The Menendez brothers' hopes for freedom via the prison parole process were dashed when committees deemed them unfit to rejoin society, citing years of rule-breaking while behind bars.
Erik Menendez, 54, and Lyle Menendez, 57, were questioned separately for hours during two days of hearings on Aug. 21 and 22 about the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, their behavior while serving over three decades in prison and how they've changed since entering prison.
Despite recent momentum in their bid for freedom with a May resentencing making them newly eligible for parole consideration and a groundswell of public support for their release, the brothers were denied parole for the minimum period of three years.
"You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change. But despite all those outward positives, we see ... you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface," Parole Commissioner Julie Garland told Lyle Menendez while issuing his denial on Aug. 22.
Here's what the news means for the brothers' bid for freedom and why officials denied them parole:
