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Erik Menendez was denied parole on Wednesday, more than 30 years after his imprisonment. A California parole board said Erik and his brother, Lyle, still pose “an unreasonable risk to public safety” despite being eligible for parole for the first time after being resentenced in May. They were convicted in 1993 of killing their parents in 1989.

The nearly 10-hour hearing considered Erik’s rehabilitation, behavior in prison, and the reasons for and against his release. Prosecutors from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office asked the board to deny him parole, while more than a dozen family members made the case for parole. In the end, the board agreed with prosecutors and cited Erik’s criminal history as a teenager, the nature of the crime, and “serious violations” of prison rules.

Erik, who is now in his 50s, is eligible to request another parole in three years. Parole Commissioner Robert Barton told Erik that the decision was not based “primarily on the seriousness of the original crime” but also on behavior in prison.

“One can present a danger to public safety in many different ways, through various types of criminal conduct, including the type of criminal conduct you engaged in while you were in prison,” Barton told Erik. He asked the inmate to make more use of his “great support network” to prevent further infractions.

Erik has been written up nine times since he began serving his sentence, according to public records. The charges include drug possession and attempting to obtain a cellphone and a lighter in prison. Although several prison officials have written letters to the board saying he is a “model inmate,” Barton asked the prisoner if he could consider himself one, given his history of write-ups. Erik said he had only come to believe he would be eligible for release last year, and his “consequential thinking” had changed in that time.

The board heard from several family members who spoke tearfully on Erik’s behalf. They detailed the grief and family rift the killings had caused over the years and discussed forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain does not quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” said Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of the brothers’ mother, Kitty. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Others suggested Kitty’s inability or unwillingness to stop the abuse within the home furthered her sons’ fears. Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, described her aunt as having an “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.” The only family member the board heard from who was known to oppose Erik’s parole was Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, who died earlier this year.

The family said in a statement following the decision that they were “extremely disappointed” but would respect the board’s decision. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement continued. “His remorse, growth, and the positive impact he’s had on others speak for themselves. We will continue to stand by him and hold to the hope he can return home soon.”

Brother Lyle Will Also Go Before Parole Board, Governor Has Final Say

Lyle Menendez, the brothers’ older sibling, will appear before the parole board next week for a similar hearing to determine his eligibility for parole. It will be held on Friday.

The board will consider his record of rehabilitation in prison and his behavior behind bars. Lyle has been written up fewer times in prison than Erik. However, he could face an uphill battle given the brutality of his actions at the time of the murders.

At their trial in 1993, Lyle testified that he shot both parents in the head at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun. Barton said this week the way he killed their mother was “devoid of human compassion.”

Lyle also has a record of providing differing accounts of alleged abuse against their father. Prosecutors at one point alleged that Lyle had even asked his girlfriend to lie and claim that their father had drugged and raped her. This aspect of the case may have significant weight on the board’s decision, though the board is also hearing from family members who support his parole.

The parole board can ultimately only make recommendations to Governor Gavin Newsom. Under a state law passed in 1988, governors can overrule the board’s parole decisions for murder convictions and sentences of indeterminate terms like those handed down to the brothers. Newsom’s office can uphold the decision, deny it, or order a new hearing.

The governor’s office will have 30 days from when it receives the board’s recommendation to make a decision. The board’s decision will first be reviewed internally for up to 120 days.

The Menendez brothers have been in the national spotlight for decades, and their case is one of the most well-known murder trials in California history. They both claimed they killed their parents out of fear of years of abuse, though prosecutors have said they did it for financial reasons, and their father was a wealthy man.

Legal experts said governors in the state have typically been averse to releasing high-profile defendants. “Every governor is fairly allergic to releasing high-profile defendants,” Loyola Law School professor Christopher Hawthorne said. Three of the last four governors — Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger — were nearly impossible to secure parole. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have both released some parolees in the last decade.

Still, the high profile of the Menendez brothers may work against them, Hawthorne said. The governor has to consider public safety and whether the two “present insight into what happened that would make him think that they’re not going to commit further crimes,” he said.

For now, Erik is back in prison, and the next opportunity for parole will be in at least three years. Lyle will soon learn if his fate will be the same or if the brothers’ life sentences begin anew.