Lyle Menendez Denied Parole

The same board denied his brother parole a day earlier
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 23, 2025 6:07 AM CDT
Second Menendez Brother Denied Parole
Lyle Menendez appears before the parole board via teleconference on Friday, Aug 22, 2025, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.   (California Department of Corrections via AP)

Lyle Menendez was denied parole Friday night by the same board that a day earlier rejected his brother Erik's appeal for freedom after serving decades in prison for killing their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills mansion. The reason was the same: misbehavior behind bars. The decision was made after an 11-hour hearing, reports NBC News. The hearing was delayed after some news outlets shared an audio recording of Erik's parole hearing.

  • A panel of two commissioners denied Lyle Menendez parole for three years, the AP reports. Commissioners noted the older brother still displayed "anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization, and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface."

  • "We do understand that you had very little hope of being released for years," said commissioner Julie Garland. "Citizens are expected to follow the rules whether or not there is some incentive to do so."
  • She also said the panel found his remorse genuine and that he has been a "model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change." "Don't ever not have hope," she told Menendez.
  • Similar to his brother's hearing the day before, the panel zeroed in on Menendez's use of cellphones in prison as recently as March 2024. "I had convinced myself that this wasn't a means that was harming anyone but myself in a rule violation," Menendez said.

  • He said correctional staff were monitoring his communications with his wife and family and selling them to tabloids, so he saw cellphones as a way to protect his privacy. There was "a lot of stress in his marriage" around the time he transferred to the prison in San Diego, and he wanted to stay in close touch with his wife, he said.
  • Commissioner Patrick Reardon applauded him for starting a prison beautification project and mentorship programs. However, he questioned if the cellphone violations tainted those accomplishments. "I would never call myself a model incarcerated person," Menendez said. "I would say that I'm a good person, that I spent my time helping people. ... I'm the guy that officers will come to to resolve conflicts."
  • Erik Menendez, who is being held at the same prison in San Diego, was denied parole Thursday after commissioners determined his misbehavior in prison made him still a risk to public safety.
  • The brothers, who were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for fatally shooting their parents in 1989, still have a pending habeas corpus petition filed in May 2023 seeking a review of their convictions based on new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father.
  • Lyle Menendez told the parole board details about the abuse he suffered under his parents. He cried, face reddened, while delivering his closing statement. He seemed to still want to protect his "baby brother," telling commissioners he took sole responsibility for the murders.

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