Relatives of brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez call for their release from prison

Lyle and Erik Menendez said they killed their parents out of self-defence (AP)

More than a dozen family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez have called for the release of the brothers from prison after the killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion 35 years ago.

“I had no idea the extent of the abuse they suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us did,” said Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister.