Los Angeles (CNN) — A California parole board has denied parole for Erik Menendez, who was convicted alongside his brother Lyle of murdering their parents in 1989, delivering a crippling blow to the brothers’ yearslong fight for release.
The decision does not bode well for Lyle Menendez, whose case is set to be heard by the parole board Friday.
Despite the board’s ruling, Erik Menendez still has hope of walking free. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has the rare power to reverse parole decisions, and the brothers are separately seeking clemency and a new trial.
The decision was delivered Thursday after an exceptionally long 10-hour virtual hearing involving statements from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Erik Menendez and about a dozen supportive Menendez relatives – who are also considered victims of the brothers’ crime.
Ultimately, the board decided Erik continues to “pose an unreasonable risk to public safety” if released, listing his teenage criminal history, the brutality of the killings and “serious violations” of prison rules, including possession of contraband cell phones, said parole commissioner Robert Barton. He may become reeligible for parole in three years.
Barton said he was amazed at the level of support Erik has from his relatives, but their statements did not outweigh the other serious factors in Erik’s case.
“Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you, and you can still be found unsuitable for parole,” Barton told Erik while delivering the decision.
The gravity of Erik’s crime is “not a primary reason for this denial,” Barton said. “It’s still your behavior in prison.”
The parole board’s decision is not final; It could undergo an internal review for up to 120 days. After that, Newsom has 30 days to affirm or reverse the decision, if he so chooses.
The brothers became newly eligible for release after a judge resentenced them in May, marking a stunning victory for the Menendezes and their family, who have long been fighting to overturn their original sentences of life without parole.
Though Erik and Lyle Menendez are inextricably linked in the public eye, the pair will have their cases considered independently. There is a possibility Lyle could be granted parole despite Erik’s denial.
It has been 36 years since Erik and Lyle Menendez stormed into the den of their family’s gilded Beverly Hills mansion late on August 20, 1989, and opened fire with a pair of shotguns, killing their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. In the decades that followed, the crime has cast a lasting shadow on the family, not only due to the trauma of the crime, but also disputes over sexual and physical abuse allegations the brothers have leveled against their father.
“I’ve called it a forever crime. It will impact every generation to be born,” Erik Menendez said during the hearing Thursday. “I cannot express sorrow and remorse enough.”
The brothers have spent years vying for new trials, resentencing and release. Their latest fight gained critical momentum in 2023 with the emergence of potential new evidence, the support of a former Los Angeles district attorney and a fervent social media movement driven by the release of a documentary and – later – a fictionalized Netflix show depicting their crime.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has vehemently opposed the brothers’ efforts, despite his predecessor’s advocacy on their behalf. Hochman’s office argued against their resentencing in May and opposed Erik’s parole at Thursday’s hearing.
Erik and Lyle Menendez admitted killing their parents, but they have long maintained the crimes were committed in self-defense after enduring years of abuse by their father, which they say their mother knew about and chose to ignore.
However, Hochman has argued the brothers have not accepted full responsibility for their crime and therefore should not be freed. The district attorney accuses Erik and Lyle of lying about their motive and has previously said he believes evidence to corroborate the abuse allegations is “extremely lacking.”
Erik briefly wavers on self-defense claim
A crucial element of the parole board’s assessment is whether Erik and Lyle Menendez have accepted full responsibility for their crimes. While the brothers have admitted to the killings, their motive still remains hotly contested. The brothers say they killed their parents out of fear for their lives, but District Attorney Hochman has dismissed this as a lie, saying they killed out of greed for their father’s fortune.
Hochman has said he would only support the brothers’ release if they backed down from their claim that they killed out of self-defense – and on Thursday Erik briefly appeared to appeal to the prosecutor’s demands.
During the hearing, parole commissioner Robert Barton cited a document written by Erik in which he said he had “no justification” for the killings. Erik reaffirmed the statement Thursday.
“Is there any part of this which you believe was self-defense?” Barton asked. Erik replied: No.
The admission came in stark contrast to decades of statements from the Menendez brothers claiming their motive was self-defense. But despite the apparent reversal, Erik still seemed to double down on their story that they shot their parents out of fear for their lives.
During the hearing, Erik delved into his teenage mindset at the time of the killings, describing his father as a cruel and domineering figure who, in his words, created an environment in which “running away was inconceivable. Running away meant death.”
He became visibly emotional when recounting the murders. He repeated the story he and his brother told at trial: The killings followed a week of rising tensions and confrontations with their parents over the alleged abuse.
“My purpose in getting the guns was to protect myself in case my father or my mother came at me to kill me –or my father came in the room to rape me. That is why I bought the guns.”
Barton repeatedly asked Erik why he did not consider reporting his father to the authorities or leaving home to protect his safety.
“It’s difficult to convey how terrifying my father was,” Erik told the board. He later said he felt tied to the house by an “absolute belief that I could not get away.”
“Maybe it sounds completely irrational and unreasonable today,” Erik said.
The pivotal moment for Erik came the night of the killings when he said José ordered him to go to his room. Lyle later told him his father was coming upstairs, he said.
“My focus was, ‘Dad’s coming to my room. I can’t let him come to my room,’” Erik said. “(Lyle said), ‘It’s happening now’ … I ran to my room to get the gun. All I knew was I had to get to that den. Fear was driving me to that den.”
“Dad was going to come to my room and rape me that night. That was going to happen. One way or another. If he was alive, that was going to happen,” Erik added.
“You do see that there were other choices at that point?” Barton asked.
Erik said, “When I look back at the person I was then and what I believed about the world and my parents, running away was inconceivable. Running away meant death.”
Asked why he chose to shoot his mother as well, Erik said he had recently found out that his mother knew about the alleged abuse.
“Step by step, my mom had shown she was united with my dad … But when I found out that she knew (about the abuse),” Erik says he no longer saw any difference between his parents. “On that night I saw them as one person. Had she not been in the room, maybe it would have been different.”
Gov. Newsom’s final word
If granted parole, the brothers face a final – and potentially unpredictable – arbiter of their case: the governor.
Under a 1988 state law, Newsom holds the unusual power to approve, deny or modify parole board decisions for people convicted of murder and sentenced to an indeterminate term. He has 30 days from when the board releases its decision to make his choice.
The governor’s office did not answer CNN’s inquiry about Newsom’s potential decision.
Though Newsom has broad leeway to make his decision, court rulings over the past two decades require the governor to assess the defendant’s risk to public safety and allow him to consider whether the person demonstrated insight into their crime, said Christopher Hawthorne, clinical professor of law and director of the Juvenile Innocence & Fair Sentencing Clinic at Loyola Law School.
Newsom previously used the power to deny parole for Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated US Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. The governor cited Sirhan’s “refusal to accept responsibility for his crime” and “lack of insight and accountability,” among other reasons.
Hochman, in his efforts to keep the Menendez brothers in prison, has compared their case to Sirhan’s several times, arguing the brothers have “fabricated a story of self defense” and never accepted full responsibility for their crime.
As Newsom weighs the decision, Menendez relatives will be able to express their opinions to the governor’s office through calls, letters and other documents.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.