PinnedErik Menendez should stay in prison, California parole commissioners said on Thursday, dealing a major blow to his efforts to win release more than three decades after he and his brother, Lyle, murdered their parents in a Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle Menendez will get his own chance at parole on Friday.The case became a national obsession in the 1990s, and again in recent years after documentaries shined a closer light on the parental abuse suffered by the brothers, leading to calls for their release. They still have other potential paths to freedom, although parole was the most straightforward option.The board said Erik Menendez could try again for parole in three years, though he can petition to come before the board again in as soon as 18 months.Here are the details:The proceeding: Appearing from prison on video, Erik Menendez, 54, faced hours of questioning from the two parole board commissioners who made a decision on his case, dating back to his first brush with the law when he committed burglary as a teen.The rationale: Robert Barton, the parole commissioner, told Mr. Menendez in announcing his decision that the killing of his mother showed a lack of empathy and reason. Mr. Barton said Erik Menendez was not in imminent fear of his life before the murders, directly refuting the claim he and his brother have repeatedly made that they killed because they feared their parents would kill them first. Mr. Barton also said he believed there was a financial motivation for the crime.A shocking crime: The parole hearing on Thursday came almost 36 years to the day after the Menendez brothers marched into their living room with shotguns on Aug. 20, 1989, and opened fire on their parents. The case transfixed the country for its lurid violence against a backdrop of wealth and privilege in one of the country’s most exclusive enclaves.Trial by television: The brothers were tried together, but judged by separate juries, each of which deadlocked. It was one of the first trials televised to a national audience, foreshadowing the country’s obsession with the O.J. Simpson trial a year later. The brothers were convicted after a retrial, which was not televisedFamily support: The commissioners heard from representatives of the brothers’ extended family who support their release. About 20 attended via video as next of kin to Lyle and Erik’s parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office opposed parole, saying the brothers had still not taken full responsibility for their crimes..Long odds: This was Erik Menendez’s first appearance before the parole board, after being resentenced by a judge this spring to allow the possibility of early release. Most inmates are rejected for parole the first time they appear, although the percentage granted early release has risen in recent years as criminal justice reforms have opened up new opportunities.Up next: Lyle Menendez, 57, will appear before a different panel of commissioners on Friday. The outcome could also be different, depending on how that panel sees the case.Aug. 21, 2025, 10:53 p.m. ETGov. Gavin Newsom of California, who would have the final say if a panel recommends parole for Lyle Menendez on Friday, told reporters Thursday that he had refrained from watching documentaries and television shows about the Menendez brothers in case the decision came to him. “So the facts themselves will speak for themselves,“ he said, “not my opinion, not what’s on TikTok or what’s on YouTube.”Aug. 21, 2025, 10:41 p.m. ETThe house in Beverly Hills, Calif. in June, where Jose and Kitty Menendez were murdered in 1989.Credit...Jamie Lee Taete for The New York TimesThe presiding commissioner of the parole panel that handed down Thursday evening’s decision on Erik Menendez said that he had not been the model prisoner that his supporters suggested.In outlining the reasons for the panel’s decision, the commissioner, Robert Barton, told Mr. Menendez that the commissioners gave great weight to Mr. Menendez’s youth at the time of the crime and the statements of support he received, but that too many other factors weighed against granting parole.“Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner, and frankly we find that a little disturbing,” Mr. Barton said, questioning whether Mr. Menendez had been giving his family false information about his prison behavior.Mr. Barton noted that Mr. Menendez had been caught with a cellphone recently, had used drugs in prison and participated in a tax fraud scheme several years ago. He said that violations like Mr. Menendez’s have led to parole denials of up to five years for other inmates.Mr. Barton said the killing of Mr. Menendez’s mother showed a lack of “empathy and reason.” He said Mr. Menendez was not in “imminent fear” for his life before the murders, rebutting the claim that he and his brother have repeatedly made that they killed because they feared that their parents would kill them first.He made clear that the two-person panel, which also included Rachel Stern, a deputy commissioner, spent more time on this case than usual. “We certainly did not give this case short shrift,” he said.The commissioner acknowledged that Mr. Menendez had been “gaining insight,” and said he believed the result of the hearing would have been different had Mr. Menendez had no violations since 2013.