New evidence backs up infamous Menendez brothers' claim the father they killed was abusing them: report

New evidence has surfaced that seems to support the stories of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the infamous brothers whose shooting murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion shocked the nation, reported the Los Angeles Times.

"The brutality of the crime led many — including law enforcement — to speculate whether the killings were mob hits. But when the couple’s two children were identified as suspects, and the nation became engrossed in the gruesome killings and the family’s inner workings, everyone wanted to know why?" reported Salvador Hernandez.

"The answer prosecutors offered was simple: money. Used to living a life of privilege, the brothers executed their parents because they had threatened to cut them off from the family’s $14-million estate."

The Menendez brothers testified at trial that they had suffered brutal physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father for years — but they were convicted and sentenced to life sentences after prosecutors managed to get testimony about that abuse excluded after a pair of hung juries.

Now, said the report, courts are looking back and finding new evidence that they may have been telling the truth all along.

"A recently discovered letter that attorneys say was written by Erik Menendez suggests sexual abuse by his father continued into his late teenage years," said the report. Moreover, a new victim, Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, has come forward to allege Jose Menendez raped him when he was in his early teens. As a result, a new petition on the brothers' behalf asks for an evidentiary rehearing, arguing that the boys should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder.

Legal experts, though, are unsure whether this new evidence will change anything.

“There was skepticism about their claims from Day one,” said Loyola Law School professor Laurie L. Levenson. “Maybe this will address some of the skepticism, but I don’t know if it will be sufficient.”

Cliff Gardner, a lawyer representing the Menendez siblings, is adamant, however: “This undercuts the state’s theory,” he said. “We know the abuse was occurring, and Jose was exactly the type of person that would sexually abuse a 13-year-old.”