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A California parole board has denied Erik Menendez’s bid for parole, despite a lengthy and emotional hearing in which the now-elderly killer argued that he was rehabilitated after more than three decades behind bars. The parole board found that Erik, who, with his older brother Lyle, was convicted of murdering his parents in 1989, still “posed [d] an unreasonable risk to public safety.”

At the nearly 10-hour hearing this week, the board heard from prosecutors and more than a dozen of Erik’s relatives about his rehabilitation, prison behavior, and other reasons to grant or deny parole. A panel of representatives from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office recommended against parole, after which the board found Erik’s 1980s criminal record as a teenager, the violence of the crime, and “serious violations” of prison rules while incarcerated against him.

The two commissioners voting on Erik’s case will next hear the case of his brother, Lyle Menendez. That parole board hearing has been scheduled for Friday. The board will then make a recommendation on whether to grant Lyle parole, which could allow for his release, although California Governor Gavin Newsom has the final say in all cases and can approve, deny, or modify the parole board’s decision. Newsom has not granted parole for a single defendant in such cases during his nearly six years in office.

Erik Menendez, now in his 50s, will not be eligible to come before the parole board for at least three more years. Parole Commissioner Robert Barton told Erik on Thursday that while the decision was not “predominantly based” on the horrific nature of the double murder, his prison behavior was also important in the board’s decision.

“One can present a risk to public safety in a variety of different ways and with various types of criminal conduct, including the ones you were guilty of while you were in prison,” Barton said, telling Erik to make better use of his “great support network” to avoid new violations.

Erik has, since his imprisonment, received nine inmate rule violations for offenses including drug possession, pornography, and having contraband items such as a cell phone and lighter. His prison record is mixed, with several corrections officers writing on his behalf as a “model inmate” who has contributed to the prison community. Barton, however, did not find that label in line with Erik’s disciplinary history.

Erik told the panel that he only started to believe that he could be paroled last year, and his “consequential thinking” was affected by the change.

Erik’s relatives, several of whom testified tearfully, told the board that his family has also been affected by the murders, both in suffering but also in forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain does not quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” one, Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of the brothers’ mother, Kitty, said at the hearing. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Others raised the fact that Kitty apparently did little to stop abuse in the home, fueling fear in her sons. Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, testified that her aunt’s “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.” The only known relative to oppose Erik’s parole has been Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, who died earlier this year.

After the parole board’s ruling, the family released a statement saying they were “disappointed, but not surprised” by the outcome and would “continue to stand with Erik and his family with respect and gratitude for their consideration.”

“Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement continued. “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 can return home soon.”

Lyle Menendez to Face Parole Hearing, Governor Holds Final Say

While Erik Menendez was denied parole, his brother Lyle will face the parole board in a similar hearing next Friday. In that hearing, the panel will weigh Lyle’s history of rehabilitation and prison behavior. Although his disciplinary record in prison is slightly better than Erik’s, Lyle’s actions in the murders and the callousness with which he killed his parents may weigh more heavily on the panel’s decision.

During the 1993 trial, Lyle testified that he killed both parents by “firing five or six times at point-blank range with a double-barrel shotgun” at their beds. Lyle fired the final, killing shot to his mother, according to the testimony, while he “never hesitated” and his manner was “devoid of human compassion,” parole commissioner Robert Barton noted in the board’s ruling this week.

Lyle has also been found by the court to have perjured himself in his claims of abuse by their father, Jose, including lying to his girlfriend at the time about being drugged and raped. He then asked her to lie and corroborate the story as well. The pattern of lying may also weigh heavily against Lyle in his parole decision.

As with Erik, the Menendez brothers’ relatives have come out in force to support their parole and will again be expected to testify on their behalf. In the end, however, California Governor Gavin Newsom will have the final say on the case. Under a state law dating to 1988, the governor can reverse, modify, or agree with the parole board’s decisions on all individuals convicted of murder and sentenced to indeterminate prison terms.

The board’s decision will go through an internal review process for up to 120 days before Newsom’s office will have up to 30 days to take action. Newsom has never before granted parole for any defendant in such cases, and legal experts say that California governors are generally loath to release more high-profile defendants.

“The most recent governors have been fairly allergic to releasing high-profile defendants,” Christopher Hawthorne, a law professor at Loyola University, told the Associated Press.

It’s been a trend in recent years. Governors Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger granted no parole to high-profile defendants, but Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have made parole easier to receive in recent years.

But as Hawthorne noted, the notoriety of the Menendez case may be its own issue. “Newsom has to consider public safety, and with the Menendez brothers, he has to decide whether they have the insight into what happened and whether they’re not going to do it again,” Hawthorne said.