“You have two options. One is to have a pity party,” the commissioner said, adding: “And then you become a self-fulfilling prophecy, probably not getting granted next time. Or you can take to heart what we discussed.”Aug. 21, 2025, 10:25 p.m. ETTimothy ArangoReporting from Los AngelesErik Menendez’s family, after a grueling day and a disappointing outcome, will have to do it all over again tomorrow when Lyle Menendez appears for his own parole hearing, most likely in front of a different panel of commissioners.Aug. 21, 2025, 10:24 p.m. ETLaurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at Loyola Law School, said she was “not surprised at all” that Erik Menendez was denied parole. “He did not have a sterling model prison record. That was sort of the myth that was being put out into the public. But that’s not what his record actually showed.”Aug. 21, 2025, 10:21 p.m. ETRobert Barton, the parole board commissioner, said on Thursday that he wondered whether Erik Menendez had given false information to his family about his behavior in prison. “Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs,” Barton said, “you have not been a model prisoner, and frankly we find that a little disturbing.”Aug. 21, 2025, 10:08 p.m. ETTimothy ArangoReporting from Los AngelesErik Menendez could get another shot at parole in three years. His best shot of being released before that would be a separate legal proceeding known as a habeas petition. That case is in front of a Los Angeles judge, with lawyers arguing that new evidence of sexual abuse by the brothers’ father, Jose Menendez, justifies a new trial.Aug. 21, 2025, 10:04 p.m. ETMark Geragos and the rest of Lyle and Erik Menendez’s attorneys have pursued several legal strategies to free the brothers from prison, including filing a habeas petition in Los Angeles Superior Court.Credit...Eric Thayer/Getty ImagesThe decision by a California parole board not to recommend parole for Erik Menendez is only one part of what has been a multipronged effort by their lawyers to free him and his brother Lyle.Two legal paths to freedom that the brothers have pursued appear less likely after the board’s denial on Thursday. One has been parole through resentencing; the other is a clemency petition put before Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.But there is yet another possible legal pathway to freedom for the brothers.Lawyers for the brothers have filed what is known as a habeas petition, a vehicle for challenging unlawful detentions. Under the habeas petition, the brothers are arguing that two pieces of evidence discovered in recent years would have changed the outcome of the trials that led to their conviction.If William C. Ryan, the Los Angeles Superior Court judge handling the petition, agrees and grants them the relief they are seeking, the brothers could be granted a new trial. The judge could also reduce their convictions.Several years ago, Robert Rand, a journalist who has reported on the Menendez brothers for decades, uncovered a letter Erik wrote when he was 17 to his cousin Andy Cano, describing years of sexual abuse by his father, Jose Menendez, and Erik’s fear of him.Then, in 2023, the Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” based on reporting by Mr. Rand and another journalist, Nery Ynclan, detailed new accusations against Jose Menendez. A former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo said that as a teenager, Mr. Menendez had sexually assaulted him.Lawyers for the brothers filed their habeas petition later that year, citing the two new pieces of evidence.In July, Judge Ryan issued an order finding that the brothers had presented enough evidence to support their claim, and asked prosecutors from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to show why the habeas petition should not be granted.Aug. 21, 2025, 10:02 p.m. ETTimothy ArangoReporting from Los AngelesTypically parole hearings last two to three hours, start to finish. Today’s hearing for Erik Menendez went on for nearly 10 hours. And there was no lunch break.Aug. 21, 2025, 10:01 p.m. ETErik Menendez apologized to his relatives in closing remarks before the panel’s decision. “I just want my family to understand that I am so unimaginably sorry for what I have put them through,” he said.Aug. 21, 2025, 9:56 p.m. ETIn a statement, the Menendez family said that while it respected the panel’s decision to deny parole, “today’s outcome was of course disappointing and not what we hoped for.” “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering, and we know he will take the Board’s recommendation in stride.”Aug. 21, 2025, 9:49 p.m. ETTimothy ArangoReporting from Los AngelesRobert Barton, the lead parole commissioner, said Erik Menendez was not in “imminent” fear of his life before the murders, directly refuting the claims of Menendez and his brother, Lyle, that they killed because they feared their parents would kill them first. Barton also said he believed there was a financial motivation for the crime.Aug. 21, 2025, 9:48 p.m. ETErik Menendez said he became “addicted” to using cellphones while incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, in San Diego. Credit...Mike Blake/ReutersIn being denied parole, Erik Menendez was hampered in part by a major issue that has long concerned his lawyers and family members: illegal cellphone usage.There was an extensive discussion during Thursday’s hearing about Erik Menendez’s cellphone usage while inside prison. Cellphones, like controlled substances and weapons, are considered contraband. Prison officials say the introduction of cellphones can corrupt staff members, aid drug trafficking and allow gang members to communicate.Robert Barton, the parole commissioner, asked pointed questions about the timing of Mr. Menendez’s persistent use of cellphones, and how he was caught with one late last year even though the legal process to reduce his sentence was already underway.