MENUDO singer Roy Rosselló said he is yearning for the moment he’s able to reunite with the Menendez brothers’ family as he reveals his role in a potential resentencing of the killers.
Rosselló exclusively disclosed to The U.S. Sun that he has been advised to have no contact with family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez because he is a witness in any possible resentencing hearing.
“The Menendez lawyer advised me to do not have any contact with them cause I am a witness of the case, and I respect the decision of the lawyer,” Rosselló told The U.S. Sun after breaking his silence on the renewed interest in the decades-long case.
The extensive media coverage of the 1989 case has taken a toll on Rosselló, who told The U.S. Sun he endured similar sexual abuse.
“Of course [it] affected me, it can affect any person. I went through similar abuse with Jose Menendez and Edgardo Diaz, the Menudo creator, which it is my fight now [to] put this pedhophile in jail,” he proclaimed.
Rosselló previously told The U.S. Sun that the abuse at the hands of Jose Menendez did not occur only once.
“[I] still have more things that soon will be revealed through my next docu-series that is being prepared and will be shocking,” he added.
Erik and Lyle’s case reemerged in the public spotlight in late 2024 following the release of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monsters, which dramatized the double murders as well as the brothers’ physical, emotional, and sexual abuse claims.
But prior to the Netflix show, Rosselló came forward in May 2023 with explosive allegations that RCA Records executive Jose and Menudo producer Diaz sexually assaulted him as a teen.
Diaz has denied Rosselló accusations.
Rosselló’s admission about his encounter with Jose in the 1980s was included in a habeas corpus petition filed by the Menendez brothers’ attorney, Cliff Gardner, in May 2023.
George Gascón, the former Los Angeles district attorney, included Rosselló’s confession and a letter Erik wrote to his cousin in August 1988, in which he alludes to abuse by his father, in his recommendation to a judge about resentencing the brothers.
Gascón asked a judge to reconsider amending Erik and Lyle’s sentencing from life without the possibility of parole to life with the possibility of parole.
However, newly elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman has outright opposed the evidence.
Hochman called Erik and Lyle’s sexual abuse claims “untrustworthy,” citing their conflicting explanations for they murdered their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez.
The district attorney also said Rosselló’s admission was “not admissible” because it would have no bearing on when the brothers killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
But on February 26, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the parole board to launch a comprehensive risk assessment investigation into whether Erik and Lyle pose “an unreasonable risk to the public” if they’re released.
Newsom’s office said the board’s findings will be shared with the court and Hochman.
“There’s no guarantee of the outcome here,” Newsom said in his new podcast, This is Gavin Newsom.
‘COURAGEOUS AND BRAVE’
Rosselló defended Erik and Lyle’s bid for freedom, telling The U.S. Sun the brothers have been “exceptional prisoners.”
“They deserve to be free,” the former Menudo member, now 54, said.
“They were [an] exceptional example. They were an example for all the society and other prisoners.
“Do[es] the justice not see it? They are so courageous and brave after all they went through.
“In my point of view, [they] rehabilitated themselves and help[ed] rehabilitate others as well.”
The Menendez brothers have recently opened up about the vicious attacks they endured in their early days in state prison.
After being handed a life sentence, Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, were separated and sent to different prisons.
HELPLESS FEELING
In a recent interview on TMZ’s 2 Angry Men podcast, Erik recalled the moment he learned his brother was attacked while at Mule Creek State Prison.
“I remember the day I was told Lyle just got assaulted and got his jaw broken,” Erik said, adding that he felt helpless being apart from his brother.
“At least we could protect each other maybe if we were together, but we were not together.
“I had no one to turn to for help.”
Erik admitted prison was hard for him, “I faced a lot of bullying and trauma. It was a dangerous environment.”
In February 2018, the brothers were reunited after 21 years after Lyle was transferred to the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility, where Erik was serving his life sentence.
Rosselló expressed how he eagerly awaits the day he is able to gather together with Erik and Lyle and their family.
“I know this moment will arrive, any time, and I will feel very happy to meet them again after so many years and pray for them and with them,” he told The U.S. Sun.
Timeline of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez's case dates back more than three decades since their parents were found shot to death at their Beverly Hills mansion.
Below is a timeline of the brothers’ case, starting at the gruesome crime scene:
August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are found dead from multiple shotgun wounds.
March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested outside his parents’ Beverly Hills mansion.
March 11, 1990 – Erik surrenders to police after flying back into Los Angeles from Israel.
December 1992 – Murder charges against the brothers are officially filed.
July 20, 1993 – The murder trial, highly publicized on Court TV, begins in Los Angeles with Erik and Lyle each having a separate jury.
January 28, 1994 – The first trial ends with two deadlocked juries.
October 11, 1995 – Lyle and Erik’s second trial begins with one jury.
March 20, 1996 – The Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
July 2, 1996 – Lyle and Erik are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons.
February 22, 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison, where Erik is held.
April 4, 2018 – Lyle was moved into the same housing unit as Erik – the first time the brothers were reunited in over 20 years.
May 2023 – Lyle and Erik’s attorney files a habeas corpus petition after Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez in a Peacock docuseries.
September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story releases on Netflix.
October 3, 2024 – Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in connection with Lyle and Erik’s convictions.
October 7, 2024 – The Menendez Brothers documentary film comes out on Netflix.
October 16, 2024 – Family members of the Menendez brothers hold a press conference begging for the siblings to be released from prison.
October 24, 2024 – Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommends the brothers be resentenced.
November 25, 2024 – The Menendez brothers appear in court for a status hearing to learn their resentencing hearing is pushed back from December 11 to allow new DA Nathan Hochman more time to review the case.
January 30-31, 2025 – Erik and Lyle’s resentencing hearing was initially set but had to be rescheduled due to the California wildfires.
March 20-21, 2025 – The brothers are set to go before a judge for their resentencing hearing.
