What to know about the Manendez Brothers issue and when they can be released

In 1989, the Brotherhood and Eric Mendez were killed by their parents by shooting them again and again at a distance at their palace in Beverly Hills.

They were convicted of a murder and a first -degree killing in 1996, and they were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of conditional release.

The general interest in the case has grown since the new Netflix drama, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Mendez, have been released in 2024. Their story continues to divide the opinion.

In a discontent session in May 2025, he made them a qualified judge for a conditional release. But in August, the two brothers were rejected.

Eric, who is now 54 years old, appeared in front of a committee in the Ministry of Reform in California and Rehabilitation on August 21. He was told that he was still at risk of public safety and was not a prisoner.

One day later, 57 -year -old Lael, who has long been considered the dominant brotherhood, was deprived of the conditional release by a different council.

He cited the brutal nature of the killings and Lille’s lack of restraint.

“We find your real remorse.” “But despite all these external positives, we see … still struggle with the characteristics of anti -society personality such as deception and reduce the rules that lie under this positive surface.”

They can try conditional release again within three years – although this can be reduced to 18 months with good behavior.

California Governor Gavin New Zerou is studying a separate request to submit a quarter of the brothers – perhaps in the form of an amnesty.

Newsom, which is in In the midst of a political shift and his eyes may be placed on a White House tourHe has the ability to accept or reject any conditional release council recommendation.

In 2024, the former provincial lawyer in Los Angeles, George Jaskoun, requested that the life punishment be changed from the brothers without changing the conditional release to 50 years.

During a hearing in the Los Angeles County Supreme Court, the brothers apologized for their actions. Their display of resentment was supported by family members and a former prisoner.

Prosecutors said that the brothers continued to “make excuses” for their behavior instead of taking full responsibility and were not rehabilitated.

But the judge agreed to discontent with the brothers, saying that they “have done enough in the past 35 years that they should have this opportunity.”

The ruling made them eligible for conditional release under the law of the young perpetrator in California, which allows those who committed crimes before the age of 26 to search for a reduced penalty.

The siblings were between the ages of 18 and 21 at the time.

Lael and Eric Mendez were killed, their parents, Jose and Kitty Mainndes, on August 20, 1989 at their home in Beverly Hills.

Their father, a 45 -year -old Hollywood executive official, was shot in six times with a rifle bought the brothers days before the attack.

Their mother died after 10 rifle explosions for several parts of her body.

The brothers initially told the police that they found their parents dead when they arrived at home.

They were arrested after a girlfriend who was treating Eric Mendes went to the police to say that he threatened the doctor physically.

The brothers claimed that they committed murders in martial murder after years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual assault, although no harassment in court was proven.

They said they are afraid that their father would kill them after threatening to expose him.

However, representatives of the prosecution argued that the youth killed their successful parents to inherit their real estate millions of dollars.

The brothers were detained in 1990, and in 1993 they were tried for murders, firstly, with one jury for each brother.

However, both jurors were brought in 1994, which led to a light trial, and they were later tried again together in 1995.

During their joint trial, the judge ruled out clear evidence of ill -treatment of the defense case. The registered sessions were sentenced to a doctor, where killings were discussed in court by the judge.

They were found by the jury, guilty, and the couple was convicted of killing and conspiracy of the first degree of killing in 1996.

The brothers, who separated while they were detention after an investigator who investigated the killings, said that they may conspire to escape if they were shelter together, they did not reunite them in prison in 2018.

The case was back to the spotlight after Netflix released a series of drama for the brothers in September 2024.

Monsters: Lyle and Erik Mendez story, which was filmed to the top of the forgotten broadcasting scheme and stated that he had more than 12 million views on the first weekend after the release alone.

The program explores what caused siblings to kill their parents and display murders from various views.

The creators said the series was based on intense research.

It includes brothers ’claims to abuse, as well as displaying things from the parents’ point of view.

The exhibition presented the case to a new generation and received attention from celebrities – including Kim Kardashian and Rosie Odonel – who called for the release of the brothers.

This series was a follow -up to the controversial Monsters series about the American serial killer Jeffrey Damer.

After its issuance, Eric Mendes shared a statement issued by his wife on X.

He said that the show was “frustrating to defamation”, and “he believed that we have crossed beyond the lies and the images of the destroyed personality of the night.”

“It is sad for me to know that the non -honest Netflix photography of the tragedies surrounding our crime has taken the painful facts several steps back – again through time to an era when the prosecution was built a narration on a system believer that males were not subjected to sexual abuse, and that males suffered from shock of rape differently from women.”

Family members also spoke and said that the brothers “faced the victim of this severe shock”, and the show was “full of bad landmarks.”

Ryan Murphy, who created the show, Diversity The comments were “predicted at best.”

He added that the family’s response was “interesting because I want details about what they think is shocking or uncomfortable. It is not as if we are committing any of these things. Everything has been presented before.”