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7h ago

Menendez Brothers Face Parole Hearings This Week in First Bid for Release in Decades

Their parole bids follow a May resentencing under California’s youthful‑offender law that made them eligible for release consideration.

FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Galen Menendez sit in a Beverly Hills, Calif., courtroom, May 14, 1990. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez listen during a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles. The two were later convicted of the August 1989 shotgun murders of their wealthy parents, Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez of Beverly Hills, California.
Erik Menendez (left) in an October 31, 2016, photo, Lyle Menendez (right) in a February 22, 2018, photo, and the brothers, leaving a courtroom in Santa Monica, California on August 6, 1990.
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Overview

  • Erik Menendez is scheduled to appear before the California Board of Parole Hearings on Thursday, with Lyle Menendez set for Friday, both via videoconference from Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
  • A Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences in May from life without parole to 50 years to life, immediately making the brothers parole‑eligible because they were under 26 at the time of the 1989 killings.
  • Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has formally opposed release, with prosecutors submitting a detailed filing challenging the brothers’ accounts and arguing they have not shown full insight.
  • Parole commissioners will assess whether either brother poses an unreasonable risk to public safety, weighing criminal history, conduct in prison, remorse and concrete post‑release plans.
  • If parole is granted, the decision undergoes a legal review by the board’s chief counsel for up to 120 days before Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to affirm, modify or reverse, meaning no immediate release.