Erik Menendez has been denied parole more than three decades after he and his brother Lyle killed their parents inside the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced Thursday that the 54-year-old will remain behind bars for at least three more years. The ruling came after a 10-hour parole hearing, which Erik himself noted coincided with the anniversary of when his family first learned of the murders.
“This is the day all my victims learned my parents were dead,” he told the board. “Today is the anniversary of their trauma journey.”
The denial represents a major setback for a growing movement seeking the release of the Menendez brothers, fueled in part by documentaries and dramatizations such as Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” Family members, friends, and even celebrities like Kim Kardashian have voiced support for Erik’s release.
More than a dozen relatives testified in his favor, saying they had forgiven him and Lyle. But parole commissioner Robert Barton stressed that forgiveness does not automatically equal freedom. “Two things can be true,” Barton said. “They can love and forgive you and you can still be found unsuitable for parole.”
The Menendez brothers became household names in the 1990s when their trial was broadcast live. Prosecutors argued they murdered Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989 to gain access to the family fortune. Jose was shot five times, including in the kneecaps, while Kitty was killed as she tried to crawl away. At first, the brothers claimed the killings were a mafia hit before Erik later confessed to a therapist. They eventually argued that years of sexual and emotional abuse by their father drove them to act in self-defense.
The parole hearing only took place after a judge earlier this year reduced their original life sentences to 50 years with a chance of release. Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposed both the resentencing and parole, saying the brothers’ shifting accounts prove they have not taken full responsibility.
“The Menendez brothers have never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents,” Hochman said in a statement.
Erik’s younger brother, Lyle, now 57, is scheduled for his own parole hearing on Friday.
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