By ANDREW DALTON

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez came at a time of cultural obsession with courts, crime and murder, when live televised trials captivated a national audience.

Their resentencing — and the now very real possibility of their freedom — came at another, when true crime documentaries and docudramas have proliferated and brought renewed attention to the family.

A judge made the Menendez brothers eligible for parole Tuesday when he reduced their sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life for the 1989 murder of their father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home. The state parole board will now determine whether they can be released.

Their two trials bookended the O.J. Simpson trial, creating a mid-1990s phenomenon where courts subsumed soap operas as riveting daytime television.

“People were not used to having cameras in the courtroom. For the first time we were seeing the drama of justice in real time,” said Vinnie Politan, a Court TV anchor who hosts the nightly “Closing Arguments” on the network. “Everyone was watching cable and everyone had that common experience. Today there’s a true crime bonanza happening, but it’s splintered off into so many different places.”

The brothers became an immediate sensation with their 1990 arrest. They represented a pre-tech-boom image of young wealthy men as portrayed in many a 1980s movie: the tennis-playing, Princeton-bound prep.

For many viewers, this image was confirmed by the spending spree they went on after the killings. Their case continued a fascination with the dark, private lives of the young and wealthy that goes back at least to the Leopold and Loeb murder case of the 1930s, but had been in the air in cases like the Billionaire Boys Club, a 1980s Ponzi scheme that spurred a murder.

The first Menendez trial becomes compelling live TV

Their first trials in 1993 and 1994 became a landmark for then-new Court TV, which aired it nearly in its entirety. Defense lawyers conceded that they had shot their parents. The jury, and the public, then had to consider whether the brothers’ testimony about sexual and other abuse from their father was plausible, and should mean conviction on a lesser charge.

The lasting image from the trial was Lyle Menendez crying on the stand as he described the abuse.

At the time there had been some public reckoning with the effects of sex abuse, but not nearly to the extent of today.

The two juries — one for each brother — deadlocked, largely along gender lines. It reflected the broader cultural reaction — with women supporting a manslaughter conviction and men a guilty verdict for first-degree murder.

A tough-on-crime era, and a Menendez trial sequel

The trials came at a time when crime in the U.S. was at an all-time high, a tough-on-crime stance was a prerequisite for holding major political office, and a wave of legislation mandating harsher sentences was passed.

That attitude appeared to prevail when, at their second trial, the brothers were both convicted of first-degree murder.

FILE – Lyle, left, and Erik Galen Menendez sit in Beverly Hills, Calif., courtroom, May 14, 1990 as a judge postponed their preliminary hearing on charges of murdering their parents last August. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

As Associated Press trial reporter Linda Deutsch, who covered both trials along with Simpson’s and countless others, wrote in 1996:

“This time, the jury rejected the defense claim that the brothers murdered their parents after years of sexual abuse. Instead, it embraced the prosecution theory that the killings were planned and that the brothers were greedy, spoiled brats who murdered to get their parents’ $14 million fortune.”

The second trial was not televised and got less attention.

“There were no cameras, it was in the shadow of O.J. so it didn’t have the same spark and pop as the first one,” Politan said.

The Menendez brothers become a distant memory

They had become too well-known to be forgotten, but for decades, the Menendez brothers faded into the background. Occasional stories emerged about the brothers losing their appeals, as did mugshots of them aging in prison.

“The public’s memory of them was, ‘Yeah, I remember that trial, the guys with the sweaters in court,’” Politan said.

That would change in the era of true-crime TV, podcasts and streamers.

True crime goes big

The 2017 NBC drama series “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders,” wasn’t widely watched, but still brought the case new attention. The next decade would prove more important.

The 2022 Max docuseries “Menudo: Forever Young” included a former member saying he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. At about the same time, the brothers submitted a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin about his father’s abuse before the killings.

The new true-crime wave would continue to promote them, even if the portrayal wasn’t always flattering.

” Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a drama created by Ryan Murphy on Netflix, made them beautiful and vain buffoons, and the actors were shown shirtless on provocative billboards. Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez brought Oscar-winning star power to the project that dropped in September of last year.

That was followed a month later by a documentary on Netflix, “The Menendez Brothers.”

