\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA day after his younger brother Erik was denied release on parole, Lyle Menendez was handed the same fate on Friday evening, with California prison officials ruling he remains a risk to public safety. It was a minimal denial of three years.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe find your remorse is genuine. In many ways, you look like you\u2019ve been a model inmate. \u2026 But despite all those outward positives, we see [that] you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization, and rule-breaking\u00a0that lie beneath that positive surface,\u201d Parole Commissioner Julie Garland said, wrapping up the marathon hearing that lasted more than 11 hours.<\/p>\n
\n\tFriday\u2019s decision means both brothers will remain in custody pending follow-up parole hearings in the coming years, or movement on their separate habeas petition seeking a new trial. (The brothers also have a clemency bid waiting on Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s desk, but with the parole board finding they\u2019re not yet fully rehabilitated, that avenue appears unlikely to succeed, at least for now.)<\/p>\n
\n\tThe brothers, whose Nineties notoriety reignited last year thanks to the popular Ryan Murphy-created Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and\u00a0Erik Menendez\u00a0Story<\/em>, are currently serving revised sentences of 50 years to life for the grisly shotgun murders of their parents, Jos\u00e9 and Kitty Menendez, inside the family\u2019s Beverly Hills mansion on Aug. 20, 1989.\u00a0On Friday, Lyle was openly emotional as he appeared by video from his San Diego prison. He apologized for the brutal killings and took responsibility for the \u201cpain\u201d he caused his surviving relatives, who now vocally support his release. He said the decision to turn violent was his, not his \u201cbaby brother\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMy Mom and Dad did not have to die that day,\u201d he said through tears. \u201cI\u2019m profoundly sorry for who I was \u2026 for the harm that everyone has endured.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tLyle said he had an \u201chonest belief\u201d at the time of the double murder that his parents \u201cwere going to kill\u201d him. He now understands they were unarmed, not posing an immediate threat. \u201cReally, the only thought in my head was, it was happening now. I needed to get to the door first. Fear overwhelmed reason,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have a great explanation for why I felt such terror in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tAt one point during the lengthy hearing, Lyle doubled over, crying and shaking, recalling a confrontation with Kitty shortly before the homicides. \u201cI couldn\u2019t wrap my mind around the fact that she knew,\u201d he said, referring to the alleged sexual abuse Lyle and Erik suffered at the hands of their father.<\/p>\n \n\tAs she rendered the board\u2019s decision, Garland said Lyle\u2019s violence was impulsive and showed \u201cpoor threat perception.\u201d She called the reloading and final shot that killed Kitty extremely \u201ccallous.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe back-to-back hearings for Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, gave the first detailed look at the brothers\u2019 disciplinary records behind bars. Both had numerous violations for using contraband cell phones, with Lyle having pleaded guilty to two such violations in November 2024 and March 2025, Deputy Parole Commissioner Patrick Reardon said. While both brothers told officials that they rationalized the use as not harming anyone, the commissioners pointed out that demand for and use of the devices corrupted and endangered prison staff, fellow inmates, and others. Lyle conceded he couldn\u2019t be sure his cellmates weren\u2019t using his phone for criminal activity.<\/p>\n \n\tThe hearings also rehashed details of the gruesome murders, though their goal was to evaluate the brothers\u2019 probability of committing future crimes, not relitigate the criminal case. Erik and Lyle\u2019s first trial, televised on CourtTV in 1993 and 1994, ended with two hung juries \u2014 one for each brother. The second trial, which wasn\u2019t broadcast, ended with first-degree murder convictions. The brothers were sentenced to life without parole in 1996. Their resentencing in May made them immediately eligible for parole under California\u2019s youthful offender law.<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tDuring the criminal court trials, jurors heard that the brothers used fake identification to purchase two Mossberg shotguns from a sporting goods store in San Diego two days before the murders. Prosecutors said the brothers then opened fire with more than a dozen rounds of buckshot while their parents were watching TV on a couch in the family\u2019s den.