LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik Menendez was denied parole Thursday after serving decades in prison for murdering his parents with his older brother in 1989.

California commissioners turned down Menendez’s parole request, requiring him to wait three more years before he can try again. The public remains captivated by the case. His brother, Lyle Menendez, who is also imprisoned in San Diego, has a parole hearing slated for this Friday morning.

During an extensive hearing, the commissioners decided against releasing Menendez after probing his reasons for committing the crime and breaking prison rules. Despite strong backing from family members who have been campaigning for the brothers’ freedom, the commissioners stood by their decision.

“Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you, and you can still be found unsuitable for parole,” commissioner Robert Barton said.

Barton said the primary reason for the decision was not the seriousness of the crime but Menendez’s behavior in prison.

The parole hearings marked the closest they have come to winning freedom since their convictions almost 30 years ago for murdering their parents.

In 1996, the brothers were given life sentences for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in Beverly Hills. While their defense claimed the murders were in self-defense due to years of sexual abuse by their father, the prosecution argued the motive was to secure a large inheritance.

A judge reduced their sentences in May, and they became immediately eligible for parole.

Erik Menendez presented his side to the commissioners, sharing the most comprehensive account in years of his upbringing, decision-making, and personal growth behind bars. The hearing coincidentally marked nearly 36 years to the day since he killed his parents on August 20, 1989.

“Today is August 21st. On this day, my victims realized my parents were dead, marking the start of their own trauma journey,” Menendez stated, referring to his family.

The state corrections department chose a single reporter to watch the videoconference and share details with the rest of the press.

Erik Menendez’s prison record

Sitting in front of a computer screen wearing glasses, Erik, now gray-haired, wore a blue T-shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt when photographed by officials.

The panel of commissioners scrutinized every rules violation and fight on his lengthy prison record, including allegations that he worked with a prison gang, bought drugs, used cellphones and helped with a tax scam.

He told commissioners that since he had no hope of ever getting out then, he prioritized protecting himself over following the rules. Then last fall, LA prosecutors asked a judge to resentence him and his brother — opening the door to parole.

“In November of 2024, now the consequences mattered,” Menendez said. “Now the consequences meant I was destroying my life.”

A particular sticking point for the commissioners was his use of cellphones.

“What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone,” Menendez said.

The board also brought up his earliest encounters with the law, when he committed two burglaries in high school.

“I was not raised with a moral foundation,” he said. “I was raised to lie, to cheat, to steal in the sense, an abstract way.”

The panel asked about details like why he used a fake ID to purchase the guns he and Lyle Menendez used to kill their parents, who acted first and why they killed their mother if their father was the main abuser.

Barton asked: “You do see that there were other choices at that point?”

“When I look back at the person I was then and what I believed about the world and my parents, running away was inconceivable,” Menendez said. “Running away meant death.”

His transformation behind bars

Erik Menendez’s parole attorney, Heidi Rummel, emphasized 2013 as the turning point for her client.

“He found his faith. He became accountable to his higher power. He found sobriety and made a promise to his mother on her birthday,” Rummel said. “Has he been perfect since 2013? No. But he has been remarkable.”

Commissioner Rachel Stern also applauded him for starting a group to take care of older and disabled inmates.

Since the brothers reunited, they have been “serious accountability partners” for each other. At the same time, he said he’s become better at setting boundaries with Lyle Menendez, and they tend to do different programming.

More than a dozen of their relatives delivered emotional statements at Thursday’s hearing via videoconference.

“Seeing my crimes through my family’s eyes has been a huge part of my evolution and my growth,” Menendez said. “Just seeing the pain and the suffering. Understanding the magnitude of what I’ve done, the generational impact.”

His aunt Teresita Menendez-Baralt, who is Jose Menendez’s sister, said she has fully forgiven him. She noted that she is dying from Stage 4 cancer and wishes to welcome him into her home.

“Erik carries himself with kindness, integrity and strength that comes from patience and grace,” she said.

One relative promised to the parole board that she would house him in Colorado, where he can spend time with his family and enjoying nature.

The board brushed off prosecutor’s questions

LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said ahead of the parole hearings that he opposes parole for the brothers because of their lack of insight, comparing them to Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom denied him parole in January 2022 because of his “deficient insight.”

During the hearing, LA prosecutor Habib Balian asked Menendez about his and his brothers’ attempts to ask witnesses to lie in court on their behalf, and if the brothers staged the killings as a mafia hit. Commissioners largely dismissed the questions, saying they were not retrying the case.

In closing statements, Balian questioned whether Menendez was “truly reformed” or saying what commissioners wanted to hear.

“When one continues to diminish their responsibility for a crime and continues to make the same false excuses that they’ve made for 30-plus years, one is still that same dangerous person that they were when they shotgunned their parents,” Balian said.

What happens next

Lyle Menendez is set to appear by videoconference Friday for his parole hearing. The brothers 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.

The case has captured the attention of true crime enthusiasts for decades and spawned documentaries, television specials and dramatizations. The Netflix drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story ” and a documentary released in 2024 have been credited for bringing new attention to the brothers.

Greater recognition of the brothers as victims of sexual abuse has also helped mobilize support for their release. Some supporters have flown to Los Angeles to hold rallies and attend court hearings.