.

More than 30 years after the Menendez brothers killed their parents, Erik Menendez was denied parole by a California board this week. The board said Erik, who was convicted of first-degree murder alongside his brother Lyle, “poses an unreasonable risk to public safety.”

The hearing lasted nearly 10 hours and took into account Erik’s rehabilitation and conduct in prison, as well as arguments for and against parole. A representative of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office argued the board should deny his release while more than a dozen family members testified in his support. The panel ultimately sided with prosecutors, saying Erik’s juvenile record, the violence of the killings, and “serious violations” while in prison merited their decision.

Erik, who is now in his 50s, will be up for parole again in three years. Explaining the decision, Parole Commissioner Robert Barton said it was not based on the murders themselves, but also on his time behind bars.

“One can pose a risk to public safety in many ways, with several types of criminal behavior, including the ones you were guilty of in prison,” Barton said. He said Erik needed to use his “great support network” to avoid further violations.

Erik has had nine rule violations since being incarcerated, most of them for drug possession but also for possessing contraband, including a cell phone and lighter. While several prison staff members have submitted letters in support of his release, calling him a “model inmate,” Barton questioned whether he deserved that label given his prison infractions. Erik said he did not think release was a possibility until last year and that his “consequential thinking” only changed then.

Family members who testified in Erik’s support were often tearful. While they decried the suffering the murders inflicted on the family for three decades, they also spoke of forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain does not quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” said Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of the Menendez brothers’ mother, Kitty. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Others said Kitty’s failure to protect the children from alleged abuse at home only furthered their fear. Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, said her aunt’s “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.” The only family member known to oppose parole was Kitty’s brother Milton Andersen, who died earlier this year.

In a statement after the ruling, the family called it “disappointing” but added that they respected the panel’s decision. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement said. “His remorse, growth, and the positive impact he’s had on others speak for themselves. We will continue to stand by him and hold to the hope he can return home soon.”

Brother Lyle to Face Parole Hearing, Governor Holds Final Say

While Erik was denied parole, his older brother will face the parole board soon. Lyle’s hearing will be on Friday, when the board will similarly review his record of rehabilitation and prison conduct. Lyle, who, like Erik, had an extensive record of disciplinary violations, will be subject to the same level of scrutiny as his brother.

During the original 1993 trial, Lyle said he shot his parents multiple times at close range with a shotgun. Barton said in his report this week that the death of their mother, Kitty, was “devoid of human compassion.”

Lyle also received criticism for repeatedly changing details of alleged abuse by their father, as well as once asking his girlfriend to lie about being drugged and raped by him. Those details may also complicate his efforts at parole, but several family members who plan to speak on his behalf support his release.

The parole hearings are taking place after both brothers were resentenced in May to terms of 50 years to life, after previously being locked up for life sentences without parole. As a result, the board is now able to consider their release, for the first time since they were convicted more than 30 years ago. Their case became one of the most high-profile murder trials in California’s history after they said they killed their parents out of fear of abuse, a claim prosecutors say is a cover for the fact that the family killed their father for his fortune.

Governor Gavin Newsom ultimately holds the final say on the brothers’ future. Under a state law from 1988, the governor can overrule the parole board’s decisions on behalf of people convicted of murder and who are serving indeterminate sentences. The board’s decision will now undergo an internal review for up to 120 days, after which time Newsom has 30 days to act.

While California governors have been more hesitant to grant parole to high-profile defendants, that does not mean it is impossible. “Every governor is fairly allergic to releasing high-profile defendants,” said Christopher Hawthorne, a professor at Loyola Law School. Past governors Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger rarely permitted parole for high-profile cases, but Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have since changed the trend over the past decade.

Still, the notoriety of the Menendez brothers may make their case more difficult. “The governor has to balance his own views about the facts, public safety, and whether or not they have shown insight,” Hawthorne said. Erik will at least have to wait three years for a new hearing. Lyle will soon learn whether he and his brother will face the same life sentences they began three decades ago, or if a different path is available to them.