he added. The brothers — who were sentenced to life in prison
for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their palatial home in 1989 — will be going before a California state parole board in June after 35 years behind bars. Both voiced
optimism that things would go their way — claiming that they’d been fundamentally rehabilitated during their incarceration. EXPLORE MORE “I’m striving to be a better person every day, and I
want to be a person that my family can be proud of,” 54-year-old Erik told TMZ. “Who I’ve evolved into, who I’ve seen Lyle evolve into, I’m beginning to like myself, be proud of myself, and
find it’s OK to like myself.” The sensational murders and ensuing trials commanded headlines throughout the 1990s, with their first trial ending in a hung jury after the brothers’ detailed
heinous abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of their record executive father, Jose. But their second trial exposed a web of lies the brothers spun to keep out of trouble, casting
their stories and claims of self-defense into doubt and landing them convicted of first-degree murder with life sentences without the possibility of parole. More than three decades later,
however, their case was cast into new light after rape allegations against Jose surfaced from a singer in the boy band Menudo, who said he was assaulted by their dad when he was just 14.
Those allegations, coupled with a dramatic Netflix television show based on the murders, brought renewed attention to the controversial case — and calls to have the brothers released from
prison that resulted in former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón recommending a resentencing that would see the brothers cut loose. But new DA Nathan Hochman has since voiced
opposition to letting the brothers go, accusing them of having “lied to everyone for the last 30 years.” The state parole board is slated to meet to make a final ruling on the matter on June
13. “You never know how long you’ll be blessed to be on the Earth, so we don’t sit around waiting for something,” Lyle said in the new interview.