Lyle Menendez has been denied parole, just one day after his younger brother, Erik, also saw his request for release rejected. The high-profile case, which has gripped America for over three decades, once again returned to the spotlight as the Menendez brothers faced back-to-back parole hearings this week.
The California parole board cited Lyle’s ongoing struggles with “anti-social personality traits” as a key reason for their decision to keep him behind bars. Despite years of appeals, therapy, and rehabilitation claims, officials determined he still poses a risk to society and does not meet the criteria for release.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, now in their 50s, have spent more than three decades in prison after being convicted in the 1990s for the murders of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, inside the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. The case captured nationwide attention not only because of the brutality of the crime but also due to the brothers’ claims that years of parental abuse had driven them to commit the killings.
Over the course of two days, the brothers fought through intense hearings, each arguing that they had changed and deserved another chance at life outside prison walls. However, both hearings ended with the same result: denial of parole.
The Menendez case has been the subject of countless documentaries, television specials, and even dramatized series, keeping the story alive in American pop culture. The latest denial ensures that both Lyle and Erik will remain incarcerated for the foreseeable future, with the next opportunity for parole still years away.