<\/p>\n \n\tJurors saw horrific photos of the bloody crime scene. Jos\u00e9 was shot in the back of his head. Kitty was shot in the face at point-blank range as she was already wounded, bleeding, and trying to crawl away, prosecutors said. The brothers picked up all the shotgun shells, dumped the evidence, and then screamed \u201cdramatically\u201d during a 911 call claiming someone else murdered their parents, officials said. Prosecutors claimed the brothers carried out a cold-blooded, premeditated scheme to inherit their parents\u2019 money.<\/p>\n \n\tDuring their hearings this week, Lyle and Erik said they lived in fear of their abusive parents. They claimed Jos\u00e9 sexually abused them both, while Kitty did nothing to stop it. Their relatives have rallied around them, corroborating claims Jos\u00e9 was inappropriate with his sons. At the brothers\u2019 first trial, as well as at a May 2025 hearing for resentencing, cousin Diane VanderMolen testified that she was a teenager visiting the Menendez home when an eight-year-old Lyle told her his father was touching his genitals. VanderMolen said she tried to warn Kitty, but she was rebuffed.<\/p>\n \n\tAt his separate hearing Thursday, Erik testified that Jos\u00e9 sexually assaulted him repeatedly. He said that on the night of the murders, his dad ordered him to his room, saying he would be upstairs soon. Erik said he believed Jos\u00e9 was about to rape him, so he ran to get his shotgun, believing it was his only option to stop the abuse. \u201cIf he was alive, that was going to happen,\u201d he said, referring to the alleged abuse. He recalled thinking that if he tried to run or expose the family\u2019s dark secret, his life would be in danger. \u201cIn my mind, leaving meant death,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tAt Lyle\u2019s hearing Friday, Commissioner Garland started by asking how the alleged sexual abuse affected Lyle\u2019s decision-making skills. \u201cIt was confusing, caused a lot of shame in me. That pretty much characterized my relationship with my father,\u201d he said. The abuse started when he was about six years old, he said, and lasted about two years. He recalled existing in a state of \u201chyper vigilance,\u201d waiting and \u201cnot knowing when something would happen.\u201d He might be molested in his bed, in a bathroom, or in a car, on any given day, he said.<\/p>\n \n\tLyle said the abuse stopped abruptly when he was eight, around the time his cousin Diane says she reported it to Kitty. \u201cI think it\u2019s related to [Jos\u00e9] being concerned that I would talk to people,\u201d he said of the reprieve.<\/p>\n \n\tLyle said the abuse left him feeling a \u201ctotal disconnection from everybody in my life growing up.\u201d But in a twisted way, it also made him feel special. \u201cI was the special son in my family. My brother was the castaway,\u201d he explained to the board.<\/p>\n \n\tLyle said he got \u201cmore attention\u201d from his father, particularly on the tennis court, than Erik did. But his father\u2019s fixation was intimidating. Jos\u00e9 \u201cexpected greatness,\u201d lecturing him that he was from \u201ca lion bloodline\u201d while other people were \u201csheep,\u201d he testified.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe were different. I wasn\u2019t weak like [Jos\u00e9\u2019s] father. Or Erik. Or my mother. It was him and I in this bubble,\u201d Lyle said, quoting his dad. When he eventually realized Jos\u00e9 had stopped molesting him, he was \u201ca little bit amazed,\u201d he said. \u201cI worried a little bit that I was going to be less loved,\u201d he told the board, saying he felt unsure at the time that he wanted it to stop.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI felt contaminated \u2026 but I felt love,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to believe my father loved me, so in my mind I felt like he was a great man, and my main way of dealing with it was that it was just a sickness that some great men have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tLyle said his father could be physically violent in the home as well, lashing out in terrifying attacks separate from the sexual abuse. Jos\u00e9 was \u201cvery brutal with physical abuse: choking, punching, closed fists, using a belt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere was no love in it. It was just surviving that moment,\u201d he recalled. Lyle\u2019s solidarity with his younger brother infuriated their dad, he said. Erik, meanwhile, bore the brunt of physical abuse in the home, he explained. The younger sibling was \u201copenly punished, spanked, viciously. Thrown against things. My mother would drag him down the hall. I