“I really became addicted to the phones,” Mr. Menendez said.In the context of serving life without parole, he said, cellphone usage was “not really harming anyone.”He said he used phones to speak to his wife, listen to music, watch YouTube and view pornography.Mr. Menendez added that when he realized he might have a chance to get out, he said he told himself, “I can’t be doing this.”Still, he added later: “I knew of 50, 60 people that had phones. They were just available.”Mr. Menendez added that phones, which were commonly sold among the inmates, presented an opportunity that he might as well take. “The phones were going to be sold, and I longed for that connection,” he said.Mr. Menendez stressed that he understood the damage that cellphones could do inside prison and the impact it could have on his disciplinary record. But he said that for a long time, it felt worth it.“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,” he said.Aug. 21, 2025, 9:48 p.m. ETTimothy ArangoReporting from Los AngelesIn denying parole, the panel also pointed to Erik Menendez’s criminal history, starting with residential burglaries as a teenager before the murders. Robert Barton, the lead commissioner, said he also gave weight to the fact that Menendez lied after the killings, adding that he still represented a risk to public safety.Aug. 21, 2025, 9:47 p.m. ETErik Menendez faced hours of questioning from parole board commissioners on Thursday about his criminal history as a teenager, and the decision to murder his parents alongside his brother, Lyle, who will go before the board on Friday.Appearing via video feed from a San Diego prison, Erik Menendez recounted abuse at the hands of his father, Jose Menendez, and described the shock he felt when he learned that his mother, Kitty Menendez, had been aware and continued to let it happen.Here are some of his statements:On a burglary he committed as a teen: “I was very immature, and I made very poor decisions, and I ended up hurting those individuals that I burglarized,” he said, adding: “I was raised in a family where stealing wasn’t what was frowned upon. Getting caught was what was frowned upon.” He later said: “I was not raised with a moral foundation.”On purchasing guns: “My purpose in getting the guns was to protect myself in case my father or my mother came at me to kill me. Or my father came in the room to rape me.”On killing his mother: “It was the most devastating moment in my entire life,” he said of the moment his mother told him she had known of his father’s abuse. “It changed everything for me. I had been protecting her by not telling her.”That’s when he began to see both parents as responsible, he said — and believed they both needed to die. “On that night, I saw them as one person,” he said. “Had she not been in the room, maybe it would have been different.”On reloading his shotgun: The brothers fired several rounds at their parents inside their Beverly Hills home, then returned to their vehicle, reloaded their weapons and returned inside to open fire again. “I wish to God I did not do that,” Mr. Menendez said.On using a cellphone in prison: “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” he said.A closing statement: “I just want my family to understand that I am so unimaginably sorry for what I have put them through from Aug. 20, 1989 until this day, and this hearing. I know that they have been here for me and they’re here for me today, but I want them to know that this should be about them. It’s about them and if I ever get the chance at freedom I want the healing to be about them,” he said. “Don’t think it’s the healing of me, it’s the healing of the family. This is a family tragedy.”Aug. 21, 2025, 9:47 p.m. ETAs the daylong hearing wound to a close, Erik Menendez, given the chance to make final remarks, apologized to his relatives, calling the ordeal “a family tragedy.”“I just want my family to understand that I am so unimaginably sorry for what I have put them through from Aug. 20, 1989 until this day, and this hearing,” he said. “I know that they have been here for me and they’re here for me today, but I want them to know that this should be about them. It’s about them and if I ever get the chance at freedom I want the healing to be about them.”Mr. Menendez said that Thursday was the first time he and many relatives had gathered, if only virtually, over the video conference, in more than 35 years. He called the murders of his parents “a forever crime.” He said that he saw trauma in younger generations of his family, people who weren’t even alive when the murders happened.“It will impact every generation to be born,” he said of the killings. “I cannot express sorrow and remorse enough. Doing it for the rest of my life will not be enough.”In his closing statement, he talked about how he and his brother have been the center of this story for decades and how that always disturbed him.This crime, he said, is about what his relatives have “endured. What they’ve suffered. What they’ve gone through. And that’s not about me at all.”Later, he added: “Don’t think it’s the healing of me, it’s the healing of the family.”Aug. 21, 2025, 9:47 p.m. ETTimothy ArangoReporting from Los AngelesA two-person panel denied parole for Erik Menendez, citing what they called a “lack of growth” that stemmed from his violations of prison rules, including having a cellphone late last year even as a court was reconsidering his sentence. He had used drugs in prison and participated in a tax fraud scheme several years ago.