Erik Menendez's daughter says 'fight not over' after dad, uncle Lyle denied parole
Erik Menendez's daughter Talia expressed disappointment after her uncle Lyle was denied parole. She said that the "fight is not over" and that her family won't stop until the Menendez brothers are free.
On Aug. 21, a California parole board denied the release of Erik, and a day later, also ordered his older brother Lyle to remain behind bars. The brothers were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills mansion.
"Extremely saddened to see the parole board failed once again with a whole different commissioner," Talia wrote in an Instagram story on Aug. 23. "Mentally torturing these [two] by forcing them to relive the trauma they have endured for 10+ hours just to tell them no and to try again in [three] years."
"You all can judge me for being angry. I'm standing 10 toes for our family... We will not stop until they are free," she added while claiming that the parole board's decision was a "complete setup from the inside."
Talia is Erik's stepdaughter from his marriage to Tammi Menendez, who also lamented the brothers' parole denial on X.
According to parole commissioner Julie Garland, the panel found that Lyle could pose a risk to the public. She also urged him not to give up and that the denial was "not the end."
"My mom and dad did not have to die that day," an emotional Lyle told the parole board on Friday, adding that the decision to use violence was solely his and not his "baby brother's" responsibility.
"I am so sorry to everyone, and I will be forever sorry," he added in his final remarks to the panel.
The outcome of Lyle's hearing is the latest blow to a movement that has swelled in recent years, amplified by Netflix's drama series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The show and myriad documentaries have fixated on the gory details of the 1989 shotgun murders, and the televised jury trial that captivated audiences with accounts of their abusive upbringings and posh lifestyles.
An 11-hour hearing
Friday's hearing came just over 36 years after the deaths of parents Jose and Kitty Menendez, in what prosecutors said was 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.
Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.
The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.
Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist.
The pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.
During their decades in prison, changing social mores and greater awareness of sexual abuse helped elevate the men to something approaching cultural icons.
Friday's hearing, which was closed to the public, lasted 11 hours. It was held separately to Thursday's hearing for his brother Erik, 54.
Both brothers appeared by video link from the San Diego prison where they are being held.
The panel members, whose identities were not released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, quizzed them on their behavior and attitude toward the murders.
The parole hearings became possible when a judge earlier this year resentenced the men, reducing their original full-life punishment to one of 50 years with the possibility of release. (with reports from AFP)
