NEED TO KNOW
- The Menendez brothers’ parole hearing has been delayed by two month after initially being scheduled for June 13
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom may grant the brothers clemency, though he has said his decision will not be made until after their final hearing
- The brothers, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, have worked on several prison initiatives during their time in incarceration
The Menendez brothers’ parole hearing has been delayed by over two months.
Erik Menendez, 54, and Lyle Menendez, 57, were resentenced to 50 years to life in prison on May 13, making them eligible for parole. The resentencing came nearly 30 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills, Calif., home in 1996.
A parole hearing was initially set for June 13, but has now been rescheduled to Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced on Monday, May 19, per ABC News.
The siblings were previously sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting their parents in the den of their home on Aug. 20, 1989.
Erik and Lyle alleged that the murders came after their father — the chief operating officer of RCA Records — sexually abused them for years and their mother, a former pageant queen, ignored the abuse.
Efforts to free the brothers gained traction in 2023 when their attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition with Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing new evidence in the case, including a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders took place.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom could potentially seek to grant the brothers clemency and can grant clemency at any time, though he has said his decision will not be made until after their final hearing, with their parole in the hands of the parole board. Thus far, Newsom, 57, has requested the parole board conduct a comprehensive risk assessment investigation into whether the brothers could pose a risk to public safety should they be released.
According to ABC News, prior to the CDCR’s announcement, it seemed that the parole board hearing that was scheduled for June 13 was just for the governor’s clemency path, in order to give him insight for a decision on whether to grant the brothers clemency or not.
future parole considerations would have taken place at separate hearings, likely months after the hearing that was already scheduled for June.
For more than 20 years, Erik and Lyle were imprisoned separately, with Lyle in Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., and Erik about 500 miles away at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County. In 2018, both brothers were moved into the same unit in Donovan.
The brothers have spent their time in prison on education and community organizing. In June 2024, Lyle earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology at UC Irvine along with 23 of his fellow inmates, and he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning.
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In October 2024, the brothers launched a prison beautification project in which prisoners painted murals in permitted public spaces of Donovan, per the Associated Press.
The Menendez brothers’ shocking case captivated the nation with a televised trial in the 1990s, and received newfound public interest both through social media and Ryan Murphy’s 2024 Netflix show Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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