LOS ANGELES — The California Board of Parole granted Erik and Lyle Menendez an earlier parole suitability hearing tentatively scheduled for March 2027. The board’s decision on Friday advanced the brothers’ eligibility to apply for another hearing by approximately 17 months from the previously scheduled date of August 2028.

The family of Erik and Lyle Menendez issued a statement defending the brothers' conduct and rehabilitation efforts. "For almost 40 years, Erik and Lyle have worked to take responsibility for their actions, confront and heal from the unimaginable abuse and trauma they endured, grow as individuals, and dedicate themselves to serving others," the family said. The family noted that the brothers helped establish a hospice program and created a beautification program called Green Space at the prison.

Michael Beckman, a California attorney who has focused on parole law since 1985, commented on the procedural aspects of the advance. "But it doesn’t work that way. It really depends upon who the commissioners are, what exactly they did to merit getting an advance, what problems they had coming in," Beckman said.

He added that the high visibility of the case influences the process. "The Menendez are a very high-profile case so that tends to make things harder," he said.

The California Board of Parole denied the brothers parole in August 2025. At that time, the board stated that Lyle Menendez displayed "anti-social personality traits like deception." The board also stated that Erik Menendez broke prison rules by repeatedly using a cellphone. Erik Menendez was reportedly linked to a prison gang at one time.

Both Menendez brothers were assessed as moderate risk by the parole board. The brothers were serving three-year parole denials, which is the shortest denial length under California law.

Why It Matters

The adjustment of the hearing date reflects the administrative mechanisms available under state law for reviewing parole eligibility. The March 2027 hearing represents a shift in the timeline for two inmates whose case has drawn sustained public attention due to the nature of their crimes and their claims of abuse. The outcome will depend on how commissioners weigh the brothers' prison conduct against the severity of their convictions.

Timeline

During the 1994 trials, juries for both Erik and Lyle Menendez deadlocked, resulting in mistrials. Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder for the 1989 fatal shootings of their parents, Jose Menendez and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. In the 1996 retrial, much of the defense evidence regarding alleged sexual abuse was excluded.

Prosecutors argued that the brothers killed their parents for financial gain. The defense argued that the siblings acted in self-defense after enduring years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.

A Los Angeles judge reduced the brothers' sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life in May 2025. The resentencing made the brothers eligible for parole because they were under age 26 when they committed the crimes.

What's New

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office stated: "Our position remains the same whether it's 2027, 2028 or any year after. If the Menendez brothers stop committing violations of the prison’s rules and fully accept responsibility for, and own up to, all the lies they’ve told for over 30 years, including their biggest lie, the self-defense defense, then they may be amenable to being released on parole." Michael Beckman, a California attorney who has focused on parole law since 1985, said: "But it doesn’t work that way. It really depends upon who the commissioners are, what exactly they did to merit getting an advance, what problems they had coming in." The parole board tentatively moved the brothers' eligibility to apply for another hearing from August 2028 to March 2027.