Erik Menendez's Request for Parole Denied Years After Parents' Murder

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Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle murdered their parents in 1989.
They became eligible for parole after a judge reduced their sentence to 50 years to life earlier this year.
Lyle also faces a parole board hearing this week.

Erik Menendez has been denied parole after serving decades in prison for murdering his parents with his older brother in 1989.

A panel of California commissioners on Friday AEST denied him parole for three years, after which he will be eligible again, in a case that continues to fascinate the public.

A parole hearing for his brother Lyle, who is being held at the same prison in San Diego, is scheduled for later this week.

The two commissioners determined that Erik should not be freed after an all-day hearing during which they questioned him about why he committed the crime and violated prison rules.

The brothers became eligible for parole after a judge reduced their sentences in May from life without parole to 50 years to life. The parole hearings marked the closest they have been to winning freedom from prison since their convictions almost 30 years ago for murdering their parents.

They were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.

Two men wearing suits and ties sitting in a courtroom.

The brothers became eligible for parole 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.

Erik, grey-haired and spectacled, sat in front of a computer screen wearing a blue T-shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt in a photo shared by officials.

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.