L.A. Magazine Exclusive: The Menendez Brothers, In Their Own Words.
After spending most of their adult lives in prison for committing one of the most sensational double murders in U.S. history, the execution of their parents in Beverly Hills in August of 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez could be released as early as this summer.
Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez in Beverly Hills Municipal Court on March 12, 1990, following their arrest for the murders of their parents.
By Nick UT/AP images
It’s rare for any murderer to walk into a parole hearing with the loved ones of their victims not fighting for continued incarceration but instead, making impassioned pleas for the killers’ release. But that is exactly what is expected to happen on Aug. 21, the first day of California Board of Parole Hearings for Lyle and Erik Menendez, who have spent 35 years in prison for the killings of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez.
When they face the parole board, the brothers will have dozens of Menendez family members — and other unlikely champions — on their side. Correctional officers. A longtime law and order, lock ‘em up Florida judge. Prison wardens.
Here is what the Menendez brothers told the court about their ugly past, the amends they are making in the present and their unfettered hope for their futures.
Lyle and Erik as teenagers with the cousins who have spent years fighting for their release.
Courtesy the Menendez family
Lyle Menendez
Video court statement, May 13, 2025
“On August 20, 1989, I killed my mom and my dad. I make no excuses and I offer no justification. I take full responsibility for my choices and for the person I was when I made those choices. The choice to confront my dad about the abuse. The choice to keep the family secrets instead of asking for help. The choice to stay instead of leave. The choice to buy guns and ammunition. The choice to point guns at my parents and shoot them in their own home. The choice to reload and return to the den and run up to my mother on the floor and shoot her again. The choice to run and lie and hide and do anything I could to get away with these terrible crimes. The choice to make a mockery of the criminal legal system by suborning perjury.
I have spent many years facing what I did and trying to understand who I was and why I made this horrific choice. Again, I offer no excuse or justification. I do not blame my parents. But I now understand that I was a 21-year-old who believed I could fix what could not be fixed. I was immature, impulsive, distrusting, emotionally isolated and in a codependent relationship with my little brother with whom I shared a traumatic bond. I bottled up my emotions and anger. I carried a deep shame that I hid from everyone
I had always relied on my father to solve the big problems in my life. I was suddenly on my own and reeling. My choice to buy guns that Friday did not come from logic or reason. I was scared, but I was also filled with rage … I would not have bought a gun had I had the coping skills to process my emotions, had I taken more time to consider options, had I trusted others to help; had I made different choices, I would not have committed these crimes.
Even after I killed my father, his voice was still in my head … I carried a deep shame. I clung to the belief that no one would believe my brother and I about the sexual abuse. I had no respect for institutions and societal norms. Without my father to solve this crisis, I was floundering and desperate. I could not accept the consequences of my actions. I felt responsible for the situation we were in, and I acted out in inexcusable ways. I am sorry for it, and for putting people in that position simply because I didn’t want to face my own reality.
Today, 35 years later, I am deeply ashamed of who I was, sitting in that jail. I am thankful for Fr. Ken Deasy, who worked with me for almost two years to find the courage to speak publicly about the family secrets. He taught me to let go of expectations, the need to control results, and helped me begin to release the burden of shame.
In 1996, I was faced with a daunting and seemingly hopeless journey: Life without the possibility of parole. I knew I deserved the suffering to come. I also knew I needed to grow up, to heal, to mature and to change. I struggled, especially in the beginning, and I am sorry for the mistakes that I made, but eventually I chose to live a life of personal growth, education and service to others."
Erik Menendez
Video court statement, May 13, 2025
"I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to address the court and my family. It is an incredible privilege to be able to speak before the court today. I do so with deep recognition of the gravity of these proceedings and with profound sorrow for everyone in my family, all of whom are still deeply impacted by the tragedy I created. Thirty-five years ago, on August 20, 1989, I committed an atrocious act of brutality against two people who had every right to live. I took the lives of Mary Louise Menendez and Jose Enrique Menendez, my mother and father. My actions were criminal; they were also selfish, cruel and cowardly. I stole from my parents the right to a full life. I took from my relatives the right to share a life with my parents. I stole from the neighbors the right to a peaceful and safe community. I have no excuse, no justification for what I did; there is nothing that can make it any less wrong. Afterwards, I tried to create an alibi at the movie theater, I take full responsibility for my crime and blame no one else. I was the one who reached out to my 21-year-old brother that Tuesday for help. I was the one who convinced him that we couldn’t escape. I was the one who was too ashamed to turn to my family or anyone else for help. I was the one who didn’t trust in the police when I should have. Instead, I bought guns, I bought ammunition and I barged into the den, where my parents were watching television. I fired all five rounds at my parents. Then I ran back out to the car to get more ammunition. Neither my brother nor I stopped until my parents were dead.
