Lyle and Erik Menendez They can become free men after spending decades behind bars for killing their parents.

Here’s a look at the famous brothers’ prison life and three paths to potential freedom:

the case

Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to purchasing shotguns and firing 16 bullets at Jose and Kitty Menendez inside the family’s Beverly Hills home in 1989.

Prosecutors alleged they killed their wealthy parents for money, but the defense argued they acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father.

The first trial, which featured separate juries for each brother, ended in mistrials. In 1996, after the second trial, during which the judge threw out much of the evidence of sexual abuse, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted and both sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole.

Watch “Menéndez Brothers: Monsters or Victims?” from “IMPACT by Nightline,” now streaming only on Hulu. (Disney is the parent company of Hulu and ABC News.)

life in prison

Nery Ynclan, a freelance producer for ABC News and executive producer of “Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” visited Lyle Menéndez several times at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Center in San Diego.

He highlighted that Lyle and Erik Menéndez have spent their decades in prison rehabilitating, in addition to helping other inmates.

MORE: The latest from the Menendez brothers: DA will ask Governor Newsom for clemency

“(Lyle) and his brother spent their entire adult lives trying to counsel other victims of sexual abuse and start programs in prison,” he said. “Even though they had no chance of parole, they really felt that the prison system could be improved.”

Erik Menendez has provided palliative care to inmates, his attorney said, while for the past 20 years, Lyle Menendez’s fellow inmates have elected him as their representative to the prison administration, Ynclan said.

“He’s like a soft-spoken CEO who’s very busy with multiple projects,” Ynclan said of Lyle.

MORE: Menendez brothers are ‘cautiously optimistic’ they will be freed, lawyer says

“He wants to talk about prison reform,” Ynclan said. “He was talking to me about the university courses he was taking… I was very impressed that someone in his 50s, in prison without any possibility of parole… wanted to take calculus and statistics to continue improving himself.”

Now that freedom is a possibility, Ynclan described this as an “emotional and tense moment” for Lyle Menendez.

“For the first time in decades, he really feels like there is a glimmer of hope that one day the two of them will be able to return home to their families,” Ynclan said.

Route 1: Habeas corpus petition

One path to freedom is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which was filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.

One piece of evidence is the accusations of Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed in the 2023 documentary series “Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that he was raped by music executive José Menéndez.

The second piece of evidence is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse. The cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter, which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony, was not unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos.

Through this petition, the court could change their sentences. The next hearing is scheduled for November 25.

Route 2: Resentencing recommendation is presented to the judge and parole board

A second way is through the new sentence.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced in an Oct. 25 court filing that recommended that the brothers’ sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole be eliminated and that they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life in prison. .

Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, with the new sentence they would be eligible for parole immediately, Gascón said.

The district attorney’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account factors including the defendants’ age, psychological trauma or physical abuse that contributed to the commission of the crime, and their rehabilitation in prison.

“We appreciate what they did while they were in prison,” Gascón said at a news conference. “While I don’t agree with the way they handled their abuse, we hope that not only have they learned – which appears to be the case – but that, if they reintegrate into our community, they will continue to do public good.”

Gascón’s recommendation will then be presented to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, who will weigh factors including the crime, the brothers’ history while incarcerated and the positive impact they have had in prison, the ABC legal contributor said. News, Brian Buckmire.

MORE: The latest from the Menendez brothers: Los Angeles district attorney recommends new sentence

The judge will also review facts that were not available at the time of the brothers’ conviction in 1996, Buckmire said.

The judge could also consider “the science of boys and young men being sexually assaulted,” Buckmire said. “How they respond, how they react to that abuse and how that might not have been information available at the time of sentencing that could have changed the sentence.”

The hearing is scheduled for December. If the judge agrees to resentencing, the case then goes to the parole board.

Although the judge would have already evaluated the facts and factors, “the parole board will do its own investigation,” Buckmire said.

The brothers and their families will also have the opportunity to address the parole board, Buckmire said. In this case, the family members are not only the family of the perpetrators, but also the family of the victims, “so they have their own rights based on both capacities,” Buckmire said.

A relative, their uncle, Milton Andersen, wants the brothers to remain behind bars, stating that he does not believe they were abused and that they instead killed their parents out of greed.

But almost two dozen relatives They support the brothers and have been advocating for their release.

“They are survivors and deserve a chance to rebuild their lives,” their cousin, Brian Andersen Jr., told reporters in October. “They are no longer a threat to society.”

“If they came to my house, knocked on my door, I would open that door, I would greet them with a huge hug, my wife would make them dinner and I would give them a pillow and a place to sleep,” Andersen said.

According to the California Department of Corrections, it would likely take at least six months to schedule a parole board hearing.

MORE: Menendez brothers ‘deserve a chance,’ relatives say as they push for new sentence and release

If the parole board recommends release, the final decision will rest with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Buckmire said.

If released on parole, the brothers would be subject to surveillance and monitoring, Buckmire said. Probation often comes with conditions such as keeping a job and avoiding drugs, he said.

Path 3: Clemency

On October 28, the Menéndez brothers’ defense opened a third path to potential freedom by presenting a Request for clemency to the governor..

The district attorney announced days later that he supported the brothers’ request for clemency, which would commute their sentence or grant a pardon.

Newsom is eligible for the first time to weigh in on the clemency request on Nov. 7. The governor’s office said this is a confidential process, Newsom is not required to review the request and there is no timeline for the review.

If the governor approves the pardon, the case will likely still come before the parole board.

The governor’s office intends to treat this request “like any other case,” an office official said. “No one gets special treatment.”

ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.

What’s next for the Menéndez brothers? A look at his life in prison, 3 paths to freedom originally appeared on abcnews.go.com