Together, the shows had the public paying more attention to the case than it had since the trials. Almost simultaneously came a real-life turning point, when then- Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said he was reviewing new evidence in the case.

FILE – This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP, File)

The office of Gascón’s successor, Nathan Hochman, opposed the resentencing.

Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian constantly sought at hearings to make sure the “carnage” caused by the brothers wasn’t forgotten, and repeatedly emphasized that they “shotgunned, brutally, their parents to death.”

But the shifts in public perception and legal actions were already in motion. The judge’s decision to reduce their charges came not with the drama of the televised trial, but in a short hearing in a courtroom that wouldn’t allow cameras. The broader public never saw.

Despite his opposition, Hochman was reflective in a statement after the resentencing.

“The case of the Menendez brothers has long been a window for the public to better understand the judicial system,” Hochman said. “This case, like all cases — especially those that captivate the public — must be viewed with a critical eye. Our opposition and analysis ensured that the Court received a complete and accurate record of the facts. Justice should never be swayed by spectacle.”

A woman killed in a double shooting last week at a Robbinsdale park has been identified as a 19-year-old from North St. Paul.

Amarie Cashayla-Marie Alowonle died at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale on Sunday, eight days after she was shot in the head at Sanborn Park, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday.

The second victim, a man in his 20s, was treated at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis with injuries police described as serious.

Police have not announced any arrests.

Police said officers were in the area of County Road 81 and 40th Avenue North when they heard gunshots to the east about 9:20 p.m. Callers to 911 immediately reported a shooting at Sanborn Park, located in the 4200 block of Drew Avenue North, just north of Crystal Lake.

Officers arrived at a “very chaotic scene” and found Alowonle, who was taken by ambulance to North Memorial with “grave injuries,” police said.

Many people were at the scene, but they shared little information with officers, police said.

No additional victims were located by officers, who cordoned off a large area to secure evidence.

Just after 10 p.m., police were told that the 20-year-old man had shown up to Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park with a gunshot wound. He was transported by ambulance to HCMC.

Investigators with Robbinsdale police and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office continue to look for suspects and are asking anyone with security video in the area to review footage between 8:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. the night of the shooting. Information and video can be emailed to robbinsdalepolice@robbinsdalemn.gov.

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By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms of Pope Francis’ pontificate by having women serve on the Vatican board that vets nominations for bishops.

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But he also has said decisively that women cannot be ordained as priests, and despite having worked for years in Peru where women often lead church communities, seems noncommittal on whether women could ever serve in any ministerial capacity.

Nevertheless, the women who have worked closely with Prevost in recent years have praised his leadership style, ability to listen and respect for their opinions. In interviews with The Associated Press, they say they expect that as pope, Leo will continue to promote women in church governance positions, albeit with limits.

Maria Lia Zervino was among the three women Francis appointed to the Dicastery for Bishops in 2022 to review possible appointments. It was a job previously held by cardinals and bishops, an old boy’s club that has jealously guarded the secret process behind the appointment of bishops.

Zervino rejoiced when Prevost was elected pope, saying the respect he showed for her and other women on the board and their opinions gave them faith in him as a leader.

Maria Lia Zervino, chosen by Pope Francis to be on the Dicastery for Bishops, is interviewed by The Associated Press in Rome on Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrea Rosa)

“I’m convinced that he doesn’t need to learn how to work (with women), how to let them speak, to listen to them, to have them participate in decisions, because that’s what he does anyway,” said Zervino, the Argentine former head of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations.

Zervino said she expected Leo would continue Francis’ reform processes, albeit in his own style.

“He’s a simple man, serene, always with that smile that we saw that seems to come from an interior peace,” she said in an interview. “So when you see someone who is balanced, peaceful and respectful and who welcomes what you say and is always ready to hear the other, you have faith in him.”

A 2023 comment on women as priests

At a 2023 gathering of bishops on the future of the Catholic Church, Prevost was asked at a news conference about women in church leadership positions. He said it was “a work in progress” and that there would be a “continuing recognition of the fact that women can add a great deal to the life of the church on many different levels.”

But he drew some very clear lines.

