Lyle Menendez has been denied parole by a panel of California commissioners
Lyle Menendez was denied parole Friday by the same board that a day earlier rejected his brother Erik’s appeal for freedom after serving decades in prison for killing their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills mansion. The reason was the same: misbehavior behind bars.
A panel of two commissioners denied Lyle Menendez parole for three years after a daylong hearing. Commissioners noted the older brother still displayed „anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface.”
“We do understand that you had very little hope of being released for years“, said commissioner Julie Garland. “Citizens are expected to follow the rules whether or not there is some incentive to do so.“
She also said the panel found his remorse genuine and that he has been a “model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change.”
“Don’t ever not have hope,” she told Menendez.
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 almost exactly 36 years ago on Aug. 20, 1989. 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. The parole hearings marked the closest they have come to winning freedom since their convictions almost 30 years ago.
Erik Menendez, who is being held at the same prison in San Diego, was denied parole Thursday after commissioners determined his misbehavior in prison made him still a risk to public safety.
A day later, Lyle Menendez told the parole board details about the abuse he suffered under his parents. He cried, face reddened, while delivering his closing statement. He seemed to still want to protect his “baby brother,” telling commissioners he took sole responsibility for the murders.
“I will never be able to make up for the harm and grief I caused everyone in my family“, he said. “I am so sorry to everyone, and I will be forever sorry.”
The state corrections department chose a single reporter to watch the videoconference and share details with the rest of the press.