I discarded the guns and I did everything I could to get away with my crimes. I lied to police about what I had done. I lied to my family. I am truly sorry. This crime should never have happened. My parents should be alive. They’re not, and I know that’s because of me … My crime was not just criminal and wrong and immoral, it was cruel and vicious. It was more than the murder of two people; it was the infliction of unimaginable and horrible suffering on them and everyone who loved them. I am directly responsible for it all. My choices that night robbed my parents of their full lives. No apology could ever reduce their suffering by even a degree. Continually apologizing, I realized, was a selfish act. As much as I wanted release from my guilt and shame, there was no release from it. For most of my life, I believed I would die in prison. The weight of a life sentence without the possibility of parole broke me. I fell into a life on the maximum-security yard, where violence and misery were routine, the only constants. For a long time, I lost all hope. I lost myself. Depression spreads like wildfire here, and when hope is gone, pain takes its place. That pain hangs over so many of us and makes it hard to grow and heal. In 2013, something shifted in me. It became a turning point — I was given the opportunity to serve others. I began caring for the elderly, the disabled and the terminally ill. It may seem small, but that act of service changed everything for me. I mattered to others. I had purpose … I was part of a community."
The extended Menendez family celebrates the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez with their legal team, which includes Mark Geragos (also the co-owner of Engine Vision Media, the parent company of Los Angeles), Alexandra Kazarian of Geragos & Geragos, Cliff Gardner and others.
Courtesy Alexandra Kazarian
Geragos hugs a Menendez family member, Kathleen Simonton.
Courtesy Michele McPhee
The Long Road to Redemption
The Menendez brothers' case has transfixed the nation since 1989. Here are some of the pivotal moments in the lives of the country’s most infamous siblings.
August 20, 1989 Jose and Kitty Menendez are in the den of their Beverly Hills home when their sons, Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18, burst in and opened fire.
March 8, 1990Lyle Menendez is arrested outside the family’s Beverly Hills mansion and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances.
March 11, 1990 Erik Menendez turns himself in to authorities. The brothers are told they could face the death penalty.
July 1993 The brothers go on trial, each with a separate jury, and detail sexual abuse they suffered from their father.
January 1994 Both juries deadlock and the trials end in mistrials.
October 1995 The brothers’ second trial begins, this time with a single jury and limited testimony about their abuse claims.
March 1996 The jury convicts both brothers of first-degree murder.
July 1996 The brothers are sentenced to life in prison without parole.
February 1998 A California appeals court upholds the brothers’ conviction.
May 2023 Roy Rosselló of the band Menudo reveals he was raped by Jose Menendez.
May 2023 Lawyers Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner file a writ of habeas corpus citing new evidence that supports abuse claims from Lyle and Erik Menendez.
September 2024 Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, is released.
October 2024 Los Angeles County D.A. George Gascón says he believes the brothers were abused and should be “immediately paroled.” Two dozen Menendez relatives announce a coalition to push for the brothers’ release.
November 2024 California Governor Gavin Newsom says he will delay his clemency ruling in connection with the brothers until incoming District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who replaced Gascón, can review the case.
February 2025 Hochman, who grew up in Beverly Hills, announces he will not support the petition for the Menendez brothers’ resentencing.
March 10, 2025 Hochman battles the Menendez brothers’ defense team in court.
April 11, 2025 Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic rules against Hochman, saying he has authority to proceed with the resentencing hearing.
May 13, 2025 After hearing emotional statements from each of the Menendez brothers, Jesic resentences them to 50 years to life in prison, making them immediately eligible for parole.
August 21-22, 2025 Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear in front of the California Board of Parole Hearings.
[Mark Geragos is the co-owner of Engine Vision Media, the parent company of Los Angeles magazine.
