What the Menéndez brothers said about the murders in their probation hearings

Lyle and Erik Menéndez opened about the brutal murders of their parents during the long -awaited probation hearings last week, revealing their perspectives on the infamous crime that captivated the nation for decades.

The case began on August 20, 1989, when Lyle Menéndez, 21, and Erik Menéndez, 18, fatally shot his parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, in the home of the Beverly Hills family, California, at home. The brothers said they committed the murders in self -defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.

Last week, Erik and Lyle Menéndez appeared in their first probation hearings, where both were denied liberation. In separate audiences before different meetings, the commissioners said that Erik and Lyle Menéndez broke the rules in prison, despite recognizing that both worked to rehabilitate and help other inmates.

As the brothers’ offer for freedom reaches another obstacle, here is a look at what they told the probation boards about the murders:

Erik Menéndez

At Erik Menéndez’s probation hearing on Thursday, he told the commissioners about a fundamental conversation he had with his brother five days before the murders. That day, he said he trusted Lyle Menéndez that his father was sexually abusing him, the first time the brothers had discussed abuse.

Erik Menéndez said they talked about buying weapons because they felt that their situation had “become very dangerous” since he had opened Lyle about the alleged abuse.

“My purpose of getting weapons was to protect me in case my father or mother came to me to kill me, or my father entered the room to rape me,” he said.

Commissioner Robert Barton asked Erik Menéndez why he did not or went to the authorities. Erik Menéndez replied: “My absolute belief that I could not escape. Maybe it sounds completely irrational and unreasonable today.”

Erik Menéndez also walked along the probation board through his movements in the moments before the shootings.

“Lyle reached the top of the stairs after my dad ordered me [my] Room and said he was coming, “he said, adding:” My approach was: ‘Dad comes to my room. I can’t let me come to my room. ‘”

Erik Menéndez said Lyle said: “It’s happening now.”

“I ran to my room to get the gun,” said Erik Menéndez. “All I knew was that I had to get to that den. Fear was taking me to that den … Dad was going to my room and rape that night. That was going to happen.”

Erik Menéndez said he got his shotgun, went to the car and charged her.

“I didn’t even wait for Lyle. I knew I had to get to that den,” he said.

“You would have to live my experience to understand … If my dad left that den, he was dead,” he said.

Barton said his mother’s murder “especially showed a lack of empathy and reason.”

Erik Menéndez said he shot him because she had “betrayed him.”

“I saw my mother and my father as a single person after she knew she knew [about the alleged sexual abuse]Then, when I met the den, I was in a state of terror, panic, anger, “he said.

“If she hadn’t been in the room, maybe it would have been different,” he said.

Lyle Menéndez

Lyle Menéndez told the Board of probation on Friday that he did not buy the shotguns with the intention of killing his parents, but for “emotional protection.”

“I thought I was unfortunate … I gave me some security measure,” said Lyle Menéndez.

“Long weapons are not very useful for protection, but it was better,” he added.

As for the murders, he said: “There was zero planning. There was no way to know what was going to happen” that day.

Reflecting at the moment when he and his brother broke into the den with shotguns, he said: “Actually the only thing thought of my head was that it was happening now, I first needed to reach the door. The fear of overwhelmed reason.”

“I don’t have a great explanation of why I felt so much terror at that time,” he said.

The probation commissioner Julie Garland asked Lyle Menéndez how she felt after the murders.

“Um … I dropped my gun and left,” he replied. “I think of surprising. At that time. I still panicked for a while.”

Garland asked him if he had any feeling of relief, happiness or satisfaction. Lyle Menéndez said no, and added: “He had feelings of regret, shock.”

Garland asked if one death gave him more sadness than the other. He replied: “My mother. Because he loved her and could not imagine that he damaged her in any way. And I think, I also learned much after her life, her childhood, reflecting on how much fear she might felt.”

After the murders, six months passed before the brothers were arrested.

Lyle Menéndez said during those months that he felt shame in “having to lie to relatives who were afflicted.”

“I felt the need to suffer. It wasn’t relief,” he continued. “… I began to feel that I had not rescued my brother. I destroyed his life. I hadn’t rescued anyone.”

The brothers can request probation again in three years. With good behavior in prison, that wait can be shortened at 18 months.