“I think we’re all familiar with the very significant and long tradition of the church, and that the apostolic tradition is something that has been spelled out very clearly, especially if you want to talk about the question of women’s ordination to the priesthood,” he said in the Oct. 25, 2023, briefing.

Catholic women do much of the church’s work in schools and hospitals and are usually responsible for passing the faith to the next generation. But they have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men.

Prevost acknowledged Francis had created two commissions to study whether women could be made deacons, who perform many of the same functions as priests. While he said the issue was still open, he warned that turning women into clerics “doesn’t necessarily solve a problem, it might make a new problem.”

Just because a woman in society can be president doesn’t mean there’s an “immediate parallel” in the church, he argued.

“It isn’t as simple as saying that at this stage we’re going to change, if you will, the tradition of the church after 2,000 years on any one of those points,” he said.

Deacons are ordained ministers who preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals. They can preach but cannot celebrate Mass. Married men can be ordained as deacons while women cannot, although historians say women served as deacons in the early Christian church.

A prudent and private listener

Karlijn Demasure, emeritus professor of practical theology at St. Paul University in Ottawa, served on a Vatican commission with Prevost proposing reforms to the authority of bishops and how they are selected. She said Prevost was absolutely convinced of the need to involve lay people and nuns in the selection of bishops, at least at an initial level.

“He listens well,” Demasure said. “He hears what has been said, and if he doesn’t agree, he says it but in a nice way: ‘I wouldn’t say it like this, or I wouldn’t do it like that.’”

She said Prevost was quiet, “prudent and private.” She wonders, though, what will happen with the work of the commission, one of 10 groups that are studying particularly thorny questions, such as the role of women, and were due to report back to the pope by July.

Sister Nathalie Becquart, one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican, worked with Prevost during Francis’ meeting, known as a synod, on the future of the church. She also happens to be his neighbor, living in the same Palazzo Sant’Uffizio inside the Vatican gates, and was among the well-wishers who greeted Leo when he came home the night of his May 8 election.

Sister Nathalie Becquart walks inside the General Secretariat of the Synod in Rome on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Becquart posted a joyous selfie with the pope in the courtyard in one of the first private moments after his election. “I had time to greet him, not just as a neighbor,” she said.

The women’s diaconate

Becquart recalled that she had been at a conference of the 900 nuns who run the world’s female religious orders when the white smoke came out of the Sistine Chapel chimney. It didn’t bother her that the nuns had no vote in the conclave, since the cardinals “could see that the church is the people of God.”

“Synodality is about feeling we are from the same body, we are interdependent, we have a deep inner connection, and for me that was a deep spiritual experience I could never imagine before,” she said.

Also during the conclave, advocates for women’s ordination set off pink smoke flares over the Vatican to protest their exclusion from the priesthood and the election process.

“The discrimination and exclusion of women is a sin, and we’re here to say the next pope will inherit this question and needs to work quickly to correct it,” said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference.

Hofstra University researcher Phyllis Zagano, who was on Francis’ first Vatican commission on women deacons, remains optimistic. She pointed to Prevost’s acknowledgement that the deacon issue was still open and that he ministered in Peru, a region that has pushed for years for the church to recognize women as ministerial deacons to help offset the priest shortage.

In a column for Religion News Service, Zagano noted that a recent proposal for a new Amazonian liturgical rite, published last month by the Amazonian bishops conference, contained explicit recommendations for women to be ordained as deacons. When Francis in 2020 considered official requests from Amazonian bishops for female deacons, he dodged the issue.

“Women deserve the ordained diaconal ministry of women,” she said in an interview.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Rafael Salamanca, currently a councilman and chair of the Council’s powerful Land Use Committee, is challenging the incumbent borough president, Vanessa Gibson. Several dynamics make this a race worth watching.

Current Borough President Vanessa Gibson, right. Her challenger, City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, right. (Flickr/Office of the Bronx Borough President, William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)

This analysis is part of a series exploring the role of the Latino vote in the city’s 2025 municipal elections. Read more about it here.

With all eyes on the race for the mayoralty, fewer New York City voters have yet glanced north to the Bronx, where a rumble of its own is shaping up. Rafael Salamanca, currently a councilman and chair of the Council’s powerful Land Use Committee, is challenging the incumbent borough president, Vanessa Gibson. Several dynamics make this a race worth watching.

