Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and became eligible for parole in 2025, but both were denied release

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After serving decades in prison, the Menendez brothers were denied parole in August 2025.

Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez have also seen multiple developments come to light in the 37 years since they murdered their parents, José and Kitty Menendez.

On the evening of Aug. 20, 1989, Erik, then 18, and Lyle, then 21, shot José, an entertainment executive, and Kitty, a former teacher, at point-blank range with shotguns in their Beverly Hills, Calif., home. They then called 911 themselves, saying they came home from a night out and found their parents’ dead bodies. Intrigue in the case was almost immediate, with initial investigations looking into the mob as potential suspects.

However, notes from the brothers’ therapist, a shotgun casing and a screenplay pointed to Lyle and Erik, whom prosecutors claimed were privileged, spoiled and eager to cash in on their father’s $14 million fortune. The brothers were tried twice, during which they alleged that José was physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and that Kitty was addicted to drugs and alcohol, physically abusive and an enabler of José.

In March 1996, the brothers were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. They have been incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego since 2018.

Lyle and Erik’s lawyers filed a petition in 2023 to vacate the brothers’ convictions in light of new evidence: a letter Erik wrote eight months before the murders and Roy Rosselló’s claims that he was drugged and raped by José in the 1980s.

“Looking back on the trials, Erik and I and our family thought we were going into a manslaughter case with a district attorney that understood the traumatic impact that sexual violence creates in a person,” Lyle reflected on the 2024 Fox Nation docuseries Menendez Brothers: Victims or Villains. “And we ended up with the same sentence as a serial killer.”

In May 2025, a judge resentenced Lyle and Erik to 50 years to life in prison. This made them eligible for parole, though both were denied release in separate hearings in August 2025.

From their time spent in prison to their marriages, here’s everything to know about the Menendez brothers and where they are now.

For more than 20 years, Lyle and Erik were imprisoned separately, with Lyle in Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., and Erik about 500 miles away at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County.

“Our start to prison life was tremendously painful,” Lyle told Barbara Walters in a 1996 interview. “My brother actually went on a hunger strike to try to keep us together.”

The brothers didn’t speak for years but remained close, communicating through letters.

“We write each other regularly,” Lyle told PEOPLE in September 2017. “We even play chess through the mail, but it’s a little slow.”

In February 2018, Lyle was transferred to another housing unit at Richard J. Donovan. Erik moved into the same unit as Lyle in April of that year.

When the Menendez brothers reunited, they burst into tears, and Lyle whispered, “Finally,” he told DailyMailTV.

“It was just a remarkable moment,” Lyle added. “It was just something I wasn’t sure was ever going to happen.”

In 1999, Erik married his longtime pen pal Tammi Ruth Saccoman, with whom he shares his stepdaughter Talia. Tammi wrote the 2005 book They Said We’d Never Make It: My Life with Erik Menendez about their relationship and experiences.

Erik also took up painting, even gifting a portrait to comedian Kathy Griffin, and, with other inmates, has made attempts at prison reform.

“Being arrested was such a relief. My life was over, and I was glad,” Erik told PEOPLE in October 2005, adding that he was never motivated by money. “Once I was arrested and put into prison, that person who I was began to emerge again. I had to find it for myself.”

Lyle served as president of inmate government at Mule State Creek Prison before being transferred and has worked in a support group for other prisoners who endured sexual abuse. From 1996 to 2001, he was married to Anna Eriksson. He and journalist Rebecca Sneed, whom he had known for 10 years, wed while he was behind bars in November 2003.

However, in November 2024, Sneed shared on Facebook that she and Lyle had separated.

“This is NOT a cheating scandal,” she wrote. “Lyle and I have been separated for a while now but remain best friends and family. I continue to run his Facebook pages, with input from him, and I am forever committed to the enduring fight for Lyle and Erik’s freedom, as has been so evident over the years.”

In July 2025, Tammi and Talia shared an update on Erik on social media, revealing that he was recovering after undergoing surgeries “due to complications with both kidneys having multiple large stones.” After being temporarily transferred to a California hospital, he returned to prison in August 2025.

The Menendez brothers were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole until a judge resentenced them to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole on May 13, 2025.

