Lyle Menendez denied parole, will become eligible in three years

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A day after a state parole board in California denied his younger brother's request for release, a separate panel also rejected parole for Lyle Menendez, who has spent nearly 35 years in prison for the 1989 killings of their parents.

57-year-old Lyle Menendez admitted to his parole board, "My mom and dad did not have to die that day, saying the decision to kill their parents 36 years ago this week was his decision and not his "baby brother's responsibility."

He was reportedly crying while saying, "It's the anniversary of a crushing day for so many in my family...I think about all the phone calls on that day with the shattering news and the loss and the grief."

He lied then and the parole board determined he's still lying, and "struggles with honesty."

The deputy district attorney emphasized what would become a theme of Friday's hearing saying, "When you look at him, Lyle has a long documented history of lies made to avoid the consequences of his own actions. Today, Lyle continues to lie about the central issue in his parents' murders."

Like his brother Erik, Menendez contends the pair killed their parents because they feared they would kill them first after years of alleged sexual abuse, with Defense Attorney Heidi Rommel pleading, "Lyle Menendez spent the first 21 years of life in the prison of his home, and the rest of his life in prison."

But Menendez's parole denial was not a carbon copy of his brother's denial the day before.

"It was really actually kind of fascinating to see how different the two days were Erik one day and Lyle the next day. And He did great - he was a trooper. It was a really hard emotional day," said Anamaria Baralt, cousin of the Menendez brothers.

While the parole board found that Erik was not a model prisoner when it comes to Lyle, they said:

"We find your remorse is genuine. In many ways, you look like you've been a model inmate. You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change. But despite all those outward positives, we see...you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule breaking that lie beneath that positive surface."

However, Baralt remains positive saying, "I do want to always remind people a couple of years ago this was not even a possibility."

"Despite all of this," Menendez says about his relatives, "they are still here, showing up for me, disrupting their lives, dealing with public scrutiny...and I will never deserve it."

Will Menendez ever deserve freedom? Parole Commissioner Julie Garland said, "Don't ever not have hope...this denial is not...it's not the end. It's a way for you to spend some time to demonstrate, to practice what you preach about who you are, who you want to be...Don't be somebody different behind closed doors."