Menendez Brothers Plead Their Cases for Parole—as Crime Tour to the Beverly Hills Home Where They Killed Their Parents Kicks Into High Gear

The Menendez brothers are appearing before California’s parole board starting Thursday to plead for their freedom after the siblings have spent more than 30 years behind bars for murdering their parents inside the family’s Beverly Hills, CA mansion, which is now a stop on a new true-crime tour. 

Erik Menendez presented his bid for early release Thursday morning, while his brother, Lyle, will get his turn before the parole board Friday. 

The brothers will be speaking over a live video feed from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Their appellate attorney, Mark Geragos, said in an interview on NewsNation’s Cuomo earlier this week that members of the parole panel will get a chance to question his clients directly, likely focusing on their rehabilitative activities. 

“The parole board members that day will retire, deliberate, and make a decision each day,” explained Geragos. “I would expect a decision on both of them separately, sequentially, and hopefully it’ll be a decision that gives them their freedom after almost 36 years.”

The siblings were expected to argue at their respective hearings that they do not pose a threat to public safety, take responsibility for their crimes, and will not go on to re-offend if set free. 

Relatives were slated to speak at this week’s hearings in support of Erik and Lyle, The Associated Press reported.

“For more than 35 years, they have shown sustained growth,” their family said in a statement. “They’ve taken full accountability. They express sincere remorse to our family to this day and have built a meaningful life defined by purpose and service.”

Parole hearing officers are tasked with determining if the inmates currently pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to society,” taking into account their criminal histories, motives, signs of remorse, conduct in prison, and plans for the future, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Erik and Lyle were convicted of the 1989 murder of their parents, Kitty and José Menendez, and were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

The Menendezes became eligible for parole for the first time since their incarceration after a Los Angeles judge resentenced them in May to 50 years to life in prison.

Under state law, the ruling by Judge Michael Jesic instantly paved the way for Erik and Lyle to make their bids for release because they were younger than 26 years old when they killed their parents.

The brothers originally claimed self-defense, alleging that they were subjected to years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father. Prosecutors, however, argued that the pair committed the murders in cold blood to claim millions of dollars in inheritance.

The decision to reduce the brothers’ sentences coincided with a surge of renewed interest in their case, driven by the back-to-back 2024 releases of the scripted Netflix drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and the documentary “The Menendez Brothers.”

The two series drew legions of true-crime fans and reignited demands for the landmark murder case to be reevaluated, especially in light of a 2023 court filing by the brothers’ attorney that revealed a handwritten letter penned by Erik eight months before the double homicide, in which he alleged his father had drugged and raped him.

However, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has remained unconvinced, insisting in a statement released on the eve of Erik’s hearing that the brothers do not deserve to be paroled because they have “never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents, instead continuing to promote a false narrative of self-defense that was rejected by the jury decades ago.”

The chief prosecutor argued that parole decisions must be based solely on the facts and the law, not on the recent crop of attention-grabbing shows and documentaries exploring the murder case.

“Justice should never be swayed by spectacle,” stressed Hochman.

Crime scene draws a new wave of tourists

The mansion where Kitty and José met their gruesome ends has long been a site of macabre fascination, drawing curious onlookers eager to sneak a peek. 

The interest in the Mediterranean-style villa reached a fever pitch after the release of the Netflix shows in 2024, prompting furious neighbors to repeatedly call the Beverly Hills police to complain about the influx of gawkers, TMZ reported in October.

Now, the seven-bedroom mansion on Elm Street is a stop on the new true crime-themed Westside Gory tour, operated by the company Grave Line Tours, as the New York Times reported.

The tour is conducted from the back of a funeral limo large enough to fit eight passengers.

The three-hour excursion, which costs $85, covers sites associated with two of Los Angeles’ most high-profile criminal cases: the Menendez murders and the O.J. Simpson trial, which controversially concluded with the one-time football legend being acquitted of stabbing to death his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

The guided tour is anchored by two key stops: the Menendez family’s former mansion in Beverly Hills, and the Simpson home in Brentwood, CA. In between, the tourists get to visit multiple lesser locations associated with both cases, including the office of the Menendezes’ former therapist and the sight of the cafe where O.J. met his wife.

As Realtor.com® previously reported, in March 2024, an anonymous buyer purchased the Menendez residence for an impressive $17 million and proceeded to undertake a major renovation of the property. 

Originally built in 1927, the palatial home was revamped in 1984 by real estate bigwig Mark Slotkin. José Menendez, who was a prominent music executive during the 1980s, purchased the overhauled mansion in 1988 for $4 million. 

After languishing on the market for years, the property was sold in 2001 to telecom executive Sam Delug for $3.7 million.

What’s next for the brothers?

The fates of Erik and Lyle Menendez now rest in the hands of the parole board members.

But even if the panel finds the brothers suitable for release, it does not mean they will be walking out of the San Diego prison gates anytime soon. 

The panel’s chief legal counsel will have 120 days to review the parole case, before it is handed off to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have 30 days to either approve or deny the request. 

Newsom, who earlier directed the parole board to conduct a risk assessment of the infamous inmates as part of their separate clemency request, has not said which way he is leaning on the parole question.  

The Democrat said in a July episode of his podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom,” that he will render a decision on the Menendez brothers by Labor Day.

If the brothers’ parole bids are rejected at this time, they will be allowed to plead their cases again before the board in three to 15 years.

Meanwhile, their clemency request is still pending.