The Menendez brothers were denied parole. They have to wait at least 18 months for their next chance

Los Angeles – Erik and Lyle Menendez were denied parole by a California council this week after decades in prison for having killed their parents in 1989 in their Beverly Hills manor.

During two days of hearings, the brothers were each questioned by panels of two commissioners and asked to speak with a complete frankness on the abuse they suffered in childhood, their mentalities leading to and after the murders and various penitentiary transgressions.

The brothers were sentenced to life prison in 1996 for having fatally pulled Jose and Kitty Menendez. The case has long captivated real crimes lovers, the brothers amazing public support in the past year after Netflix programs have renewed interest.

The hearings have marked the closest that they have come free since their convictions. Despite each of the three -year refusals, they will be eligible to request an administrative examination in one year. If they are granted, they could appear before the Commission for parole from 18 months.

Here are the take -out dishes of audiences:

Although this does not seem to be a big problem for the public not incarcerated, the commissioners stressed the brothers that their use of illicit mobile phones threw a shadow on their positive achievements while being behind bars.

Mobile phones can be used to order hits, move drugs in prison and coordinate attacks on police, they noted. Their presence meant that a correctional agent had to bring them into smuggling, and a prison gang may have benefited from the tax accusation on this subject, Commissioner Robert Barton told Erik Menendez.

“What I obtained in terms of phone and my connection with the outside world was much greater than the consequences I am caught with the phone,” said Erik Menendez. He said he had used it to speak with his wife, watch YouTube, listen to music and watch pornography.

By refusing a parole, Barton said that his behavior was “selfish”, a sign that he thinks that the rules do not apply to him and that “the ends justify the means”.

Lyle Menendez also had two recent offenses, including one in March.

He said that the members of correctional staff were monitoring his communications with his wife and family and sold their content to tabloids, so he saw mobile phones as a confidentiality measure.

There was “a lot of stress” in his marriage when he was transferred to San Diego prison, and he wanted to stay in touch with his wife, he said.

“I convinced myself that it was not a way that hurt anyone else than a violation of the rules,” said Lyle Menendez. “I didn’t think it really disrupted prisons management.”

Besides, Erik Menendez has committed more serious rules.

The commissioners asked why he had joined a prison gang called the two Fivers and helped them in a tax regime around 2013.

Menendez said he was trying to survive an “extremely violent courtyard” where close friends had been stabbed or raped.

“I was in a huge fear,” he said. “When the two runners came and asked for help, I thought it was an excellent opportunity to align me with them and survive.”

Menendez told the commissioners that he had the priority to protect himself on the rules because at the time, he had no hope of going out.

He consumed drugs and alcohol in his first years behind bars, but became sober in 2013 on his mother’s birthday, he said.

While Lyle Menendez committed fewer violations, Commissioner Julie Garland said he had always demonstrated “anti -social personality traits such as the deception, minimization and rupture of rules which are below this positive surface”.

Prisoners who break the rules are also more likely to do so in society, she said.

The commissioners expressed concerns about the murder of Kitty Menendez, with Barton saying that he found that he showed that Erik Menendez was “without human compassion” at the time.

“I can’t put myself in your place. I don’t know I have never raged at this level,” said Barton. “But that is always worrying, especially since it seems that it has also been the victim of domestic violence.”

Barton said that the brothers were not afraid of their lives and should have asked other family members to help or have gone to the police.

As for Lyle Menendez, Garland said that Kitty Menendea’s shot one last time was extremely “insensitive”. She also highlighted her actions to cover the crime, as to lie to the police and try to avoid prosecution.

Governor Gavin Newsom had previously ordered the California’s conditional Liberation Council to assess the risk of the brothers in response to a request from Clemence.

Although it has never been made public, the County Prosecutor of Nathan Hochman revealed in May that the two brothers had been considered a “moderate risk”.

Barton said he considered that this evaluation was neutral, provided that he considered it.

An analysis in 2022 of the penitentiary policy initiative showed that Californian prisoners with a “moderate risk” obtained a parole 22% of the time. The non -profit organization has classified the most difficult state to obtain parole.

More than a dozen parents spoke to the two hearings to defend their release.

Aunt Teresita Menendez-Baralt, Jose Menendez’s sister, said that she was dying of stadium cancer 4 and wishes to welcome them to their homes.

“I want to specify that even if I like my brother, I fully forgiven Erik,” she said. “Erik is doing with kindness, integrity and strength that comes from patience and grace.”

Natascha Leonardo, the Grande-Nièce of Kitty Menendez, has promised the parole card that she would provide an “unconditional love and stability” house for him in Colorado, where he could spend time with family and in kind.

Family members said in a statement that even if the disappointed speech has been refused, they are not discouraged.

“We know that these are good men who have done the work to rehabilitate and are full of remorse,” they said. “We love them unconditionally and will continue to support them in the upcoming journey.”