Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón says the Menendez brothers should not spend the rest of their lives in prison.

“Given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die,” Gascón told co-host Juju Chang in a IMPACT x Nightline episode entitled “Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Victims?”

The new episode, which airs on Hulu on Thursday, October 17, revisits the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents and are now serving life sentences in a California prison. It includes pleas for the brothers’ release from friends and relatives, as well as interviews with their cousin Karen VanderMolen-Copley, comedian Rosie O’Donnell and their attorney Mark Geragos.

The episode comes two weeks after Gascón, who is up for re-election in November, announced at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles that his office “remained open” about the Menendez brothers’ bid for reconviction, which could lead until their release.

“I’m not leaning in any direction right now,” Gascón said. “We have people in the office looking at this very carefully, very experienced attorneys looking at this. Their recommendation will be submitted to me, but the final decision will be mine.”

Gascón could recommend that the brothers be resentenced, but ultimately a judge would have to approve any recommendation.

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the first-degree murder of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez.

In May 2023, attorneys for the brothers, who are serving life sentences, filed a habeas corpus petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing new evidence in the case.

The new evidence cited included allegations of sexual abuse by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, against Jose, who he claims raped him in the 1980s, as well as a newly discovered letter that Erik wrote to his now deceased cousin wrote. Andy Cano describes his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders.

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Gascón told reporters at the Thursday, Oct. 3 press conference that his office had “a moral and ethical obligation to review what is presented to us” to decide whether the brothers should be resentenced or whether a new hearing should be held in the case. appropriate.” Gascón added, “If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at the time, and if that evidence had been presented, a jury might have come to a different conclusion.”

Lyle was 21 and Erik 18 when they fatally shot their parents with 12-gauge shotguns in the den of their home in Beverly Hills, California, on August 20, 1989.

Jose, the Chief Operating Officer of RCA Records, was hit multiple times, including a punch to the head. Kitty, 47, was shot 15 times, including once in the face.

The brothers say the murders came after years of sexual abuse by Jose – abuse they claim was ignored by their mother, a former pageant queen.

However, prosecutors at the time said the two brothers’ motive was greed and cited their lavish spending after the killings.

In 1996, three years after their first trial ended in a deadlock, the siblings were convicted of first-degree murder and subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Mark Geragos, the Menendez brothers’ post-conviction attorney, tells PEOPLE, “I think anyone who rationally examines the record and the facts and circumstances can only come to one conclusion: They shouldn’t be in there.”

He adds: “They’ve had their time.”

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the crisis text line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

ABC News Studios’ IMPACT x Nightline: Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Victims? begins streaming on Thursday, October 17, only on Hulu.