think I realized it was the two of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tIn a notable departure from the well-known story of the Menendez murders, the commissioner then asked Lyle about his own abuse of Erik. The sensitive topic was raised at Erik\u2019s Thursday hearing as well, when Erik admitted he concealed from corrections staff that Lyle was \u201cmolesting [me] as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t know why I did it. I think I was just trying to release it from me,\u201d Lyle said. He described \u201cpain training\u201d sessions that were forced by his father, where he hurt Erik in a non-sexual way, as a possible form of pain endurance. The commissioner, who has access to confidential written records in the case, then moved on without clarifying the line of questioning.<\/p>\n \n\tIn another striking statement, Lyle said his mother sexually abused him as well. Garland replied that the accusation wasn\u2019t part of the comprehensive risk assessment the board received. Lyle let out a long sigh. \u201cI didn\u2019t see it as abuse really. I just saw it as something special between my mother and I. So I don\u2019t like to talk about it that way,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, I see it as sexual abuse. When I was 13, I felt like I was consenting, and my mother was dealing with a lot, and I just felt like maybe it wasn\u2019t \u2026 it\u2019s abusive, but I never saw it that way, in the same way.\u201d At that point, Lyle asked for a break, and the hearing moved to another topic.<\/p>\n \n\tGarland asked Lyle about his suspension from Princeton for plagiarism, as well as his participation in a burglary with his brother more than a year before the murders. Lyle said he joined the burglary to keep an eye on his brother. He said afterward, Jos\u00e9 called him a \u201cmoron\u201d for getting caught.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen Garland asked why Lyle didn\u2019t talk about being disinherited by his parents in his submission to the board, Lyle said he believed \u201cthere was a will that disinherited us somewhere,\u201d but it wasn\u2019t a motive for the murders. It only became \u201ca problem afterwards,\u201d he said, when they needed money once their parents were dead.<\/p>\n \n\tProsecutors claim the brothers murdered their parents out of greed. In a March filing opposing the brothers\u2019 resentencing, they focused on the brothers\u2019 \u201cspending spree\u201d in the months after the slayings. They said Lyle bought three Rolex watches, a Porsche, a condominium, a restaurant and \u201cexpensive clothes.\u201d Erik bought a Rolex, a Jeep and hired \u201can expensive tennis coach for private lessons,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \n\tLyle told the board that the flashy purchases made him feel good in the moment, lifting him out his anguish. \u201cMy life had just collapsed without my parents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tLyle flatly denied that the murders were planned. He said buying the guns made the fatal shooting \u201cmore likely,\u201d but he thought it was \u201cde-escalating\u201d at the time, meaning something that gave him a \u201cmeasure of safety\u201d and \u201cemotional protection.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere was zero planning. There was no way to know it was going to happen Sunday,\u201d he said. The two brothers discussed their belief Jos\u00e9 had threatened to harm them if the family\u2019s secret \u201cever got out,\u201d but they had no plan to kill their parents when they bought the guns, Lyle said.<\/p>\n \n\tHe said after the murders, he dropped his gun and walked out of the room feeling \u201cnumb.\u201d Lyle said his attempts to cover up the crime and recruit others to lie for his benefit were evidence of him \u201cflailing,\u201d not carrying out a sophisticated plan.<\/p>\n \n\tLyle said his mother\u2019s murder caused him the most sorrow because, after her death, he learned more about her life and difficult childhood, and \u201chow much fear maybe she felt.\u201d He learned from her therapist \u201cthat she felt shame,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tAsked about his own psychology, Lyle pushed back on assessments that found he posed a \u201cmoderate risk\u201d of violence if released and suffered from \u201canti-social, narcissistic traits.\u201d He said his dad was a narcissist, but he pursues self-reflection and tries to \u201cunderstand\u201d his personality. He considers himself empathetic, he said, pointing to his work with inmates convicted of sex abuse. \u201cMy life has been defined by extreme violence. I wanted to be defined by something else,\u201d Lyle said, in tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tWhen Garland asked Lyle about his recent romantic correspondence with three different women, Lyle said he remains closest to his wife, though they\u2019re no longer romantically involved.