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Erik Menendez was denied parole on Wednesday by a California parole board after more than three decades in prison. The board, which determined that Erik remains “an unreasonable risk to public safety,” delivered the decision this week to Erik, who, along with his brother Lyle, was convicted in 1993 of the murders of his parents in 1989.

The nearly 10-hour parole hearing considered Erik’s record in prison and rehabilitation, as well as the arguments in support of and against parole. Prosecutors from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office urged the board to deny Erik’s request. More than a dozen family members spoke in support of the 52-year-old inmate.

The board ultimately agreed with prosecutors, who cited the teenager’s earlier criminal record, the circumstances of the crime, and “serious violations” of prison rules.

Erik, now in his 50s, will be eligible to return before the parole board in three years. In that time, the board offered little hope of change. Parole Commissioner Robert Barton explained that while his decision was partly based on the nature of the original murders, it also reflected Erik’s conduct behind bars.

“One can be a risk to public safety in several different ways and in many different types of criminal behavior, including some of the things you were guilty of in prison,” Barton said in a stern, uncharacteristically emotional address.

Erik’s disciplinary history includes nine rule violations during his time in prison, including charges for drug use and contraband such as a cell phone and a lighter. While several corrections officials have sent letters to the board touting him as a “model inmate,” Barton questioned whether that applied to a person with Erik’s history.

Erik told the board that he only recently believed that parole was even a possibility. He did not begin to think that “it was a real possibility to happen in the future” until last year, he said, and at that point his “consequential thinking changed.”

Family members who testified on his behalf were often in tears. Several described the decades of pain and discord the murders have caused, but also spoke of forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain does not quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” said Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of Lyle and Erik’s mother, Kitty. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Others suggested that Kitty’s failure to protect her children from the abuse they said was happening in their home had a greater impact on the brothers than they understood. Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, told the board that her aunt’s “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.”

The only relative to have opposed Erik’s parole was Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, who died earlier this year.

In a statement following the ruling, the family said it would continue to fight for Erik, although it respected the parole board’s decision. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the family said. “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 Menendez to Face Parole Hearing, Governor Holds Final Say

Erik’s parole was denied, but his brother, Lyle Menendez, will now go before the parole board on Friday. He, too, will have to make his case for release based on his behavior in prison and a record of rehabilitation. While Lyle has a slightly cleaner disciplinary record than his brother, the nature of his role in the killings is not likely to be forgotten by the board.

During the 1993 trial, Lyle took the stand in his own defense. He testified that he had fired multiple shots with a shotgun at his father at point-blank range, and his mother, at an arm’s length. Barton said in his decision this week that the nature of their mother’s death showed “a lack of human compassion.”

Lyle’s story about their father’s abuse of the brothers has also been challenged. In several accounts over the years, according to prosecutors, he even asked his girlfriend to lie to the court about his father raping and drugging her.

Family members have also lined up in support of Lyle’s parole and are expected to address the board next week as well. Ultimately, the decision is in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom. Under state law, the governor has the power to approve, deny, or modify parole board decisions on anyone who was convicted of murder and sentenced to an indeterminate term.

The parole board’s decision will first undergo an internal review that will take up to 120 days. Newsom will then have 30 days to make a decision.

Newsom’s predecessors have generally allowed the board to decide in high-profile murder cases, experts say. “Every governor is fairly allergic to releasing high-profile defendants,” said Christopher Hawthorne, a professor at Loyola Law School. But while former governors Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger essentially had a “zero-tolerance policy” for parole in such cases, that changed in the past decade as Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom were more willing to grant parole.

The Menendez brothers’ profile, however, could be an obstacle. “The governor has to weigh not only public safety, but whether they have some real insight into what they did,” Hawthorne said.

In the meantime, Erik will remain in prison for at least three more years before he has a chance to return before the parole board. Lyle will hear next week whether his future is different or if both brothers will continue to serve the sentences they began more than 30 years ago.