Menendez Brothers Case

The home where Erik and Lyle Menendez brutally murdered their parents just sold for big money ... and coincidentally, the transaction closed on a case-related anniversary.

According to the Los Angeles Times ... the mansion sold for $17 million on Wednesday just a couple months after being put on the market in December.

The home contains seven bedrooms, a pool, a tennis court, and a two-story guest house. It was purchased for $3.7 million in 2001 -- a pretty impressive ROI for the previous owner. Realtor.com reports the house sold for under its prevailing market value -- perhaps unsurprising given the grisly events that took place there.

As we said -- the sale of the house just so happened to fall exactly 28 years after the Menendez brothers were convicted of first-degree murder for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty, with a shotgun. They were convicted on March 20, 1996.

Of course, the Menendez case received a whole bunch of media attention last year after the release of the docuseries "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed" in which a member of the band Menudo claimed Jose Menendez had raped him while he was a teen.

Erik and Lyle's attorney Mark Geragos was pushing for a new trial based on the claim ... and, though that hasn't happened yet, it definitely renewed interest in the case.

Erik and Lyle Menendez have at least 2 new pieces of evidence backing their claim their father was molesting them, and their new high-powered attorney says it's enough for them to get a new trial ... and perhaps a new verdict.

The Menendez brothers' attorney Mark Geragos joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," explaining why a recently discovered letter written by Erik, as well as the rape claims made by former Menudo member Roy Rossello, are both crucial if they get their day back in court.

He says either piece of evidence -- the letter or Rossello's allegation -- could've resulted in a way different outcome in the 90s. Remember, they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As we reported, new legal docs filed by Geragos, and obtained by TMZ, reference Rossello's claim he was drugged and raped by the brothers' father, Jose. The petition also points to a letter Erik wrote to a cousin months before they shot their parents in which he says his father was molesting them.

We asked Geragos, hypothetically, if a judge grants the brothers a new trial ... how would he address the fact Erik and Lyle still premeditatively killed not only Jose, but their mother, Kitty, as well. He had a very interesting response.

The Menendez brothers want to have their day in court ... again ... they say they have new evidence backing up their defense that their father was sexually abusing them, but there's a new wrinkle involving a member of the '80's boy band "Menudo."

According to new legal docs filed by attorney Mark Geragos, and obtained by TMZ, Erik and Lyle Menendez cited recent allegations by former Menudo star Roy Rossello that he was sexually abused when he was 13 or 14 by Jose Menendez.

Rosello made the accusations against Jose -- a then-RCA record exec -- in a new three part Peacock docuseries, "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed." In the series, two journalists dove into claims that the band's founder, Edgardo Diaz, brought Rosello to Jose's home in New Jersey to broker a deal between "Menudo" and RCA. But things took a dark turn when Jose allegedly drugged Rossello and then raped the teen.

Per the court docs, Erik and Lyle argued that Rossello's allegations of abuse by their dad only served to strengthen their original contention that they fatally shot Jose and their mom, Kitty, out of self-defense.

The petition also mentioned a letter Erik sent to their cousin, Andy Cano, months before the shootings ... where Erik accused Jose of sexual abuse.

In the letter, which the brothers claimed wasn't shown to the jury at trial, Erik says he wished he could tell his mom about the alleged abuse but says he can't risk it because he feared she would tell Jose. Erik also told Andy his father was continuing to molest him.

The Menendez Brothers say the letter was sent around 8 months before they murdered their parents, and they argued it supported their defense theory that Jose was sexually abusing them and warned them to not speak out about being molested, to the point where they became frightened of their father.

They say jurors never heard from Roy either, and they claimed if the jury knew about Roy's allegations and the letter, things might have turned out differently and they might have bought the defense's theory that the brothers were guilty of manslaughter, instead of murder.

Erik and Lyle filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in an effort to determine whether the new evidence was enough for the court to grant them a new trial or other relief.

Attorney Alan Jackson talked to us in April about the possibility of the Menendez brothers getting a new trial ... and he didn't seem to think it was likely, and told us exactly why.

The Menendez brothers getting a new trial because an ex-member of Menudo is accusing their father of rape is no slam dunk ... it's more of a Hail Mary, according to a criminal defense lawyer.

Attorney Alan Jackson joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him what Lyle and Erik Menendez should be expecting from Menudo member Roy Rosselló's explosive revelation about their father, Jose Menendez.

Alan believes the chances are remote the Menendez brothers get a new trial based on Roy's accusation.

Still, Alan says Lyle and Erik's defense team will try to get the accusation before a judge and present it as new evidence in hope of overturning their convictions -- because even if it's a long shot, it's something.

The way Alan sees it ... Roy's claim is unlikely to change anything for Lyle and Erik, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, despite arguing their father sexually molested them for years and they only killed him out of fear.

Alan says Roy's accusation -- that music executive Jose drugged and sexually assaulted him in the Menendez family's New Jersey home -- isn't directly connected to the evidence pointing to the brothers murdering their parents with shotguns.

The Menendez Brothers case is back in the news now that an ex-member of Menudo is now backing their claim that their father was a pedophile.

Roy Rosselló -- who was part of the uber-popular boy band from the '80s -- is the subject of a new docuseries that's being aired by Peacock ... titled, "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed," which teases a big bombshell that Roy says he's ready to share with the world.

He claims Jose Menendez drugged and sexually assaulted him before Menendez was brutally killed alongside his wife by their sons, Lyle and Erik.

Unclear how exactly Roy claims to have known Jose during the time of the alleged incident -- but it's not outside the realm of possibility ... remember, Menendez worked as an executive in the music biz during the '80s and '90s -- and was tight with the Latino community.

Rossello's story is scheduled to stream May 2 ... but from the trailers/promos released this week, there's no doubt he's leveling a serious allegation that seems to jibe with what the Menendez Bros. also claimed about their dad in the '90s ... namely, that he'd allegedly sexually abused them for years during their childhood.

You'll recall ... the lynchpin of the brothers' defense essentially boiled down to telling the jury they lived in fear from the abuse and only killed their parents after claiming their dad threatened them when they said they would expose what he'd done.

It's unclear for now if Rossello's new assertion -- which seems to be the first time anyone has publicly backed the notion that Jose Menendez might've sexually abused minors -- will have any impact on the Menendez brothers' case, as their lawyers have tried for years to secure a new trial with several unsuccessful appeals.