Menendez Brothers’ Shot At Freedom Put On Hold

LOS ANGELES, CA — Erik and Lyle Menendez will have to wait a little longer to make their case for freedom.

After a judge earlier last week cleared the way for a state parole board to decide whether the brothers — convicted for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in Beverly Hills — should get a chance at release, parole officials announced they would hold hearings on June 13 to decide whether to recommend parole for the brothers.

But those hearings were rescheduled for Aug. 21, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records. Officials have not said why the hearings were rescheduled.

The parole board will consider whether each of the brothers have taken accountability for their crimes, if they're likely to reoffend and if they have been rehabilitated.

Convicted for killing Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez in their Beverly Hills home, the Menendez brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Their new sentence of 50 years to life in prison, handed down last week, means they'll immediately be eligible for parole — something that was not possible under their original sentence.

Though they've only served some 35 years behind bars, Lyle and Erik Menendez are eligible for parole now because they're considered "youthful offenders."

• Read more: 5 Things To Know About The Menendez Brothers’ Surprise Parole Hearing

A 2017 law allows those convicted when they were 25 or younger to be eligible for parole hearings by their 25th year of incarceration.

City News Service contributed to this report.