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California parole board denied Erik Menendez’s parole after more than 30 years in prison this week. A board of three commissioners found Erik, who killed his parents with his brother Lyle in 1989, continued to pose “an unreasonable risk to public safety.”

The hearing lasted nearly 10 hours and included testimony on his rehabilitation and prison record as well as the arguments for and against Erik’s parole. During the hearing, a panel from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office urged the board to deny his parole. More than a dozen family members also spoke in support of Erik during the hearing. The board ultimately agreed with prosecutors, however, and cited Erik’s criminal record as a teenager, the nature of the crime, and his “serious violations” in prison as the reason for their decision.

Erik will now be eligible to apply for parole after three years. At the hearing, Parole Commissioner Robert Barton told Erik that the decision was not based only on the severity of the murders but also on his actions while in prison.

“One can be a risk to public safety in many different ways, and there are many different types of criminal conduct, including the ones that you were guilty of in prison,” Barton said to Erik. He added that Erik should rely on his “great support network” to remain out of trouble.

The parole board’s decision was based in part on a list of rule violations Erik committed while in prison, including drug use and contraband in his cell. Erik, who is now in his 50s, has been in prison since 1993 and has racked up nine rule violations, according to the parole board. Items in his cell included a cell phone, a razor blade, a lighter, and eyeglasses with scratches. Erik also tested positive for methamphetamine in 2017, according to prison records.

On the other hand, several prison staff wrote letters to the parole board that Erik was a “model inmate.” Barton expressed doubt that Erik deserved that distinction, given his record of nine violations. Erik said at the hearing that he only started to feel like his release was a possibility last year, and his “consequential thinking” changed because of that.

Erik’s family also spoke at the hearing, many of them in tears. They spoke of the pain and division the murders had brought to the family over the past 35 years, but also forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain doesn’t quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” said Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of the brothers’ mother, Kitty Menendez. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Others alluded to Kitty’s failure to address the abuse that was reportedly happening in the home and how that made her sons more fearful. Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, said that her aunt’s “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.” Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, was the only family member who opposed Erik’s parole, and he died earlier this year.

After the decision, the family released a statement saying they were disappointed in the decision but respected the board’s decision. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement read. “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’s Hearing Scheduled For Friday

While Erik was not granted parole, his older brother, Lyle, will have his own parole hearing with the board. Lyle, who was 17 years old at the time of the murders, will be in front of the parole board on Friday.

While Lyle has slightly fewer disciplinary violations in prison than Erik, the way he committed the murders will likely play a key role in their decision. During the 1993 trial, Lyle testified that he shot both of his parents multiple times at close range with a shotgun. Barton also said this week that the manner of his mother’s death “was devoid of human compassion.”

Lyle has also been called out for having provided the parole board with details about abuse he and Erik allegedly suffered from their father, only to later retract those claims. At one point, according to prosecutors, he even had his girlfriend lie about being drugged and raped by their father. This may also hinder his parole chances, though, like Erik, he has family members who plan on testifying on his behalf.

The parole board’s hearings were required after the brothers were resentenced in May to terms of 50 years to life instead of life without parole. Both are now eligible for parole for the first time since they began serving their sentences in 1993. The high-profile case gained attention after the brothers said they acted in self-defense after years of abuse. The state prosecutors, however, have long contended that the motive was financial gain and his father’s fortune.

The governor of California will ultimately have the final say on the fate of the Menendez brothers. Under a 1988 state law, California governors can approve, deny, or modify the parole board’s decision for those who were convicted of murder and sentenced to an indeterminate term. The parole board decision will now be subject to an internal review of up to 120 days before Newsom has 30 days to take action.