Erik Menendez Denied Release at Parole Hearing 36 Years After Murdering Parents By Janelle Griffith 20

A California parole board denied Erik Menendez release on Thursday, Aug. 21, more than 36 years after he and his brother, Lyle, killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion — crimes for which they were initially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Erik, now 54, appeared via videoconference from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego during his parole hearing. Lyle, 57, is set to appear before the parole board Friday.

“While we respect the decision, today’s outcome was of course disappointing and not what we hoped for,” a spokesperson for Lyle and Erik Menendez said on Thursday. “But our belief in Erik remains unwavering and we know he will take the Board’s recommendation in stride. 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.”

“Tomorrow, we turn our attention to Lyle’s hearing,” the statement continued. “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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Erik and Lyle were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for fatally shooting their parents, José Menendez and Kitty Menendez, in 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. Their attorneys had argued the brothers acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, which they alleged their mother was aware of but did nothing to stop. Prosecutors said they killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.

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At their first trial, in 1993, they were tried together with separate juries. Both ended in mistrials. During the trial, the brothers recounted having allegedly been sexually abused by their father.

During their second trial, the judge limited testimony and evidence about sexual abuse and, unlike their first trial, cameras were banned. A jury convicted the brothers of murder, and they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But they became eligible for parole in May, after a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences from life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life, which meant they were immediately eligible for parole under California law because they were younger than 26 when they committed their crimes.