LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik Menendez was denied parole Thursday after serving decades in prison for killing his parents. Lyle Menendez, his brother, will be next to get a chance to plead his case in front of a panel of California state parole board commissioners.
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for fatally shooting Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time.
For years they filed petitions for appeals that were denied. But they became eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life in May, marking the closest they have come to freedom since their convictions.
Here’s a look at their case over the last three decades:
1990s and aughts
March 1990: Lyle Menendez, then 21, is arrested. A few days later, Erik Menendez, 18, turns himself in. They are charged with first-degree murder.
July 1993: The brothers go on trial, each with a separate jury. Prosecutors argue that they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ attorneys do not dispute the pair killed their parents but argue that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.
January 1994: Both juries deadlock.
October 1995: The brothers’ retrial begins, this time with a single jury. Much of the defense evidence about alleged sexual abuse is excluded during the second trial.
March 1996: Jurors convict both brothers of first-degree murder.
July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
February 1998: A California appeals court upholds their conviction, and three months later, the state Supreme Court agrees.
October 1998: The brothers file habeas corpus petitions with the California Supreme Court. After they are denied the next year, they file petitions in federal district court, which are also denied.
September 2005: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denies their habeas corpus appeal.
2023
May 3: Attorneys for the Menendez brothers ask the court to reconsider the convictions and life sentences in light of new evidence from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who said he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. In addition, they submit a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin before the killings about his father’s abuse.
2024
Sept. 19: Netflix releases the crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, ” a nine-episode series about the killings.
Oct. 4: Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in the case.
Oct. 16: Multiple generations of family members of the Menendez brothers hold a news conference pleading for their release from prison. The relatives say the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready to hear that boys could be raped.
Oct. 24: Prosecutors say they will petition the court to resentence the brothers, and that it could lead to their release.
Nov. 18: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he would not decide on granting the brothers clemency until after the newly elected district attorney has a chance to review the case.
Nov. 25: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge holds a hearing regarding the request for resentencing but says he needs more time to make a decision, delaying the resentencing hearings.
Dec. 3: Nathan Hochman is sworn into office as the new district attorney of LA County.
2025
Feb. 21: Hochman says his office will oppose a new trial for the brothers. He casts doubt on the evidence of sexual abuse. The following week Newsom orders the state parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” to determine whether the brothers have been rehabilitated and if they would pose a danger to the public if released.
March 10: Hochman says his office will not support resentencing because they brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents.
April 11: A judge denies prosecutors’ request to withdraw their resentencing petition. The following week, resentencing hearings scheduled are delayed due to disputes among prosecutors and the brothers’ lawyers, who say they will ask to remove Hochman’s office from the case.
May 9: Hochman’s office remains on the case as the judge again denies prosecutors’ request to withdraw their resentencing petition.
May 13: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduces the brothers’ sentences to 50 years to life. They are immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime under the age of 26.
Aug. 21: Erik Menendez is denied parole by the California state parole board.
Aug. 22: Lyle Menendez’s hearing is scheduled. Like his brother’s, it is to take place virtually.
The Associated Press
