LOS ANGELES: The Menendez brothers will make their cases for parole starting Thursday, 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. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers sought a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
They 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 under California law because they were under the ages of 26 when they committed their crimes.
But even if the board grants their parole, it could be months before the brothers walk free — if at all.
A panel of parole hearing officers will evaluate the brothers individually. Erik Menendez will have his hearing Thursday morning, followed by Lyle Menendez on Friday. They will appear over videoconference from prison in San Diego.
