Lyle Menendez was denied parole on Friday, keeping him behind bars with his younger brother Erik Menendez, whose parole was denied on Thursday.
As Lyle Menendez, 57, attended the hearing remotely from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, parole commissioner Julie Garland commended him for his behavior in prison, including his lack of violence, his work on programs and his positive relationships with other inmates and staff. She also noted his strong support network and solid plans for a post-release life.
But she said the panel found “there are still signs” that he poses a risk to the public.
“You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change,” Garland told him at his first-ever parole hearing. “But despite all those outward positives, we see … you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface.”
Lyle Menendez’s illegal possession of cellphones in prison was another point made by the commissioners.
Garland said “incarcerated people who break rules” are more likely to break rules in society.
“We do understand that you had very little hope of being released for years,” Garland said, referring to his previous sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
“Citizens are expected to follow the rules whether or not there is some incentive to do so,” she added.
Garland said the board did give “great weight” to the fact that Lyle Menendez was under the age of 26 at the time of the murders and was very susceptible to the “negative and dysfunctional” environment in his home.
Lyle Menendez is next eligible for parole in three years. But the board said he will be considered for an administrative review within one year and could be moved up to a hearing in as soon as 18 months.
This decision comes one day after Lyle Menendez’s brother, 54-year-old Erik Menendez, was denied parole following a nearly 10-hour hearing. Erik Menendez’s panel of commissioners — who were different from those reviewing Lyle Menendez’s case — based their decision on multiple factors, including Erik Menendez’s illegal use of cellphones in prison, burglaries he participated in before the murders and the brutal killing of his mother, Kitty Menendez.
One commissioner said it was Erik Menendez’s behavior in prison, not the seriousness of the crime, that was the primary reason he was denied parole. The board noted Erik Menendez’s inappropriate behavior with visitors, drug smuggling, misuse of state computers, violent incidents and illegal cellphone use.
Erik Menendez maintained at the hearing that the brothers killed their parents after years of sexual abuse by their father, Jose Menendez, and he said he felt betrayed by his mother when he learned that she knew about the abuse.
“When I was running into the den, I was in a state of terror, of panic, of rage,” he told the board members, describing the moments leading up to the shooting.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who firmly opposes the brothers’ release, said in a statement after Erik Menendez’s parole was denied, “The Board correctly determined that Erik Menendez’s actions speak louder than words.”
Erik Menendez will also next be eligible for parole in three years.
Although their paroles were denied, the brothers can ask the parole board to review the case for errors, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Separately, California Gov. Gavin Newsom can grant clemency to the Menendez brothers at any time.
The brothers, who were arrested in March 1990, were initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the Aug. 20, 1989, murders. Lyle Menendez was 21 and Erik Menendez was 18 at the time, and the brothers said they committed the murders in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
This May, Judge Michael Jesic resentenced Erik and Lyle Menendez to 50 years to life in prison, making them immediately eligible for parole under youth offender parole laws.
Jesic noted he was moved by the supportive letters from prison guards and was amazed by the work the brothers had accomplished to better the lives of their fellow inmates. The brothers also gave their own statements to the judge, admitting their guilt and admitting to lying about the case in the past.
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