The Kardashian family knew the Menendez brothers long before their infamous murder case.
According to Kris Jenner, her late ex-husband Robert Kardashian hung out with Erik Menendez—who, along with his brother Lyle Menendez, is in prison for killing their parents José Menendez and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez—every week during the '80s.
"I knew those guys," the matriarch told her daughter Kim Kardashian during The Kardashians' season six premiere on Feb. 6. "Erik used to come over and play tennis with your dad on the weekends."
For Kim, whose father represented O.J. Simpson in his 1994 murder trial, what she remembers most about the brothers was how their court trial shook the entire neighborhood when she was a teen.
"I remember my dad talking about the case," she told Kris. "I remember the whole case, growing up in Beverly Hills."
But 30 years later, the reality star has a whole new impression of the brothers. After all, her studies in law and advocacy work for criminal justice reform have opened her eyes.
"Being older and seeing it from a different lens," Kim shared in a confessional, "and knowing that I know now about the system, I just have a whole different outlook on it."
And that includes throwing her support for Erik and Lyle's release from prison. After the 2024 debut of Ryan Murphy's Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story shed renewed light on the siblings' case, Kim now believes they are "not monsters" at all.
"I have spent time with Lyle and Erik," she wrote in a NBC News op-ed published in October. "They are kind, intelligent, and honest men."
While Kim noted that the "killings are not excusable," she said the criminal justice system "should not deny who they are today in their 50s."
"I don't believe that spending their entire natural lives incarcerated was the right punishment for this complex case," the 44-year-old added. "Had this crime been committed and trialed today, I believe the outcome would have been dramatically different."
And she's not the only one who feels this way. Late last year, then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón shared his plans to recommend Lyle and Erik's current life without parole sentences be replaced with a sentence of 50 years to life with possibility for parole.
At the time, Kim said a possible re-sentencing would be "righting a significant wrong."
"This case highlights the importance of challenging decisions and seeking truth," she added on Instagram Story, "even when guilt is not in question."
Lyle and Erik's re-sentencing trial is set to begin March 20.
New episodes of The Kardashians air Thursdays on Hulu.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)