Erik and Lyle Menendez’s family furious after ‘leaked’ audio from parole hearing released

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing.

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s family have been left absolutely furious after a 'leaked' audio from their respective parole hearings last week was released to the public.

The hearings came over three decades after the two brothers were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in August 1989 in their $5 million Beverly Hills home, citing years of mental, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

Following the murders, the Menendez brothers were initially sentenced to life in prison without parole, but in May of this year, a judge later resentenced Erik and Lyle to 50 years to life.

Such an update in the decade-spanning case, which last year became the subject of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, made them immediately eligible for parole because they were under 26 at the time of the murders, with Lyle being 21 at the time, while his younger brother, Erik, was 18.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were denied parole at their respective hearings last week (California Department of Corrections via Getty Images)

Erik was denied parole on Thursday (21 August) while Lyle received the same verdict the following day (22 August).

However, as Lyle's proceedings came to an end on Friday, an audio recording of Erik's hearing was published by ABC 7 through a public records request.

According to the outlet, Tiffani Lucero Pastor, one of the brothers’ relatives, screamed at the parole board: "This is disgusting. You’ve misled the family, and now to compound matters, you’ve violated this family and their rights."

The audio in question sees Erik open up in detail about what happened on the night of the killings.

"Fear was driving me to that den, and rage. The idea that dad was going to come to my room," Erik said in the published recording.

"Dad was going to come to my room and rape me that night, that was going to happen one way or another… And so I just went and I ran and I got the gun in my room and went down to the car and I loaded it and I ran into that den before Lyle could."

An audio recording of Erik's hearing was published by ABC 7 through a public records request on Friday (22 August) (Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images)

In a separate excerpt, Erik also explained to the board why he and Lyle also targeted their mother, Kitty, saying that her alleged support for their father made the two of them feel like 'one person'.

Erik stated: "She was his [dad’s] victim, I should have known that, I should have separated it in my mind. But that night, I saw them as one person.

"I was raised purposely without the moral foundation that I should not do wrong when I know the difference between right and wrong. I was raised to lie, to cheat, to steal, steal in a sense, in an abstract way."

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman praised the decision, made by the California Board of Parole Hearings, arguing that it 'does justice for Jose and Kitty Menendez, the victims of the brutal murders carried out by their sons on Aug. 20, 1989'.

He said in a statement: "For more than three decades, both Erik and Lyle Menendez have advanced a false claim of self-defense, alleging they feared their parents were going to kill them, to justify the brutal murders of their parents - including shotgun blasts to their father’s back, a point-blank shot to their mother’s face, and shots to their kneecaps staged to mimic a Mafia killing.

The Menendez family has called the audio recording being released 'disgusting' (Ted Soqui / Contributor / Getty Images)

"The record shows they suborned perjury, including soliciting others to make false claims that their father violently raped Lyle’s girlfriend and that their mother poisoned the family.

"The Board correctly determined that Erik Menendez’s actions speak louder than words, and that his conduct in prison and current mentality demonstrates that he still poses an unreasonable risk of danger to the community. Importantly, the Board did not bow to public spectacle or pressure, a restraint that upholds the dignity and integrity of the justice system."

Hochman added that Erik will be eligible for parole again in three years.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.