Featured Image Credit: California Department of Corrections via Getty Images
Topics: Menendez Brothers, True Crime, US News
Jen Thomas
Topics: Menendez Brothers, True Crime, US News
Warning: This article contains references to sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing
Erik and Lyle Menendez have both opened up about the brutal murder of their parents during parole hearings.
Brothers Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, have been in prison since 1996, following the killing of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez on August 20, 1989. The duo were both sentenced to life in prison after two trials, when the first was deemed a mistrial.
Their parents were found dead in their home in Beverley Hills, California, with the brothers insisting it was done through self-defence. Erik and Lyle, who were 18 and 21 at the time of the murders, appeared in court last week to try for parole.
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Ultimately, their bid was turned down for both, but the brothers both made disturbing comments during their hearings.
At his hearing, Erik told the commissioners about a crucial conversation he had with his brother leading up to the murders. Five days before the killings took place, he said he revealed to Kyle that their father was sexually abusing him.
He said their situation had 'become very dangerous' and said that was why they talked about buying guns.
Erik told the court: "My purpose in getting the guns was to protect myself in case my father or my mother came at me to kill me, or my father came in the room to rape me."
Commissioner Robert Barton asked Erik why he didn't tell the police or go for help.
Erik replied: "My absolute belief that I could not get away. Maybe it sounds completely irrational and unreasonable today."
He also claimed that the night of the killing, his dad ordered him to his room and told him that he was going to come to see him.
Erik said Lyle told him 'It's happening now', and he added: "I ran to my room to get the gun. All I knew was I had to get to that den. Fear was driving me to that den. Dad was going to come to my room and rape me that night. That was going to happen."
"You would have to live my experience to understand … if my dad exited that den, I was dead," he added.
However, Commissioner Barton challenged the murder of their mother as well as their father's, saying her killing 'especially showed a lack of empathy and reason'.
Erik said it was because she 'betrayed him', claiming: "Had she not been in the room, maybe it would have been different."
In Lyle's hearing, he echoed his brother's statements, saying they purchased the guns as a means of 'emotional protection'.
"I thought it was de-escalating ... it gave me some measure of safety," he insisted. "Long guns are not very useful for protection, but it was better than nothing."
Parole commissioner Parole commissioner Julie Garland asked Lyle if he felt happiness, or relief after the killing.
Lyle said no, and insisted: "I had feelings of regret, shock."
He was asked if he was more upset about one killing than the other: "My mother. 'Cause I loved her and couldn’t imagine harming her in any way. And I think, also, I learned a lot after about her life, her childhood, reflecting on how much fear maybe she felt.
"I sort of started to feel like I had not rescued my brother. I destroyed his life. I’d rescued nobody," he added.
The brothers can both apply for parole again in another three years, but they may be allowed to apply sooner after 18 months, subject to good behaviour in prison.