What 24 Menendez Family Members Did at the Los Angeles Courthouse

Joan VanderMolen loved her sister Kitty. She also stood at a Los Angeles courthouse in 2024 and said Kitty’s sons — the men who killed Kitty — should be released from prison. More than twenty family members stood behind her.

The Menendez brothers have never denied killing their parents. The family’s argument is that the full story includes what José Menendez did to his sons, and that the 1996 conviction happened in a world that was not ready to hear it. A 1988 letter Erik wrote to his cousin describing his father’s conduct surfaced years later. In May 2025, a judge resentenced both brothers, making them eligible for parole for the first time in thirty-five years.

This episode follows a family that went from three decades of silence to organized public advocacy powerful enough to move the legal system. Whether the parole board follows is an open question. But the family that rewrote this case is not done writing.

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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