Rosie O’Donnell says Menendez brothers are ‘innocent,’ got ‘very close’ to Lyle

nypost.com:

the Menendez brothers, who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing their parents in 1989.After watching the Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” the 61-year-old television personality said she believes both Lyle and Erik Menendez are “innocent” of the murders of their parents José and Mary Louise.Both Erik and Lyle claimed during their first trial in 1993 that they were sexually molested by their father and their mother enabled the abuse.

They were 18 and 21 at the time. The brothers did not deny the murders, but they argued in their defense that the murders were not cold-blooded, but rather an act of self-defense in response to the abuse.Erik and Lyle were both ultimately convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and were sentenced to life without parole, which they are still serving.O’Donnell shared a video to TikTok over the weekend saying that she has “known” the Menendez brothers were innocent — and shared that Lyle had first reached out to her in 1996.“In 1996, Lyle sent me a letter [that] basically said, ‘I know you know.

And I hoped we could connect.’ And you know, he was right. I did know that they were innocent. I did know that those were boys who had been incested, and why I knew and how I knew,” she said in the TikTok.Though the comedian knew they were innocent then, she didn’t respond to Lyle at the time and wasn’t ready to openly support and advocate for them.“I was afraid and I wasn’t ready to touch the subject and you know, it was 1996.