Aug. 23, 2025:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lyle Menendez was denied parole Friday (Aug. 22, 2025), a day after his younger brother Erik received the same recommendation by a California state board.
Their separate hearings this week come nearly 30 years after the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder for the 1989 killings of their parents. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.
But after a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life in May, they immediately became eligible for parole under California law because they were under age 26 when they committed their crimes.
Aug. 19, 2025:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Menendez brothers are set to make their cases for parole starting Thursday (Aug. 21, 2025), marking the closest they’ve been to winning freedom from prison since their convictions almost 30 years ago for murdering their parents.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
The brothers became eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge in May reduced their sentences from life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole under California law because they were under the ages of 26 when they committed their crimes.
A panel or two or three parole hearing officers from a board of commissioners appointed by the governor will evaluate the brothers individually. Erik Menendez will have his hearing Thursday morning, followed by Lyle Menendez on Friday, over videoconference from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
The board will assess whether the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to society” if released, considering factors like criminal history, motivation for the crime and signs of remorse, behavior while in prison and plans for the future, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Even if the board grants their parole, it could still be months before the brothers walk free — if at all. If the board grants each brother’s parole, the chief legal counsel has 120 days to review the case. Then Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to affirm or deny the parole. Only then, if Newsom affirms the parole, would the Menendez brothers be able to leave prison.
Newsom had previously ordered the state parole board to conduct a risk assessment of the brothers in response to a clemency request. At the time, he emphasized that the key question was whether the brothers posed an “unreasonable risk to public safety.”
He noted at a May news conference that he has both approved and rejected decisions by the parole board before and that he was the “ultimate arbiter.”
The brothers’ lawyer, Mark Geragos, sought release last month for Erik Menendez after he was hospitalized for a “serious medical condition.” He has since returned to prison.
The case has captured the attention of true crime enthusiasts for decades and spawned documentaries, television specials and dramatizations. The Netflix drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story ” and the documentary “The Menendez Brothers,” both released in 2024, have been credited for bringing new attention to the brothers.
In the last year, weigh-in from celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and a greater recognition of the brothers as victims of sexual abuse has helped amass a legion of supporters who have called for their release. Some have flown to Los Angeles over the past few months, holding rallies and attending court hearings as the brothers’ attorneys pushed for their resentencing.
The previous LA County district attorney, George Gascón, first opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers last fall by asking a judge to reduce their sentences. Since their conviction, the brothers have gotten an education, participated in self-help classes and started various support groups for fellow people in prison, his office said in a petition.
The judge’s decision to ultimately resentence the brothers followed months of pushback from current prosecutors, who argued the brothers hadn’t taken adequate responsibility for their crimes.
The Menendez brothers still have a pending habeas corpus petition filed in May 2023 seeking a review of their convictions based on new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father. Last month, a different judge ordered Los Angeles prosecutors to explain why their case shouldn’t be reexamined.
The state corrections department has selected one media representative to view the proceedings virtually and share notes with the rest of the press at set intervals.
May 14, 2025:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik and Lyle Menendez will have a new shot at freedom after 35 years behind bars for murdering their parents, a judge ruled Tuesday (May 13, 2025).
The ruling from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers’ sentences from life in prison without parole to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole. The state parole board must decide whether to release them.
The judge’s decision followed months of pushback from prosecutors who opposed resentencing, arguing the brothers hadn’t taken adequate responsibility for their crimes. Ultimately prosecutors did not call any witnesses, saying they had presented all of their evidence.
The defense turned to family members and those who knew the brothers since their conviction to speak to their character and rehabilitation. The brothers also addressed the court via video as family members listened on tearfully. Most of the brothers’ family members, including aunts and uncles, have long supported their bid for freedom.
“On Aug. 20, 1989, I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle Menendez said, choking up as he addressed the room. “The impact of my violent actions on my family … is unfathomable.”
April 17, 2025:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik and Lyle Menendez could learn this week whether they will get reduced sentences — and the chance of freedom — nearly 30 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents.
A Los Angeles judge will preside over the resentencing hearing that’s expected to last two days starting Thursday (April 17, 2025). The judge could rule during the hearing or issue a written decision later. If he shortens their sentences, the brothers would still need approval from the state’s parole board to leave prison.
