- calendar_today August 15, 2025
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Erik Menendez was denied parole by a California parole board this week, despite having spent more than 30 years behind bars. In their statement, board members said that Erik, who was convicted along with his brother Lyle of the 1989 murders of their parents, still represents “an unreasonable risk to public safety.”
The board’s decision came after a nearly 10-hour hearing during which Erik’s rehabilitation and behavior in prison were considered, along with arguments both for and against his release. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office had representatives at the hearing and asked the board to deny his parole. Meanwhile, more than a dozen family members also attended and spoke on Erik’s behalf. The board sided with the prosecutors, citing Erik’s past criminal history as a teenager, the violent nature of the crime, and “serious violations” while in prison.
Now in his 50s, Erik will be eligible for parole again in three years. Parole Commissioner Robert Barton, who read the decision, said in his explanation that the board did not deny parole because of the murders alone, but also for reasons including Erik’s behavior in prison.
“One can create a risk to public safety in several ways, and through several types of criminal conduct, including the ones you were found guilty of in prison,” Barton said to Erik. He added that Erik should rely on his “great support network” more and refrain from any further violations.
Erik has a record of nine rule violations since being incarcerated for crimes, including drug possession and having items like a cell phone and a lighter. While some correctional officers wrote on Erik’s behalf saying he is a “model inmate,” Barton questioned whether that was really an accurate description given his disciplinary record. Erik responded that he had only started to believe he could be released last year, and that it affected his “consequential thinking.”
Many family members testified on Erik’s behalf, and many were in tears. They spoke about the pain and discord that has lasted decades in the family as a result of the murders, but also about forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain does not quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, a great-niece of the Menendez brothers’ mother, Kitty, said during the hearing. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”
Others noted that Kitty’s lack of intervention in the alleged abuse happening at home only intensified the brothers’ fear. Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, a niece of Kitty’s, said that her aunt’s “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.” The only known relative against Erik’s parole was Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, who died earlier this year.
After the ruling, the family released a statement that said they were “deeply disappointed” but respected the board’s decision. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement continued. “His remorse, growth, and the positive impact he’s had on others speak for themselves. We will continue to stand by him and hold to the hope he can return home soon.”
Lyle to Face Parole Hearing, Governor Holds Final Say
Erik’s older brother, Lyle Menendez, will also face the parole board next. The board will hold Lyle’s hearing on Friday, and they will once again look over his record of rehabilitation and prison conduct. Like Erik, Lyle has committed slightly fewer disciplinary violations than Erik, but his actions leading up to and during the killings will certainly be held against him.
Lyle, who had been found equally guilty with Erik, testified at their original 1993 trial that he had repeatedly shot both of his parents at close range with a shotgun. Barton said in a statement this week that the way in which their mother was killed was “devoid of human compassion.”
Lyle has also been scrutinized over a changing story about alleged abuse by their father, a pattern that prosecutors say at one point included Lyle asking his girlfriend to lie and say his father had drugged and raped her. Such details may give pause to the board, despite the expected family support for his parole and family members who plan to speak on Lyle’s behalf.
Both parole hearings came after the brothers were resentenced in May from life without parole to a sentence of 50 years to life, which made them eligible for parole for the first time. Their case has been one of the most high-profile murder trials in California’s history, in part due to their story that they killed their parents out of fear of abuse. Prosecutors have countered that the murders were financially motivated, as their father had a fortune.
Governor Gavin Newsom will ultimately have the final say in the Menendez brothers’ case. A 1988 state law gives the governor the ability to approve, deny, or modify parole board decisions for all people convicted of murder and who have been sentenced to indeterminate terms. The board’s ruling will now go through an internal review process that can last up to 120 days, at which point Newsom will have 30 days to either allow or reject parole, or modify the board’s decision.
