DAY 236 | California: Erik and Lyle Menendez denied parole
Menendez Brothers Lose Bid for Parole Three Decades After Murdering Parents
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lyle Menendez was denied parole Friday, a day after his younger brother Erik received the same recommendation by a California state board.
Their separate hearings this week come nearly 30 years after the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder for the 1989 killings of their parents. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.
But after a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life in May, they immediately became eligible for parole under California law because they were under age 26 when they committed their crimes.
Lyle and Erik Menendez are the sons of Jose and Kitty Menendez. Jose, a Cuban-American business executive who at one time was an executive at RCA Records, moved his family from Princeton, New Jersey, to California when the brothers were teenagers.
Crime & Punishment
On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez dialed 911 to report the shotgun killings of their parents inside their home. Both brothers told investigators that the murders were related to the Mafia or had something to do with their father’s business dealings. At the time, Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21.
With access to the family’s wealth, the brothers spent small fortunes on Rolex watches, cars, and houses. But two months after the killings, Erik Menendez confessed to his psychologist that he and his brother killed their parents.
They were arrested early the following year and charged with first-degree murder. The brothers claimed that their father emotionally and sexually abused them since childhood, but prosecutors contended that getting access to his money was the motive.
The first trial started in 1993. Defense attorneys never disputed that the brothers killed their parents but argued that they acted out of self-defense. Their trials resulted in hung juries.
In 1995 a jury convicted them on three counts including first-degree murder, plus lying in wait and special circumstance allegations. They were sentenced to life without parole in 1996.
For years, the brothers filed petitions for appeals from behind bars, but they were denied by state and federal judges.
The brothers have engaged in education while in prison, participated in self-help classes, and started various support groups for fellow prisoners.
They also launched a prison beautification project inspired by the Norwegian approach to incarceration that believes rehabilitation in humane prisons surrounded by nature leads to successful reintegration into society, even for people who have committed terrible crimes.
“Little signs”
As Lyle Menendez, attended the hearing remotely from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, parole commissioner Julie Garland commended him for his behavior in prison, including his lack of violence, his work on programs and his positive relationships with other inmates and staff. She also noted his strong support network and solid plans for a post-release life.
But she said the panel found “there are still signs” that he poses a risk to the public.
Erik, left, and Lyle Menendez
“You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change,” Garland told him at his first-ever parole hearing. “But despite all those outward positives, we see … you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface.”
Lyle Menendez's illegal possession of cellphones in prison was another point made by the commissioners.
Garland said “incarcerated people who break rules” are more likely to break rules in society.
“We do understand that you had very little hope of being released for years,” Garland said, referring to his previous sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
“Citizens are expected to follow the rules whether or not there is some incentive to do so,” she added.
Garland said the board did give “great weight” to the fact that Lyle Menendez was under the age of 26 at the time of the murders and was very susceptible to the “negative and dysfunctional” environment in his home.
Garland told Lyle Menendez to stay hopeful, and said he needs to be the person he shows himself to be when he is running programs for other inmates.
She advised he “spend some time to demonstrate, to practice what you preach about who you are, who you want to be.”
This decision comes one day after Lyle Menendez's brother, 54-year-old Erik Menendez, was denied parole. Erik Menendez's panel of commissioners -- who were different from those reviewing Lyle Menendez's case -- based their decision on multiple factors, including Erik Menendez's illegal use of cellphones in prison, burglaries he participated in before the murders and the brutal killing of his mother, Kitty Menendez.
One commissioner said it was Erik Menendez's behavior in prison, not the seriousness of the crime, that was the primary reason he was denied parole. The board noted Erik Menendez's inappropriate behavior with visitors, drug smuggling, misuse of state computers, violent incidents and illegal cellphone use.
Erik Menendez maintained at the hearing that the brothers killed their parents after years of sexual abuse by their father, Jose Menendez, and he said he felt betrayed by his mother when he learned that she knew about the abuse.
“When I was running into the den, I was in a state of terror, of panic, of rage,” he told the board members, describing the moments leading up to the shooting.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who firmly opposes the brothers' release, said in a statement after Erik Menendez's parole was denied, “The Board correctly determined that Erik Menendez's actions speak louder than words.”
Erik Menendez will also next be eligible for parole in three years.
What's next?
Although their paroles were denied, the brothers can ask the parole board to review the case for errors, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Separately, California Gov. Gavin Newsom can grant clemency to the Menendez brothers at any time.
Over the years, the Menendez case has continued to fascinate the public, and the brothers became celebrities of sorts. They also were the subjects of true crime shows, including last year’s nine-episode Netflix crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
A few weeks after that aired, then-LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced that he was reviewing new evidence in the case. On Oct. 24, 2024, prosecutors said they would petition the court to resentence the brothers. And in May 2025, an LA County Superior Court judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole.
The board is tasked with assessing whether the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to society” if released, considering factors like criminal history, motivation for the crime, signs of remorse, behavior while in prison and plans for the future, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Nearly all the Menendez brothers’ family members support releasing them. Their uncle Milton Andersen, who opposed it, died from cancer in March.
The brothers both received three-year denials from the California state parole board. They will likely be considered for administrative review within one year and have another hearing as soon as 18 months.
They also still have a pending habeas corpus petition filed in May 2023 seeking a review of their convictions based on new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father.
Sources: The Associated Press, Staff; ABC News, Emily Shapiro, August 23, 2025
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