The district attorney’s office filed a motion late Wednesday to delay the resentencing hearings so the court can obtain one aspect of the state parole board’s comprehensive risk assessments. California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the assessments in February and the brothers’ final risk assessment hearings are scheduled for June 13. Prosecutors said in their filing that one part of the risk assessment has already been completed.
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
The case has captured the public’s attention for decades, and the Netflix drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story ” and documentary “The Menendez Brothers” have been credited with bringing new attention to the case. Supporters of the brothers have flown in from across the country to attend rallies and hearings in recent few months.
The resentencing hearing will center on whether the brothers have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence of 50 years to life. That would make them eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.
Former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge last year to reduce the brothers’ sentences. He lost reelection to Nathan Hochman, who moved to withdraw the resentencing request and has argued the brothers have not taken full responsibility for their crimes.
A resentencing petition laid out by Gascón focuses on the brothers’ accomplishments and rehabilitation. The brothers’ attorneys say their clients have worked hard over the decades to better themselves and give back to the prison community. The extended Menendez family, with the exception of an uncle who died last month, has said they fully forgive the brothers for what they did and want them to be freed.
With Hochman in charge, prosecutors argued last Friday they could not support the brothers’ resentencing. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic ruled the resentencing hearings could continue despite their opposition.
Prosecutors have said the brothers have not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents, or that they asked their friends to lie for them in court. Hochman’s office has also said it does not believe that the brothers were sexually abused by their father and that by speaking about their childhood abuse, they have not taken complete responsibility for the crime.
NOVEMBER 26, 2024:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has delayed until January 2025 his decision on whether to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion 35 years ago. Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic says he needed time to review 17 boxes of documents. Still he let the brothers’ aunts take the stand. They both have testified on the brothers’ behalf as they seek to have their 1989 convictions reexamined in the shotgun murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez. Attorneys argue the convictions should be reexamined because of new evidence of alleged sexual abuse by the brothers’ father. The brothers were sentenced to life without parole.
OCTOBER 25, 2024:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik and Lyle Menendez still have a long way to go before they can walk out of prison, even though the Los Angeles County district attorney has recommended their life-without-parole sentence be thrown out and the brothers be resentenced and immediately eligible for parole. The brothers were convicted in the 1989 killings of their parents at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. A judge will need to go along with Los Angeles DA George Gascón’s recommendation and then a parole board must approve. The final stop is with the California governor, who could reject the board’s decision. It’s an uncertain process likely to stretch out over months.
OCTOBER 16, 2024:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez will advocate for the brothers’ release from prison during a news conference set for Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles as prosecutors review new evidence to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents.
Billed as “a powerful show of unity” by more than a dozen family members — including the brothers’ aunt — who are traveling across the country to Los Angeles, the news conference will take place less than two weeks after LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced his office was looking at the brothers’ case again.
Erik Menendez, now 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, are currently incarcerated in state prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago.
Lyle Menendez, who was then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot-gunned their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in 1989 but said they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent the disclosure of the father’s long-term sexual molestation of Erik.
The extended family’s attorney Bryan Freedman previously said they strongly support the brothers’ release. Comedian Rosie O’Donnell also plans to join the family on Wednesday (Oct. 16, 2024).
“She wishes nothing more than for them to be released,” Freedman said earlier this month of Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister and the brothers’ aunt.
Earlier this month, Gascón said there is no question the brothers committed the 1989 murders, but his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether a resentencing is warranted in the notorious case that captured national attention.
The brothers’ attorneys said the family believed from the beginning they should have been charged with manslaughter rather than murder. Manslaughter was not an option for the jury during the second trial that ultimately led to the brothers’ murder conviction, attorney Mark Geragos previously said.
The case has gained new traction in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming the true-crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. ”
The new evidence includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his attorneys say corroborates the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father. A hearing was scheduled for Nov. 29, 2024.
Prosecutors at the time contended there was no evidence of any molestation. They said the sons were after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.
But the brothers have said they killed their parents out of self-defense after enduring a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them. Their attorneys argue that because of society’s changing views on sexual abuse, that the brothers may not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole today.
Jurors in 1996 rejected a death sentence in favor of life without parole.
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