What we learned from Menendez parole hearings

Erik and Lyle Menendez were denied parole after appearing before separate boards in California this week.

The brothers have spent decades behind bars for killing their wealthy parents in 1989. They claimed self-defence, and have long pushed for their freedom.

Erik, now 54, attended his hearing on Thursday. Lyle, 57, appeared before a different panel on Friday. Both hearings were lengthy and held remotely.

They revealed details about the pair’s time in prison – some of which explain why the panels denied their release.

In Erik’s case, parole commissioner Robert Barton said the main reason for his denial was not the killings themselves, but Menendez’s behaviour in prison.

Barton rejected the notion that he had been a “model prisoner”. He cited Menendez’s involvement in fights, drug use and even a tax-fraud scam while linked to a gang.

Erik was revealed to have stashed banned objects including ingredients for making wine and art materials – which he used to decorate his cell.

Barton said Menendez’s “institutional misconduct showed a lack of self-awareness”.

At Lyle’s hearing the next day, parole commissioner Julie Garland acknowledged the prisoner’s “remorse” and the changes he had made while incarcerated.

“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.

Garland said “incarcerated people who break rules” are more likely to break rules in society.

Both boards highlighted the brothers’ repeated use of mobile phones – which are prohibited in prisons.

Erik stated that he initially felt that connecting with the outside world meant more to him “than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone”, but he said he had later rethought this view.

The issue of phones also featured prominently in Lyle’s case – he has pleaded guilty to a mobile phone violation as recently as March of this year.

Although he had a tablet that he was allowed to use, Lyle explained that he had resorted to mobile phones because they gave him more privacy.

“I would never call myself a model incarcerated person. I would say that I’m a good person, that I spent my time helping people,” Lyle told the board, noting he’s done a lot for vulnerable inmates.

Erik, who was 18 at the time of the murders, was asked why he and brother had shot dead their parents rather than simply leave home.

They have long claimed the killings were a matter of self-defence, as their father was sexually abusing them.

“When I look back at the person I was then and what I believed about the world and my parents, running away was inconceivable,” Menendez responded. “Running away meant death.”

He added: “I just want my family to understand that I am so unimaginably sorry for what I have put them through.”

Lyle, who is regarded as the dominant brother, also insisted that more than three decades on he was a different person.

“I’m profoundly sorry for who I was… for the harm that everyone has endured. I will never be able to make up for the harm and grief I caused everyone in my family.”

Asked why they killed their mother as well as their father, Erik said he “saw them as one person” after he learned that his mother was aware of the abuse.

Lyle said it was his “honest belief” at the time that his parents “were going to kill” him.

Many people, mostly relatives, spoke in their support during the hearings.

The brothers’ aunt Teresita Menendez-Baralt, tearfully said she forgave the pair for killing her brother. Explaining that she had late-stage cancer, she spoke of her wish to welcome Erik into her home to “wrap my arms around” him before it was too late.

Lyle’s cousin Eileen Cano, who spoke at both hearings, told the board that she is amazed by how much Lyle had achieved despite facing life in prison.

“While most people surrender to the crushing weight of prison life, Lyle rose above it,” she said.

“Lyle will not be a risk to the community because we as a family will hold him accountable,” she continued. “Delaying his release would serve no purpose..”

Barton acknowledged the support, but told Erik: “Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you, and you can still be found unsuitable for parole.”