Having won office four years ago, Gibson has one term left. Taking on an incumbent, who in this case is fairly well liked across the Bronx, does not happen often. But Salamanca has made the bold move, and might actually give Gibson a run for her money.

As a councilman with years of experience under his belt, Salamanca is no ordinary insurgent. Not only does he bring to the race the claim of city legislative experience (which Gibson has as well, from her previous Council experience and her current borough presidential role), he also comes to the race having raised a whopping $653,987, double the amount the incumbent Gibson has. At least in terms of fundraising, Salamanca clearly has not been hampered by the typical insurgent woes.

The chart above shows that Gibson has received over $184,557 more than Salamanca in public matching money. Yet Salamanca’s massive fundraising haul in private donations, and a lower spend up to this point in the campaign, has left him with a $300,000-plus spending advantage heading into the last six weeks of the race. At least when it comes to money, Salamanca has an edge.

But money isn’t everything, at least not in this race. Salamanca is taking on a well-liked incumbent in Gibson. She has the backing of the Bronx Democratic Party, the powerful union 1199, the Working Families Party, and numerous elected officials (many of whom are Latino) across the Bronx. For most insurgents, taking on an incumbent with this level of support usually spells trouble. Can Salamanca defy the odds?

He has certainly removed the usual fundraising advantage that most incumbents enjoy. But what about other factors? Does Salamanca have a path given that the Bronx is the only Latino-majority borough? According to the most recent voter file, Latinos comprise 46 percent of all registered Bronx Democrats. The next largest group, based on excellent data from the firm L2,  is Black voters at 35 percent.

This may seem to suggest an advantage for Salamanca. However, things are a bit more complicated in the Bronx for anyone considering the Latino vote as an exclusive path to victory (this is not to say that this is Salamanca’s strategy). For one, the Latino vote alone is not enough to give any candidate the win. Moreover, Latino voting participation in the Bronx, as in other places, lags behind other groups.

Let’s take a look at numbers from the last municipal election in the Bronx in 2021, when Gibson was first elected as borough president.

Several elements are important to understand here. First, only 20 percent of eligible Bronx voters came out to the polls in the 2021 election. In Manhattan, 34 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. In Brooklyn, it was 29 percent. Similar rates applied in Queens and Staten Island. The Bronx is the borough with the lowest voting participation rates in the city—for reasons I won’t address here.

Moreover, not only is voting participation low borough-wide, it’s particularly low among Latinos. Only 15 percent of eligible Latino Democratic voters participated in the 2021 election. By comparison, 24 percent of eligible Black voters went to the polls, as did 29 percent of (the considerably fewer) eligible white voters.

When it comes to Latino voting participation the question remains: What is holding Latinos back from participating in elections? Unfortunately, many Latino elected officials in the borough are neglecting to engage the question.

All this notwithstanding, Salamanca will need to win the lion’s share of the Latino vote to make this a competitive race. If Gibson manages to pull enough Latinos to her column, which is not impossible for her to do, Salamanca will have a very long night on election day.

If this race comes down to voters making choices by fealty to race and ethnicity, my eyes will be glued to results in neighborhoods that are mostly non-Black and Latino. Almost half of these voters are in Riverdale, where a key Gibson supporter, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, has his base.

Another 21 percent of these voters reside in Morris Park, City Island, and Pelham Bay, areas represented by another Gibson backer, Assemblyman Michael Benedetto. Both Dinowitz and Benedetto have long been party stalwarts, and their support for Gibson will be critical in this race. In addition to pulling out the Latino vote, Salamanca’s chances will depend on how many of these voters he’ll be able to convince.

Clearly much is at stake for both candidates. Gibson is the only incumbent borough president facing a serious challenge. And Salamanca aspires to be the fifth Latino borough president of the Condado de la Salsa. One thing is for sure: with fewer than six weeks to go, this rumble in the Bronx will become more contentious before it is over.

Eli Valentin is a former Gotham Gazette contributor and currently serves as assistant dean of graduate and leadership studies at Virginia Union University. He lives in New York with his family.

The post A New Rumble in the Bronx: Battle for the Borough Presidency appeared first on City Limits.