Attorneys for the brothers filed a petition with the court on May 3, 2023, citing Rosselló’s allegations against José featured on the Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed as well as a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to one of his cousins describing his father’s sexual abuse just months before the murders.

“The new evidence not only shows that José Menendez was very much a violent and brutal man who would sexually abuse children, but it strongly suggests that — in fact — he was still abusing Erik Menendez as late as 1988,” the filing read in part, according to documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. “Instead, the crime was manslaughter, not murder. The killings occurred in imperfect self-defense, after a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse from their parents.”

The filing also pointed out that in their second trial, evidence of the alleged sexual abuse they endured was excluded, with prosecutors accusing the brothers of fabricating the claims because they were never corroborated.

The brothers’ parole hearings were scheduled for August 2025. Erik’s was first on Aug. 21, and he was denied release.

“While we respect the decision, today’s outcome was of course disappointing and not what we hoped for,” a spokesperson for Erik and Lyle said. “But our belief in Erik remains unwavering, and we know he will take the Board’s recommendation in stride. 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 is able to return home soon.”

Lyle’s hearing took place the following day on Aug. 22. He was also denied parole.

“While we are of course disappointed by today’s decision as well, we are not discouraged,” the Menendez family said in a statement. “The process for parole is exceptionally rigorous, but we are incredibly proud of how Erik and Lyle showed up — with honesty, accountability, and integrity.”

The statement continued: “This is not the end of the road. Both will go before the Board again, and their habeas petition remains under review. In the meantime, we know they will take time to reflect on the Board’s recommendations and will continue to lead, mentor, and build programs that support rehabilitation and hope for others. We know they are good men who have done the work to rehabilitate and are remorseful. We love them unconditionally and will continue to stand by them on the journey ahead.”

In April 2023, Rosselló, a former member of a popular Puerto Rican boy band called Menudo, seemingly corroborated Lyle and Erik’s stories of abuse when he came forward with his own story about José, alleging that the Hollywood executive drugged and raped him as a teen.

“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló said in Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. Referring to a photo of José, he added, “That’s the pedophile.”

In addition to Rosselló’s statement, the brothers’ lawyers also provided a never-before-seen letter written by Erik in 1988. It was discovered by José’s sister, Marta Cano, and addressed to her late son Andy.

“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now,” the letter read. “I can’t explain it. He [sic] so overweight that I can’t stand to see him. I never know. When it’s going to happen, and it’s driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind.”

In October 2024, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón recommended the Menendez brothers be resentenced which was granted in May 2025.

Erik gave his first comprehensive interview in 2017 for A&E’s docuseries The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All. He shared explicit details about encounters with his abusive father, including one “overwhelming memory” of José pounding on his bedroom door.

“He would have me massage him, and he would have me perform oral sex on him. He would graphically describe to me how he would kill me if I ran away,” Erik recalled.

The younger Menendez brother expressed regret for the murders, saying, “I wanted to go back in time. I wanted to take everything back that Lyle and I did.”

That same year, Lyle spoke with PEOPLE and also admitted to still “carrying the guilt” over his parents’ slayings.

“This tragedy will always be the most astounding and regrettable thing that has ever happened in my life,” he said. “You can’t escape the memories, and I long ago stopped trying.”

While incarcerated for over three decades, the Menendez brothers have tried to be “productive” people.

In June 2024, Lyle earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology at UC Irvine along with 23 of his fellow inmates, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning.

“I just decided even though I’m incarcerated, and there isn’t hope of freedom, I still have a chance to feel proud of what I’m doing with my day,” Lyle said over the phone to a crowd at CrimeCon 2024 Nashville. “Education seemed like an obvious answer to that question.”

During a conversation with TMZ in April 2025, Lyle shared that if he and his brother were to be released, they would continue to speak about trauma and work with “the victims community,” which he said they’d been involved with for decades, and “a lot of our joy, a lot of our grief has come from that community.”

“We have a phrase we call ‘speaking shame,’ ” Lyle said. “It’s helping people find their voice in their trauma. And we think that there’s a hunger for that in the country, and we would love to be a part of that and heal in that way.”