FORMER Menudo member Roy Rosselló has slammed the parole board’s treatment of the Menendez brothers as “unfair,” saying the siblings have already “paid a very heavy price.”
Erik and Lyle Menendez‘s desires to walk free from prison after more than three decades behind bars were shattered in late August when a parole panel denied the brothers’ releases.
After hours of tense grilling by a California parole board, the panel members determined that there were “still signs” that Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, posed a risk to society.
In separate parole hearings, the panel members scolded Erik and Lyle, blasting the notion from their supporters who described the brothers as “model prisoners.”
“You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change,” Julie Garland, the parole commissioner at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility where the brothers are being held, told Lyle during his hearing on August 22.
“But despite all those outward positives, we see you still struggle with antisocial personality traits like deception, minimization and rule-breaking that lie beneath that positive surface.”
The parole board condemned both Erik and Lyle for their illegal possession of cellphones in prison.
Garland said “incarcerated people who break rules are more likely to break rules in society.”
In addition to their illicit behavior behind bars, the parole panel also criticized the brothers for their actions after murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in August 1989.
The board scolded Lyle’s effort to get witnesses to lie during their trials, the lavish shopping spree they engaged in after killing their parents, and why they to kill their mother, if it was their father who was the alleged abuser.
“I will never be able to make up for the harm and grief I caused everyone in my family. I am so sorry to everyone, and I will be forever sorry,” Lyle told the parole board at his hearing.
ROADS TO FREEDOM
But despite the outcome from their parole hearings, the brothers still have two avenues for a shot at freedom – their 2023 habeas corpus petition and a potential clemency from Governor Newsom.
Rosselló, the former member of the Puerto Rican boy band, came forward in 2023 in the Peacock documentary, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, with accusations that Jose Menendez sexually assaulted him at his New Jersey home in 1983.
His allegations about Menendez and a letter Erik wrote to his cousin in December 1988 were included in the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which was filed by their attorney Mark Geragos.
Rosselló, now 55, criticized the parole board’s decision calling their treatment of the brothers “unfair.”
“I believe the parole board’s decision was unfair to Erik and Lyle Menendez,” Rosselló told The U.S. Sun.
“They are not just ordinary criminals — they are survivors of years of abuse within their own home.
“People who have never experienced such trauma may not understand, but when you suffer sexual and psychological abuse from a young age, a part of you dies long before any tragedy takes place.
“In their case, what happened was a human reaction, almost an instinct of survival and desperation.
“It wasn’t just revenge — it was an attempt to put an end to the unbearable pain they had been carrying for years.”
Despite being denied parole, California Governor Gavin Newsom has the final say as to whether or not Lyle and Erik Menendez should remain behind bars[/caption]
Erik (left) Lyle Menendez sitting on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November, 1989[/caption]
Rosselló added, “If anyone were in their position, living what they lived through, they might have done the same.
“I say this because I myself was a victim of abuse when I was very young.
“I know the feeling of wanting to strike back, of wanting to end the pain. Abuse kills a part of your soul forever.”
‘ULTIMATE ARBITER’
Rosselló urged Governor Newsom and the justice system to examine Erik and Lyle’s case with “more humanity.”
“They have been imprisoned for over 30 years, they have already paid a very heavy price, and they live with a remorse that will never go away,” he said.
“Now is the time to allow them a second chance. True justice must take into account not only the crime, but also the trauma and the context in which it all happened.”
On Thursday, Rosselló sent a handwritten letter to Newsom, where he will “share his survival story and draw parallels to Erik and Lyle Menendez,” according to his Instagram post.
It is unclear how Newsom will sway when he considers any sort of pardons for the brothers.
The governor has previously said he has both approved and rejected decisions by the parole board, and that he was the “ultimate arbiter.”
Geragos, the brothers’ attorney, blasted the parole hearings as “rigged,” suggesting that if the siblings were not named Menendez they would be released.
“One of the ironies of this is, for Lyle, they called him, his parole commissioner, called him a model inmate, but said he broke the rules with cell phones,” Geragos told NewsNation.
“Then, for Erik, they were focused on all of the stuff that happened more than 10 years ago, as opposed to what he’s done in the last 10 years,” he added, referring to Erik’s admission to being involved in a tax fraud scheme in 2013 while behind bars.
Erik and Lyle will be eligible to apply for parole again in three years.
Menendez brothers’ family’s statement on parole hearing outcome
The family of Erik and Lyle Menendez released the following statement on the parole hearing outcomes:
“The process for parole is exceptionally rigorous, but we are incredibly proud of how Erik and Lyle showed up — with honesty, accountability, and integrity.
“We know they are good men who have done the work to rehabilitate and are remorseful. We love them unconditionally and will continue to stand by them on the journey ahead.”
