Erik Menendez will remain in prison. A Los Angeles parole board has denied release to the younger of the two brothers convicted of murdering their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989. Following a day-long hearing, the commissioners judged Menendez as “still a risk to society,” citing his conduct behind bars, where he has been held since his arrest in January 1990.
“The 21st of August is the day my family discovered my parents were dead, the beginning of their path of trauma,” Erik stated via videoconference from a San Diego prison. Now 53 years old, he attempted to demonstrate his rehabilitation, speaking of his faith, sobriety, and his work supporting elderly inmates. However, the board listed a series of infractions, including the selfish use of a cell phone “as if the rules didn’t apply to him,” associations with gangs, drug trafficking, disciplinary violations, and even a tax fraud scheme. More than ten relatives spoke on his behalf, including his aunt, Teresita Menendez-Baralt, who is battling cancer and stated she has forgiven him and wants to welcome him into her home.
After a highly publicized trial, the two scions were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in 1996. The court accepted the prosecutors’ version that the brothers were motivated by their father’s multi-million dollar inheritance; he was a powerful figure in the music industry. The defense argued that the two, aged 21 and 18 at the time, acted after enduring decades of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, which was covered up by their mother.
Following a long battle by family members for a case review, which was recently brought back into the spotlight by the Netflix series ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,’ a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentence to 50 years last May. This made them eligible for parole because they were under 26 at the time of the crime. The contrary decision by the Board of Parole Hearings now blocks their release. His defense team can only reapply in three years. His older brother, Lyle, is scheduled to appear before the same court on Friday.