Diddly Drogba
Superstar
Erik Menendez will not be released, the California Parole Board decided in a highly anticipated and lengthy hearing Thursday, curtailing for now the contentious push by he and his older sibling to be freed after the 1989 killing of their parents in their Beverly Hills home.
The hearing came after years of legal efforts by Menendez and his brother to be set free despite being convicted of life without the possibility of parole in 1995. Their jury trial, and accounts of an abusive upbringing in the upscale Beverly Hills home, inspired several documentaries and television series and drew renewed attention to their case and allegations of sexµal abuse against their father.
The hearing — the first time Erik Menendez, 54, has faced the Parole Board — offered a never-before seen glimpse into his life behind bars over more than three decades. A separate hearing for Lyle, 57, is set for Friday.
The hearing, Erik Menendez noted, was 36 years and a day after his family realized his parents were dead. The killing occurred on Aug. 20, 1989.
“Today is the day all of my victims learned my parents were dead,” he said. “So today is the anniversary of their trauma journey.”
Relatives, friends and advocates have described the Menendez brothers as “model inmates,” but during the hearing Thursday members of the Parole Board raised concerns about drug and alcohol use, fights with other inmates, instances in which Erik Menendez was found with a contraband cellphone, and allegations that he helped a prison gang in a tax fraud scam in 2013.
Menendez testified he obtained cellphones despite risking discipline because he didn’t believe there was a chance of him ever being released. He took the gamble, he said, because the “connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone.”
He also associated with a gang, he said, for protection.
That all changed in 2024, he said, when he realized there was a chance be paroled at some point.
“In November of 2024, now the consequences mattered,” he told the board. “Now the consequences meant I was destroying my life.”
L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Habib Balian opposed parole for Erik Menendez during the hearing, arguing he lied to the parole board and had minimized his role in the killings during the hearing.
“When one continues to diminish their responsibility for a crime and continues to make the same false excuses that they’ve made for 30-plus years, one is still that same dangerous person that they were when they shotgunned their parents,” Balian said Thursday. “Is he truly reformed, or is he just saying what wants to be heard?”
Menendez, Balian argued to the board, was still a risk to society and should not be released.
Interest in the brothers case was revived in recent years following a popular Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” The show aired after a Peacock docuseries, “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” uncovered additional evidence of Jose Menendez’s alleged sexµal abuse of his children and others, including Roy Rosselló, a member of the boy band Menudo.
The new evidence was part of the brothers’ most recent legal appeal in the case. More than 20 of the brothers’ relatives formed a coalition pushing for their freedom, arguing they had spent enough time imprisoned for a pair of killings that were motivated by years of horrific abuse.
www.latimes.com
The hearing came after years of legal efforts by Menendez and his brother to be set free despite being convicted of life without the possibility of parole in 1995. Their jury trial, and accounts of an abusive upbringing in the upscale Beverly Hills home, inspired several documentaries and television series and drew renewed attention to their case and allegations of sexµal abuse against their father.
The hearing — the first time Erik Menendez, 54, has faced the Parole Board — offered a never-before seen glimpse into his life behind bars over more than three decades. A separate hearing for Lyle, 57, is set for Friday.
The hearing, Erik Menendez noted, was 36 years and a day after his family realized his parents were dead. The killing occurred on Aug. 20, 1989.
“Today is the day all of my victims learned my parents were dead,” he said. “So today is the anniversary of their trauma journey.”
Relatives, friends and advocates have described the Menendez brothers as “model inmates,” but during the hearing Thursday members of the Parole Board raised concerns about drug and alcohol use, fights with other inmates, instances in which Erik Menendez was found with a contraband cellphone, and allegations that he helped a prison gang in a tax fraud scam in 2013.
Menendez testified he obtained cellphones despite risking discipline because he didn’t believe there was a chance of him ever being released. He took the gamble, he said, because the “connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone.”
He also associated with a gang, he said, for protection.
That all changed in 2024, he said, when he realized there was a chance be paroled at some point.
“In November of 2024, now the consequences mattered,” he told the board. “Now the consequences meant I was destroying my life.”
L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Habib Balian opposed parole for Erik Menendez during the hearing, arguing he lied to the parole board and had minimized his role in the killings during the hearing.
“When one continues to diminish their responsibility for a crime and continues to make the same false excuses that they’ve made for 30-plus years, one is still that same dangerous person that they were when they shotgunned their parents,” Balian said Thursday. “Is he truly reformed, or is he just saying what wants to be heard?”
Menendez, Balian argued to the board, was still a risk to society and should not be released.
Interest in the brothers case was revived in recent years following a popular Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” The show aired after a Peacock docuseries, “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” uncovered additional evidence of Jose Menendez’s alleged sexµal abuse of his children and others, including Roy Rosselló, a member of the boy band Menudo.
The new evidence was part of the brothers’ most recent legal appeal in the case. More than 20 of the brothers’ relatives formed a coalition pushing for their freedom, arguing they had spent enough time imprisoned for a pair of killings that were motivated by years of horrific abuse.
Erik Menendez to remain in prison after decision by California Parole Board
Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 shotgun killings of their parents. State parole officials reviewed Erik's case Thursday, with his brother's hearing set for Friday.
www.latimes.com
Good riddance. fukk them crackas.
