Menendez brothers: Parole hearing which could free parent-killers Erik and Lyle is delayed until August

Erik and Lyle are due in front of the California state parole board after being re-sentenced for killing their parents José and Kitty in Beverly Hills in 1989. The original sentence was life in prison without the chance of parole, but the new sentence, last week, is 50 years to life, making parole a possibility, because they were under 26 when they committed the crime.

The delay comes after governor Gavin Newsom withdrew his request for the parole board to evaluate the brothers for clemency as they seek their freedom after 35 years behind bars.

They initially had a clemency hearing scheduled in June, but it has since been converted to a parole suitability hearing and pushed back to August 21 and 22, their lawyers said.

Scott Wyckoff, executive officer of the California Board of Parole Hearings, said in an email to attorneys on both sides that Mr Newsom withdrew the request for a clemency investigation last Thursday in light of the judge’s re-sentencing decision.

The governor’s office declined to comment on the decision but noted that the clemency application was still considered active.

The brothers’ cousin, Anamaria Baralt, said in a video posted on her TikTok that the change would benefit the brothers, given that many people are not granted parole at their first hearing.

“This is not a bad thing,” Ms Baralt said. “Most people prepare for parole for like a year… the more time that they can have to prepare, the better.”

The brothers were aged 18 and 21 when they shot their father and mother. While the crime shocked America, as they had grown up in LA luxury, a large swathe of public opinion has turned towards showing the pair mercy because of allegations of physical and sexual abuse committed on them by the father.

They have been the subject of a Netflix drama and documentary in the last year, and have acquired celebrity supporters including Kim Kardashian, who has campaigned both for them and for prison reform in general.