Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear before the California parole board in separate remote hearings scheduled for Thursday and Friday, each expected to last two to three hours. CDCR parole board members will be in Sacramento while the brothers will testify from the San Diego prison. The brothers were convicted of the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, and sentenced to life in 1996. Case details include initial alibis, false narratives, and Erik's confession to a therapist at age 18; the brothers claimed self-defense citing alleged abuse, while prosecutors alleged a motive of obtaining the family fortune. A Los Angeles judge reduced the sentence to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole in May, and any parole grant would then proceed to review by CDCR legal officials and the governor.
The facts around the murder remain murky, with the two initially setting up alibis to cover up the murder before presenting numerous false narratives and Erik, 18 years old at the time, ultimately confessing to the deed while speaking with his therapist. The two argued that they had acted in self-defense, claiming their father had emotionally and sexually abused them, though prosecutors claimed the boys were simply trying to get their hands on the family's multi-million-dollar fortune.
The trial of the Menendez brothers captivated US television audiences much like the O.J. Simpson trial. In subsequent years, the story of the killings and the trial became the stuff of television drama, spawning numerous films and series, including "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" on Netflix. Sentenced to life in prison in 1996, the two became eligible for parole this May, when a Los Angeles judge reduced that sentence to 50 years to life.
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