California parole board denies release for Erik Menendez due to
misbehavior in prison
[August 22, 2025]
By JAIMIE DING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik Menendez was denied parole Thursday by a
California board that said his continued misbehavior during decades in
prison for murdering his parents with his older brother in 1989 showed
he is still a risk to public safety.
A panel of two California commissioners denied Menendez parole for three
years, after which he will be eligible again, in a case that continues
to fascinate the public. A parole hearing for his brother Lyle Menendez,
who is being held at the same prison in San Diego, is scheduled for
Friday morning.
The commissioners determined that Menendez should not be freed after an
all-day hearing during which they questioned him about why he committed
the crime and violated prison rules. They rejected parole despite strong
support from family members who have advocated for the brothers’ release
for months.
“Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you, and you can
still be found unsuitable for parole," commissioner Robert Barton said.
Barton said the primary reason for the decision was not the seriousness
of the crime but Menendez's behavior in prison. The repeated use of a
cellphone was “selfish” and a sign of Menendez believing that rules
don’t apply to him, Barton said to Menendez, who was clearly visibly
hurt by the decision but listened intently.
“Contrary to your supporters' beliefs, you have not been a model
prisoner and frankly we find that a little disturbing,” Barton said,
questioning if that meant Menendez was not entirely honest with family
members about his behavior.
The parole hearings marked the closest they have come to winning freedom
since their convictions almost 30 years ago.
The brothers were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for fatally
shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in
their Beverly Hills mansion. While defense attorneys argued that the
brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their
father, prosecutors said the brothers sought a multimillion-dollar
inheritance.
A judge reduced their sentences in May, and they became immediately
eligible for parole.
Erik Menendez made his case to two parole commissioners, offering his
most detailed account in years of how he was raised, why he made the
choices he did, and how he transformed in prison. He noted the hearing
fell almost exactly 36 years after he killed his parents — on Aug. 20,
1989.
“Today is August 21st. Today is the day that all of my victims learned
my parents were dead. So today is the anniversary of their trauma
journey," he said, referring to his family members.
The state corrections department chose a single reporter to watch the
videoconference and share details with the rest of the press.
Erik Menendez's prison record
Menendez, gray-haired and spectacled, 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 panel of commissioners scrutinized every rules violation and fight
on his lengthy prison record, including allegations that he worked with
a prison gang, bought drugs, used cellphones and helped with a tax scam.
He told commissioners that since he had no hope of ever getting out
then, he prioritized protecting himself over following the rules. Then
last fall, LA prosecutors asked a judge to resentence him and his
brother — opening the door to parole.
“In November of 2024, now the consequences mattered," Menendez said.
"Now the consequences meant I was destroying my life.”
A particular sticking point for the commissioners was his use of
cellphones.
“What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside
world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with
the phone," Menendez said.
The board also brought up his earliest encounters with the law, when he
committed two burglaries in high school.
“I was not raised with a moral foundation,” he said. “I was raised to
lie, to cheat, to steal in the sense, an abstract way.”
The panel asked about details like why he used a fake ID to purchase the
guns he and Lyle Menendez used to kill their parents, who acted first
and why they killed their mother if their father was the main abuser.
Barton asked: “You do see that there were other choices at that point?”
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Erik Menendez appears before the parole board via teleconference on
Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional
Facility in San Diego. (California Department of Corrections via AP)
“When I look back at the person I was then and what I believed about
the world and my parents, running away was inconceivable," Menendez
said. "Running away meant death.”
His transformation behind bars
Erik Menendez's parole attorney, Heidi Rummel, emphasized 2013 as
the turning point for her client.
“He found his faith. He became accountable to his higher power. He
found sobriety and made a promise to his mother on her birthday,”
Rummel said. “Has he been perfect since 2013? No. But he has been
remarkable."
Commissioner Rachel Stern also applauded him for starting a group to
take care of older and disabled inmates.
Since the brothers reunited, they have been “serious accountability
partners" for each other. At the same time, he said he's become
better at setting boundaries with Lyle Menendez, and they tend to do
different programming.
More than a dozen of their relatives delivered emotional statements
at Thursday’s hearing via videoconference.
“Seeing my crimes through my family’s eyes has been a huge part of
my evolution and my growth,” Menendez said. “Just seeing the pain
and the suffering. Understanding the magnitude of what I’ve done,
the generational impact.”
His aunt Teresita Menendez-Baralt, who is Jose Menendez’s sister,
said she has fully forgiven him. She noted that she is dying from
Stage 4 cancer and wishes to welcome him into her home.
“Erik carries himself with kindness, integrity and strength that
comes from patience and grace," she said.
One relative promised to the parole board that she would house him
in Colorado, where he can spend time with his family and enjoying
nature.
The board brushed off prosecutor's questions
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said ahead of the parole
hearings that he opposes parole for the brothers because of their
lack of insight, comparing them to Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated
presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Democratic Gov.
Gavin Newsom denied him parole in January 2022 because of his
“deficient insight.”
During the hearing, LA prosecutor Habib Balian asked Menendez about
his and his brothers' attempts to ask witnesses to lie in court on
their behalf, and if the brothers staged the killings as a mafia
hit. Commissioners largely dismissed the questions, saying they were
not retrying the case.
In closing statements, Balian questioned whether Menendez was “truly
reformed” or saying what commissioners wanted to hear.
“When one continues to diminish their responsibility for a crime and
continues to make the same false excuses that they’ve made for
30-plus years, one is still that same dangerous person that they
were when they shotgunned their parents,” Balian said.
What happens next
Lyle Menendez is set to appear by videoconference Friday for his
parole hearing. The brothers still have a pending habeas corpus
petition filed in May 2023 seeking a review of their convictions
based on new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by
their father.
The case has captured the attention of true crime enthusiasts for
decades and spawned documentaries, television specials and
dramatizations. The Netflix drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik
Menendez Story " and a documentary released in 2024 have been
credited for bringing new attention to the brothers.
Greater recognition of the brothers as victims of sexual abuse has
also helped mobilize support for their release. Some supporters have
flown to Los Angeles to hold rallies and attend court hearings.
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