Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear before the California parole board in separate remote hearings this Thursday and Friday to seek release. Each hearing is expected to last two to three hours with parole board members in Sacramento and the brothers testifying from the San Diego prison. The brothers were convicted in the 1990s for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents at the family villa. The brothers claimed self-defense, alleging emotional and sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors alleged a motive of gaining the family fortune. Friends and family say they have changed after 35 years behind bars. A Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole review, which could proceed through CDCR legal review if the panel finds no unreasonable risk to society.
Lyle and Erik Menendez will argue for their release when the two come up for review by the California parole board in separate hearings this Thursday and Friday. The hearings are each expected to last between two and three hours and will take place remotely, with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) parole board members in the state capital Sacramento and the brothers testifying from the San Diego prison that houses them.
The two have been in the American media spotlight since their 1990s trial and conviction for the shotgun murder of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez at their California luxury villa in 1989. 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. Friends and family have argued the brothers have grown after 35 years in prison and say they should be freedImage: Damian Dovarganes/AP/picture alliance Parole board and governor to decide on high-profile case
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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