Key Points
- Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered their parents in 1989.
- They became eligible for parole after a judge reduced their sentence to 50 years to life earlier this year.
- They may apply for parole again in three years.
Lyle Menendez, imprisoned 35 years with his brother Erik for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents at their Beverly Hills home, has been denied parole, a day after the same decision was rendered against his younger sibling.
The ruling was announced on Saturday AEST by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the parent agency of the state Board of Parole Hearings, at the end of an 11-hour proceeding.
Parole commissioners assigned to the case concluded there were still signs that Lyle Menendez, 57, would pose a risk to the public if released from custody, according to details of the hearing provided to news outlets, including Reuters, through a media pool reporter.
Lyle, dressed in blue prison garb, appeared by video from a San Diego lockup where he is currently incarcerated.
His younger brother, Erik, 54, was likewise denied parole following a similar 10-hour session on Friday AEST.
The brothers became eligible for parole after a judge reduced their sentences in May from life without parole to 50 years to life. Source: AAP / Nick Ut/AP
In a tearful closing statement before the board's decision, Menendez said he was "profoundly sorry for who I was ... for the harm that everyone has endured".
In his hearing a day earlier Erik, grey-haired and spectacled, similarly sat in front of a computer screen wearing a blue T-shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt in a photo shared by officials.
The two commissioners determined that Erik should not be freed after an all-day hearing.
Erik Menendez appeared before the parole board via video. Source: AAP / AP
"Incarcerated people who break rules" were more likely to break rules in society, Garland said.
The two siblings may apply for parole again in three years.
The brothers became eligible for parole after a judge reduced their sentences in May from life without parole to 50 years to life.
The parole hearings marked the closest they have been to winning freedom from prison since their convictions almost 30 years ago for murdering their parents.
The brothers were convicted of first-degree murder in a trial three decades ago that drew intense national media attention.
They admitted to fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, on 20 August 1989, with 12-gauge shotguns as the couple watched television in the family room of their home.
But the siblings have maintained they acted in self-defence, fearing for their lives after years of sexual abuse by their father, a wealthy entertainment industry executive, and emotional abuse by their mother.
Prosecutors argued the killings were coldly calculated and motivated by greed, namely the brothers' desire to inherit their parents' multimillion-dollar fortune.
Several close relatives spoke on the brothers' behalf during the hearings in support of their release for the sake of family healing.
