A panel of California commissioners on Thursday denied parole for Erik Menendez, who was convicted along with his brother Lyle for the 1989 murder of their parents.

Erik and his brother Lyle were convicted of killing their father Jose and mother Kitty.

They were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996. 

They became eligible for parole in May, when a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentence to 50 years to life.

The brothers have served 35 years for the killings, which they said was because they feared for their lives after years of sexual abuse by their father and emotional abuse by their mother. 

Prosecutors argued the killings were motivated by greed to inherit their parents' multimillion-dollar fortune.

Their case has garnered massive media attention and public scrutiny. A Netflix true-crime series based on their case was released in 2022.

Lyle Menendez's parole hearing is scheduled for Friday morning. 

What did Erik Menendez tell the panel?

In front of the California Board of Parole Hearings, appearing by video link from the San Diego prison where he and his brother are being held, Erik said he grew up without a moral foundation.

"The idea that there is a right and wrong that I do not cross because it's a moral bound was not instilled in me as a teenager," he said.

Menendez has said for years he was sexually abused by his father and fantasized about his father being dead.

"It's difficult to convey how terrifying my father was," he said.

What did the parole board decide?

After a hearing that lasted all day, the panel of California commissioners said Erik Menendez should not be released.

Erik will be eligible for parole again in three years.

The inmate, 54, "was denied parole for three years at his initial suitability hearing," the California corrections officials said, after the panel was not convinced that he no longer poses a threat to the public.

Commissioner Robert Barton said the main reason for the decision to deny parole was Menendez's behavior in prison.

He pointed to violations of prison rules including drug smuggling, cell phone use and incidents of violence in 1997 and 2011.

"Contrary to your supporters' beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner and frankly we find that a little disturbing," Barton said. 

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman had opposed the Menendez's May resentencing.

"The Menendez brothers have never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents," the prosecutor said in a statement Wednesday.

"Instead continuing to promote a false narrative of self-defense that was rejected by the jury decades ago."

Family and friends say brothers have changed

Before the parole hearing, friends and family in the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, a support group for the two, had called for their release.

Celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, have also called for their release.

The trial of the Menendez brothers captivated US television audiences much like the O.J. Simpson trial.

In subsequent years, the story of the killings and the trial became the stuff of television drama, spawning numerous films and series, including "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" on Netflix.

"For more than 35 years, they have shown sustained growth," their family said in a statement. "They have taken full accountability."

Edited by: Zac Crellin and Karl Sexton