Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17558288863131755828884248.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Nick Bonanno, a high school friend of Erik Menendez, holds a high school photograph of Erik outside of the Van Nuys West Courthouse before a status hearing on the murder conviction of Lyle and Erik Menendez on November 25, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. Robyn Beck, AFP<br id="isPasted"/> </span></span></span></div><p>Erik Menendez was denied parole Thursday more than three decades after he and his brother Lyle slaughtered their parents in the family&#x27;s luxury Beverly Hills home.</p><p>A California panel ordered the 54-year-old to stay in prison, defying a lengthy campaign waged by family, friends and celebrities like Kim Kardashian.</p><p>&quot;Erik Menendez was denied parole for three years at his initial suitability hearing today,&quot; said a brief statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).</p><p>The result will be a huge blow to a movement that has swelled in recent years, nourished by documentaries and TV dramas, including the smash Netflix hit &quot;Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.&quot;</p><p>It comes the day before Lyle Menendez, 57, will appear before a panel to ask them to release him from prison.</p><p>The men are among America&#x27;s most celebrated prisoners, and the stars of one of the first-ever televised murder trials.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;MAFIA HIT&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Blockbuster hearings in the 1990s were told how the men killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in what prosecutors said was a cynical attempt to get their hands on a large family fortune.</p><p>After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, Erik and Lyle shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.</p><p>Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.</p><p>The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.</p><p>Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist.</p><p>The pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.</p><p>During their decades in prison, changing social mores and greater awareness of sexual abuse helped elevate the men to something approaching cultural icons.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;HORRIFIC&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Thursday&#x27;s hearing, which was closed to the public, was expected to last just two to three hours.</p><p>Instead, it went on all day.</p><p>Erik Menendez appeared by video link from the San Diego prison where he and his brother are being held.</p><p>Two or three panel members, whose identity was not released by CDCR, quizzed him on his behavior and attitude towards the grisly murders.</p><p>The parole hearing became possible when a judge earlier this year resentenced the men, reducing their original full-life tariff to one of 50-years with the possibility of release.</p><p>Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposed resentencing, and said he would oppose parole.</p><p>He has insisted that the men&#x27;s shifting explanations for the double deaths -- they gave five different accounts in the course of the murder investigation -- means they have not truly admitted their guilt.</p><p>&quot;The Menendez brothers have never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents,&quot; Hochman said in a statement Wednesday.</p><p>Lyle&#x27;s hearing on Friday is independent of his brother&#x27;s.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe width="1100" height="619" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2HfzU3LkS8E" title="Authorities review new evidence in Menendez brothers murders | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="1100" height="619" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBPaf6fZNdo" title="&#x27;I do want them home,&#x27; Menendez brothers&#x27; aunt says | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div>

<p>A California judicial commission denied parole Thursday to Erik Menendez who, along with his brother Lyle, was convicted of murdering his wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago.</p>

A California judicial commission denied parole Thursday to Erik Menendez who, along with his brother Lyle, was convicted of murdering his wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago.

Erik Menendez denied parole decades after murder of parents

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Erik Menendez denied parole decades after murder of parents

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 22, 2025 10:15 AM PHT

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Updated Aug 22, 2025 11:46 AM PHT

Read More:

Erik Menendez

Lyle Menendez

Menendez brothers

murder

crime

parole

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