LOS ANGELES: A California judicial commission has denied parole to Joseph Lyle Menendez, maintaining his imprisonment for the 1989 murder of his parents alongside his brother Erik.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed the decision in a brief statement following an eleven-hour closed hearing.
“Joseph (Lyle) Menendez was denied parole for three years at his initial suitability hearing today,“ read a brief statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
This rejection follows Erik Menendez’s parole denial just one day earlier, dealing a significant setback to a growing movement advocating for their release.
The outcome of Lyle Menendez’s hearing is the latest blow to a movement that has swelled in recent years, amplified by Netflix’s smash hit dramatic series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
Both brothers appeared via video link from their San Diego prison during separate hearings that revisited the brutal shotgun killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Prosecutors originally argued the murders represented a cynical attempt by their sons to obtain a large family fortune.
After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, Erik and Lyle shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.
The brothers initially claimed the deaths resulted from a mafia hit before eventually asserting they acted in self-defense against years of abuse.
Their parole hearings became possible only after a judge reduced their original life sentences to fifty years with potential release eligibility.
Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.
The case has attracted renewed attention through documentaries and dramatic retellings that explore both the gruesome details and the brothers’ allegations of childhood trauma. – AFP
