Menendez brothers set for parole hearings in a step closer to freedom after 35 years in prison
Erik's hearing is scheduled for Thursday (21 August), with Lyle’s on Friday (22 August)
By Aaron Sugg
The Menendez brothers are set to face parole hearings this week, bringing them closer than ever to potential release after more than three decades behind bars.
Lyle and Erik were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Sentenced to life in prison at 21 and 18
The siblings were only 21 and 18 when they were sentenced to life in prison in 1996, but a judge resentenced them in May 2025 to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole under California’s youth offender laws.
Erik Menendez’s hearing is scheduled for Thursday (21 August), with Lyle’s on Friday (22 August).
According to ABC News, both hearings will be conducted by a panel of two or three parole officers from the state’s board of commissioners.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will assess whether the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to society,” with final approval from Governor Gavin Newsom.
“Newsom can also exercise his clemency power to pardon or release the Menendez brothers at any time,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough” – Cousin Anamaria Baralt on the May resentencing
At their resentencing in May, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said: “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years that they should get that chance.”
The siblings cousin, Anamaria Baralt, also gave a statement at the testimony, “We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough.”
“They are universally forgiven by our family,” she continued.
Ahead of the hearing, she shared a childhood photo with her cousins on Instagram, answering questions about this week’s events.
Answering if one brother could be pardoned without the other, she wrote: “Unfortunately, that is a possibility. It might seem unfair, but the answer is yes. Lyle and Erik are two different people and will be considered individually. Hoping they both get a yes!”
The brothers’ defence has long argued that they acted in self defence after years of alleged sexual, psychological and physical abuse from their father.
Monsters on Netflix sees Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik
The case regained widespread public attention with the 2022 Ryan Murphy Netflix series Monsters. The nine-part true-crime drama tells the story of the Menendez brothers, starring Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik.
Koch and Kim Kardashian, now a qualified lawyer and vocal advocate for prison reform, have both visited the brothers in prison.
This year, new allegations emerged from a former member of Ricky Martin‘s band Menudo, claiming sexual abuse by the Menendez brothers’ father. The brothers are now seeking to use these claims to pursue a new trial.
Earlier this year, the siblings reported being “bullied” and “assaulted” while in prison whilst on a phone interview with TMZ‘s podcast 2 Angry Men.