Lyle Menendez Joins Brother Denied Parole In parent’s Killing

Lyle Menendez has been denied parole one day after his brother Erik was similarly blocked from being freed from prison after more than three decades.

The Menendez brothers, who were convicted in the 1989 killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, were both rejected for release after separate, lengthy hearings before California’s parole board.

It marks a major setback for the pair who had seen recent court wins that brought them closer than ever to freedom.

The elder Menendez brother, 57, who has long been portrayed as the dominant sibling, can try for parole again at a hearing in three years, though the panel said that could be reduced to 18 months with good behaviour.
The parole board, which was composed of a different panel than his brother Erik faced on Thursday, said they found “that there are still signs” Lyle poses a risk to the public.

The panel cited the brutal nature of the killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, his lack of self-control and the signs that he still employs poor decision making.

“We find your remorse is genuine,” parole commissioner Julie Garland told him, explaining the decision and noting all the positive changes he had made while in prison.

“But despite all those outward positives, we see … you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimisation and rule breaking that lie beneath that positive surface,” Garland said.

The grisly murders and the trial that followed were among the criminal cases that defined the last century.

During their trials in the 1990s, the brothers claimed the killings were done in self-defence after years of sexual and emotional abuse from their father that they said was enabled by their mother.

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