Fresh controversy has erupted in the decades-long saga of the Menendez brothers after audio from Erik Menendez’s recent parole hearing was released to the public.
Erik, who along with his brother Lyle has spent more than 30 years behind bars for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, was denied parole last Thursday.
Just one day later, Lyle also saw his bid for release rejected, BBC News reports. The brothers, who were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings, have long maintained that they acted out of fear and self-defense following years of alleged abuse.
The recordings, which surfaced during Lyle’s own hearing on Friday, capture Erik reflecting on his childhood and the events leading up to the murders.
In the audio, he spoke candidly about growing up without what he described as a moral foundation, and expressed deep regret about shooting his mother, Kitty.
“I wish to God I did not do that,” he told the parole board. He also revisited claims that his father, prominent music executive Jose Menendez, was terrifying and abusive, both emotionally and sexually.
“It’s difficult to convey how terrifying my father was,” he said, echoing allegations he had documented years earlier in a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano.
The disclosure of these tapes, however, has sparked outrage from the Menendez family and defense team alike. Tiffany Lucero Pastor, Kitty’s great-niece, condemned the move as deeply inappropriate.
“This is disgusting. This process is damaged and broken,” she said, noting that she expected details of the hearing to be released only as a transcript, not as a raw recording. “A transcript is far different from an audio recording.”
Defense attorney Heidi Rummel, who represents Lyle, echoed the frustration, arguing that the release turned a legal proceeding into a public spectacle.
“We came into these hearings hoping and expecting a fair and impartial hearing where Mr. Menendez could be heard, be considered, and be understood,” she said. “Instead, we now have a public spectacle, family members refusing to participate, and the brothers’ dignity undermined.”
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the tapes were “erroneously” disclosed following a public records request from KABC-TV.
The agency admitted the release should not have occurred, raising questions about whether Marsy’s Law (designed to balance the rights of victims and defendants) had been violated.
Still, the damage was done, and the brothers’ parole attempts quickly became the focus of national media attention once again, per the Los Angeles Times.
During his hearing, Erik also addressed rule violations in prison, including being caught with a cell phone. He admitted to the board that the decision was deliberate, saying the connection to the outside world outweighed the consequences of being disciplined.
“What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught,” he said.
But parole commissioner Robert Barton concluded that Erik still posed a risk to public safety, warning he could easily return to patterns of manipulation or, as Barton described it, “throw a pity party” to gain sympathy.
The denial left Erik’s supporters furious. His wife, Tammi Menendez, blasted the decision as unfair. “This was a complete setup, and Erik never stood a chance!” she said.
Attorney Mark Geragos went further, labeling the hearings “rigged” and a “s**tshow” during an appearance on the 2 Angry Men podcast, via TMZ.
Lyle’s case fared no better. Though commissioner Julie Garland acknowledged that the now-57-year-old had exhibited positive behavior in prison and could be considered a model inmate in some respects, she ultimately ruled against parole.
Garland cited ongoing concerns, warning Lyle still struggled with “anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization, and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface.”
Both brothers now face another three years before they can reapply for parole, unless California Governor Gavin Newsom intervenes with a pardon or commutation, an option experts believe is unlikely.
“I can’t see him sticking his neck out and pardoning the Menendez brothers or commuting their sentences over the parole board’s denial,” Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told USA Today.
The Menendez brothers were originally convicted in 1996 after a high-profile trial that captivated the nation and inspired multiple TV dramatizations, including one on Netflix earlier this year.
Their first trial, which began four years after the murders, ended in deadlock when jurors could not agree on whether the killings were cold-blooded executions or desperate acts of two sons escaping abuse. The retrial brought convictions, and in May of this year their sentences were formally reduced to 50 years to life.
For now, the brothers remain in prison, their future uncertain, but their story, and the debate over justice in their case, continues to provoke fierce and polarizing reactions.