Erik Menendez Has Been Denied Parole. Here’s What to Know.

A parole panel in California decided on Thursday that Erik Menendez should not be released from prison, 36 years after he and his older brother, Lyle, killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in a sensational crime that later led to a long effort to win their release.

The presiding commissioner of the two-person panel, Robert Barton, told Erik Menendez, “Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner,” citing a series of disciplinary violations in prison that included using drugs, being caught with a cellphone and taking part in a tax fraud scheme.

Lyle Menendez faces a parole panel on Friday.

Mr. Barton also concluded that Erik Menendez was not in “imminent fear” for his life before the murders, rebutting a claim that both he and his brother have made repeatedly. Mr. Barton’s comment suggests that Lyle Menendez may encounter difficulty in the Friday hearing.

The brothers, who were originally sentenced to life without parole for the 1989 killings, had been resentenced in May to life with the possibility of parole, setting the stage for this week’s parole hearings.

Erik Menendez, 54, can apply again for parole in three years, though he can petition to come before the board again in as soon as 18 months. His lawyers also have other options, including asking the full board of 21 parole commissioners to review the panel’s decision for “errors of fact.”

On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik — then 21 and 18 — walked into the den of the family’s home and fired more than a dozen shotgun rounds at their parents, killing them both.