<\/p>\n \n\tL.A. County Deputy District Attorney Ethan Millius argued Lyle\u2019s cell phone violations while leading the Men\u2019s Advisory Council at his prison proves he \u201cstruggles with honesty.\u201d He said Lyle had eight violations in custody for which he was found guilty, though he conceded they were non-violent. \u201cThere is no growth. It is just who Lyle appears to be,\u201d Milius told the board in his closing argument Friday.<\/p>\n \n\tDistrict Attorney Nathan Hochman, Millius\u2019 boss, has made opposition to the Menendez brothers\u2018 release on parole a mainstay of his administration. \u201cFor more than three decades, both Erik and Lyle Menendez have advanced a false claim of self-defense, alleging they feared their parents were going to kill them, to justify the brutal murders of their parents,\u201d he said in statement Thursday.<\/p>\n \n\tBut members of the Menendez family, including elderly sisters of both Jos\u00e9 and Kitty, have testified on the brothers\u2019 behalf, saying they forgive Erik and Lyle and want them home. Anamaria Baralt, the niece of Jos\u00e9 Menendez, delivered a victim statement Friday, \u201cbegging\u201d the commissioners to release Lyle in time for his ailing aunts to see him outside the prison walls. \u201cMake this torture end. This 36-year nightmare. Let us put it behind us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tBaralt said she once witnessed Jos\u00e9 tie Erik\u2019s legs together to correct an error with his swimming form. She claims Erik almost drowned as she and Lyle watched in horror.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI believe, that they believe, that nobody was going to protect them,\u201d she told the board. \u201cI\u2019ve heard so many times over the last 35 years, \u2018Why didn\u2019t they just leave?\u2019 And thankfully, the criminal justice system has started to catch up with the brain science that trauma and childhood abuse create the illusion that there would have been no escape for Erik and Lyle.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFriday\u2019s hearing was thrown into disarray around 5 p.m. when Lyle and Erik\u2019s lawyer, Heidi Rummel, interrupted the proceeding to say audio from Erik\u2019s parole board examination on Thursday had been published by ABC News. In a series of clips posted online, Erik was heard describing the decision to buy the guns and open fire on his parents.<\/p>\n \n\tRummel suggested the audio was somehow leaked in violation of the family\u2019s legal rights. She questioned the fairness of both hearings and asked that Lyle\u2019s proceeding be adjourned. Commissioner Garland said an interpretation of the public records act allowed the release, but she wasn\u2019t sure how long that policy had been in place. It appeared ABC was the only outlet that received the recordings.<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tAfter a lengthy break, Garland confirmed that no audio from Lyle\u2019s hearing would be released until Rummel had an opportunity to file something to contest its release.\u00a0The hearing then resumed with a curtailed statement from Jos\u00e9\u2019s sister, Teresita Baralt. The brothers\u2019 85-year-old aunt kept it short, saying she wasn\u2019t comfortable reading her pre-written statement into the public record given the audio situation.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI want my nephew to hear how much I love him, and believe in him,\u201d she said in tears. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of him, and I want him to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A day after his younger brother Erik was denied release on parole, Lyle Menendez was handed the same fate on Friday evening, with California prison officials ruling he remains a risk to public safety. It was a minimal denial of three years. \u201cWe find your remorse is genuine. In many ways, you look like you\u2019ve<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[5302,10285,10283,10432,10284,10286,2798,3665],"class_list":{"0":"post-17305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-brother","9":"tag-denied","10":"tag-erik","11":"tag-lyle","12":"tag-menendez","13":"tag-parole","14":"tag-prison","15":"tag-remain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n\t\tThe shotgun slayings\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\t\u201cI was the special son\u201d\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tMore details of abuse\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\t\u201cMy life has been defined by extreme violence<\/strong>\u201d\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tHearing audio released\t<\/h2>\n
\n