Infamous $17M Menendez Mansion Is Getting A Makeover

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The new owners of the infamous Menendez family home have not let a steady stream of tourists deter them from charging ahead on renovations.

The Mediterranean-style home, nestled in the Beverly Hills flats, is where Erik and Lyle Menendez fatally shot their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, in 1996.

The siblings, who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, began a resentencing hearing last week following newly surfaced evidence and a renewed public interest in the case.

Their lawyers will fight to reduce their sentences to make them eligible for parole.

According to Realtor.com, the home sold for $17 million to an LLC called LAHA ELM last March. It boasts 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms over a sprawling 9,063-square-foot floor plan.The real estate website also reported that the owners are pushing ahead with extensive renovations to transform the property. Meanwhile, they've also erected wire fencing with black screens attached in an effort to keep those hoping to catch a glimpse at the murder site.

In October, the Beverly Hills Police Department said officers responded to more than a dozen calls for noise complaints and trespassing at the home on Elm Drive, the LA Times reported.

One TikTok user, "momonii_", filmed through the mansion's windows and beyond a construction fence that was erected to keep people away.

Another posted by "Miss Ghana" showed footage of the inside of the house. It's unclear how the user got in.

The case received new attention following a TikTok movement in 2023, which brought awareness to the sexual abuse the brothers said they endured from their parents. Since then, a growing number of people have called for their release.

Last September, Ryan Murphy's dramatized "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" dropped on Netflix starring Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik; and Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as José and Kitty. Just a few weeks later, a documentary was released on the streaming platform titled, "The Menendez Brothers," which featured recent interviews from Lyle and Erik.

READ MORE: Netflix's 'The Menendez Brothers' Drops As Their Case Gets Second Look

But was the Menendez mansion actually used in the new Netflix drama? According to Realtor.com, a look-a-like property was used across town.

A combination of the recent media hype and new pieces of evidence that surfaced prompted former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to announce that Lyle and Erik's case would be reviewed after 35 years.

In court papers filed last year, two new pieces of evidence were documented that corroborate the brothers' stories of prolonged sexual abuse. New evidence includes a letter written by Erik to one of his cousins in early 1989, talking about the sexual abuse just eight months before the August 1989 killings.

In the letter, Erik writes in part, "I've been trying to avoid dad. It's still happening Andy, but it's worse for me now. I can't explain it. ... I never know when it's going to happen and it's driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind."

Then came recent allegations by a former teenage member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo that he was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez, who was an RCA executive.

"None of this information has been confirmed. We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information," Gascon said in October. "But we're here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side..."

However, newly elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman is arguing to keep the brothers locked up and has called them liars.

He told ABC News he would consider resentencing “if they sincerely and unequivocally admit for the first time in over 30 years, the full range of their criminal activity and all the lies that they have told about it."

Lyle and Erik have been behind bars ever since they were convicted for the 1989 killing of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, while they were watching television in the Elm Drive home. The brothers were convicted in a second trial after the first ended with two deadlocked juries.

Back then, prosecutors alleged that the brothers murdered their parents so that they could assume control of the Menendez mansion and their parents' wealthy estate. Lyle and Erik denied this assertion and shared that they had been sexually assaulted repeatedly by their father. The brothers spoke of their abuse through tears in one of the first high-profile cases to be televised, captivating and polarizing viewers everywhere.

While the brothers dispute the prosecution's original allegations that the murders were financially motivated, they openly admit to opening fire on their parents.