The Menendez brothers are set to make their cases for parole starting on Thursday (US time), marking the closest they’ve been to winning freedom from prison since their convictions almost 30 years ago for murdering their parents.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
Erik Menendez (left) and his brother Lyle.Credit: AP
They were 18 and 21 at the time. Their story received renewed worldwide attention after a Netflix series in 2024, The Menendez Brothers.
While defence lawyers argued the brothers acted out of self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
The brothers became eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge in May reduced their sentences from life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole under California law because they were under the ages of 26 when they committed their crimes.
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A panel or two or three parole hearing officers from a board of commissioners appointed by the governor will evaluate the brothers individually. Erik Menendez will have his hearing on Thursday morning, followed by Lyle Menendez on Friday, over videoconference from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
The board will assess whether the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to society” if released, considering factors like criminal history, motivation for the crime and signs of remorse, behaviour while in prison and plans for the future, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Even if the board grants their parole, it could still be months before the brothers go free – if at all. If the board grants each brother’s parole, the chief legal counsel has 120 days to review the case. Then Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has 30 days to affirm or deny the parole.
Only then, if Newsom affirms the parole, would the brothers be able to leave prison.
AP