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Key Points
  • In 1989, Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle murdered their parents.
  • Their sentence was reduced to 50 years to life earlier this year, making them eligible for parole.
  • Lyle’s parole board hearing is also taking place this week.
After decades in prison for murdering his parents, Erik Menendez was denied parole.
On Friday AEST, a California commissioner panel ruled against granting him parole for another three years, a case that continues to captivate the public.
A parole hearing for Lyle, his brother held in the same San Diego prison, is slated for later this week.
During the all-day hearing, the commissioners decided to keep Erik imprisoned after interrogating him about the crime and his rule violations in prison.
After a judge commuted their sentences in May from life without parole to 50 years to life, the brothers became eligible for parole. This was the closest they have approached potential release since their conviction almost 30 years ago for the murders.

In 1996, they were sentenced to life imprisonment for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home.

Two men wearing suits and ties sitting in a courtroom.

Their eligibility for parole came after a judge reduced their sentences in May from life without parole to 50 years to life. Source: AAP / Nick Ut/AP

While defence lawyers argued that the brothers acted out of self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers sought a multimillion-dollar inheritance.

A judge reduced their sentences in May, and they became immediately eligible for parole.
Erik made his case to two parole commissioners, offering his most detailed account in years of how he was raised, why he made the choices he did, and how he transformed in prison.
He noted the hearing fell almost exactly 36 years after he killed his parents — on 20 August 1989.
“Today is August 21st. Today is the day that all of my victims learned my parents were dead. So today is the anniversary of their trauma journey,” he said, referring to his family members.
The state corrections department chose a single reporter to watch the videoconference and share details with the rest of the press.

In a photo shared by officials, Erik appeared grey-haired and wearing glasses, seated in front of a computer screen in a blue T-shirt laid over a white long-sleeve shirt.
A man with short grey hair and wearing glasses and a blue short-sleeved smock over a long-sleeved white t-shirt. He is sitting at a chair at a desk and looking at a grey monitor.

Erik Menendez appeared before the parole board via video. Source: AAP / AP

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

He told commissioners that since he had no hope of ever getting out then, he prioritised protecting himself over following the rules.
Then last autumn, LA prosecutors asked a judge to resentence him and his brother — opening the door to parole.
“In November of 2024, now the consequences mattered,” he said. “Now the consequences meant I was destroying my life.”
Erik’s parole attorney, Heidi Rummel, emphasised 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.”
More than a dozen of their relatives, who have advocated for the brothers’ release for months, delivered emotional statements at Thursday’s hearing via videoconference.
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