Erik Menendez Denied Parole After 36 Years
Erik Menendez, one of the infamous Menendez brothers convicted of killing their parents in 1989, has been denied parole after serving more than three decades in prison.
A California parole board ruled Thursday that Menendez, now 53, will remain incarcerated for at least three more years before he can reapply. His older brother, Lyle Menendez, is scheduled to appear before a separate parole panel on Friday. Both brothers are housed at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
The parole hearings marked the closest the brothers have come to potential release since they were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996. In May 2024, a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life, making them eligible to seek parole for the first time.
A Crime That Shook Beverly Hills
The Menendez case has captivated the public for more than three decades. On August 20, 1989, Jose and Kitty Menendez were brutally shot to death inside their Beverly Hills mansion.
Prosecutors argued the murders were motivated by greed, claiming Erik and Lyle sought to inherit their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate. Defense attorneys countered that the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual and emotional abuse from their father, Jose.
Their trial, televised in the 1990s, became a cultural phenomenon, generating wall-to-wall media coverage, public debate, and later multiple documentaries and dramatizations—including Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The Parole Hearing
Appearing via videoconference, Erik Menendez sat before two parole commissioners in a blue T-shirt layered over a long-sleeved white shirt. He offered his most detailed account in years of his troubled upbringing, the reasons he made the fateful choices in 1989, and the ways in which he has changed while behind bars.
The hearing, held on August 21, fell just one day after the anniversary of his parents’ deaths.
“Today is August 21st,” Menendez said. “Today is the day that all of my victims learned my parents were dead. So today is the anniversary of their trauma journey.”
Despite his statements of remorse and his account of personal growth, the parole board was not convinced.
Scrutiny of Prison Record
A central factor in the denial was Menendez’s lengthy record of prison rule violations. Commissioners cited allegations of gang involvement, drug use, tax scams, and smuggling contraband cellphones.
Menendez admitted to many of the infractions, explaining that until recently he saw little point in following rules since he never expected to leave prison alive.
“In November of 2024, now the consequences mattered,” Menendez told the board, referring to the moment when prosecutors agreed to resentence him and Lyle, making parole possible. “Now the consequences meant I was destroying my life.”
Still, his use of contraband cellphones particularly troubled the commissioners. “What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone,” he admitted.
The board also revisited Menendez’s teenage burglaries, his use of a fake ID to purchase the shotguns used in the killings, and the decision to kill both parents, not just their father.
Commissioner Robert Barton pressed him: “You do see that there were other choices at that point?”
“When I look back at the person I was then and what I believed about the world and my parents, running away was inconceivable,” Menendez replied. “Running away meant death.”
Transformation Behind Bars
Menendez’s attorney, Heidi Rummel, emphasized that her client had turned his life around in 2013.
“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 told the commissioners. “Has he been perfect since 2013? No. But he has been remarkable.”
The board acknowledged his progress, commending him for founding a group to care for elderly and disabled inmates. Menendez said reuniting with his brother Lyle in prison has made them “serious accountability partners,” though they participate in different rehabilitative programs.
Family Support
More than a dozen relatives testified on Menendez’s behalf, urging the board to grant parole.
“Seeing my crimes through my family’s eyes has been a huge part of my evolution and my growth,” Menendez said. “Just seeing the pain and the suffering. Understanding the magnitude of what I’ve done, the generational impact.”
His aunt, Teresita Menendez-Baralt—Jose’s sister—said she had forgiven Erik. Facing terminal cancer, she pleaded for the chance to welcome him home before she dies.
“Erik carries himself with kindness, integrity and strength that comes from patience and grace,” she said.
One relative even promised to house him in Colorado and help him rebuild his life if released.
Prosecution Pushback
Despite the family’s support, Los Angeles prosecutors strongly opposed parole.
Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian questioned whether Menendez was truly rehabilitated or simply tailoring his answers to impress the board. He raised past attempts by the brothers to influence witnesses and suggested the killings were staged to resemble a mafia hit.
“When one continues to diminish their responsibility for a crime and continues to make the same false excuses that they’ve made for 30-plus years, one is still that same dangerous person that they were when they shotgunned their parents,” Balian said.
The commissioners largely dismissed his questions, noting they were not there to retry the case.
What Happens Next
Lyle Menendez will have his parole hearing Friday via videoconference. The brothers’ fate could diverge depending on how commissioners view their individual records and rehabilitation efforts.
If both are eventually granted parole, it would mark a dramatic turn in a case that has been revisited through countless documentaries, TV specials, and dramatizations. Recent projects, including the Netflix Monsters series, have renewed public debate over whether the Menendez brothers were cold-blooded killers or traumatized victims who acted out of desperation.
Advocates for their release argue that increased recognition of the brothers as abuse victims should factor into parole decisions. Supporters have held rallies and packed courtrooms, while others insist that the brutal nature of the crime demands permanent incarceration.
For Erik Menendez, the wait continues. He will next be eligible for parole in three years—nearly four decades after the night that forever changed his life and left two parents dead in Beverly Hills.
