Erik Menendez denied parole in California decades after killing his parents

Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills Mansion.

Erik Menendez, the younger of the two brothers who were convicted of the 1989 shooting of their parents in Los Angeles, has been denied parole.

He made his first bid for freedom on Thursday in California, where he was questioned about why he committed the crime and violated prison rules.

A panel of two commissioners determined he should not be freed, despite support from family members and the public, with Commissioner Robert Barton explaining the primary reason for the decision was not the seriousness of the crime, but Menendez’s behaviour in prison.

“Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner and frankly we find that a little disturbing,” Barton said, questioning if that meant Menendez was not entirely honest with family members about his behaviour.

The repeated use of a mobile phone was “selfish” and a sign of Menendez believing that rules don’t apply to him, Barton said to Menendez.

The panel of commissioners scrutinised every rule violation and fought 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 will be able to apply for parole again in three years.

A parole hearing for his brother, Lyle Menendez, who is being held at the same prison in San Diego, is scheduled for Friday morning.

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

Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez sit in a Beverly Hills courtroom in 1990. / Credit: AP

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

While defence attorneys 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.

In May, a judge reduced their sentences and they immediately became eligible for parole.

Erik Menendez made his case to 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, August 20, 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 case has captured public attention for decades and has been the basis of numerous documentaries, television specials and dramatisations, including the Netflix drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and a documentary released in 2024, which renewed interest in the case.

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