Erik Menendez should not be granted parole 36 years after murdering his parents, the California Board of Parole Hearings has decided.
The decision to deny Menendez, 54, parole eligibility for three years came after a 10-hour hearing conducted over video conference on Thursday.
It was a crushing defeat for Menendez after a long, winding legal battle in which his attorneys and family members had insisted he had been rehabilitated after more than three decades behind bars since the 1989 shotgun slayings of his parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Lyle Menendez, 57, will have his own parole hearing on Friday; he may win the board’s recommendation for parole where his brother failed.
If the board decides to recommend Lyle for parole, it will have 120 days to conduct a legal review before submitting the recommendation to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have 30 days to affirm or deny it.
As for Erik, not all hope is lost: Newsom could still grant him clemency despite the Board’s lack of a recommendation. Defense attorneys for the brothers argued that years of sexual abuse by their father, with the abetment of their mother, led the pair to purchase shotguns and kill Jose and Kitty Menendez execution-style in the living room of their lavish Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
Attorneys also insisted that Erik and Lyle had been model prisoners, pointing out Erik’s work cofounding a support group for prisoners in hospice care and Lyle’s work as an advocate for victims of childhood sexual abuse.
But Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman did everything in his power to keep the brothers in jail, calling their self-defense claim an outright lie that proved they showed no “insight” into their crimes — a key requirement for parole eligibility.
Insight means taking full responsibility for a crime and understanding the factors that led you to commit the crime, such as anger, inability to handle stress, and substance abuse, said Michael Beckman, a lawyer specializing in parole hearings.
Erik had also been cited for several rule violations, including possessing a cellphone and fights with inmates in 1997 and 2011.
Lyle was also cited for having a cellphone several times in 2024, Hochman’s office revealed.
“The board is really big on the philosophy that if you can’t follow the rules in prison, you can’t follow the rules in free society,” Beckman said. “Add to that that cellphones are one of the three big bad rule violations along with violence and substance abuse.”
Ultimately, Beckman noted that parole decisions come down to individual commissioners, who might weigh the brothers’ cases based on factors like their celebrity status or family members’ support.
The brothers have had celebrity status since their two high-profile trials in the ’90s, but a Netflix documentary about the case brought them back into the spotlight last year.
Former District Attorney George Gascón filed a formal motion to resentence them, citing new evidence of sexual abuse, including a handwritten note from Erik to a cousin — dated before the murders — that detailed his father’s actions.
“While we respect the decision, today’s outcome was, of course, disappointing and not what we hoped for. But our belief in Erik remains unwavering, and we know he will take the Board’s recommendation in stride,” his family said in a statement.
“His remorse, growth, and the positive impact he’s had on others speak for themselves. We will continue to stand by him and hold to the hope he is able to return home soon,” they added.
“Tomorrow, we turn our attention to Lyle’s hearing. And while it is undoubtedly difficult, we remain cautiously optimistic and hopeful that the commissioner will see in Lyle what so many others have: a man who has taken responsibility, transformed his life, and is ready to come home.”
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