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A California parole board has denied 51-year-old Erik Menendez the chance to walk free after he was found “not to have demonstrated that he is no longer an unreasonable risk to public safety.” The board’s decision came this week after nearly 10 hours of discussions and testimony that revisited the 1989 slayings of his parents and debated his rehabilitation since then.

The five-person panel explained their denial of parole by citing Erik’s teenage criminal history, the “nature and circumstances of the crime,” and “serious violations” in prison. Despite over a dozen members of the Menendez family speaking on his behalf, many of them crying during their testimonies, the board sided with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, which urged the board to uphold their decision to deny Erik’s parole.

The hearing considered several factors, including Erik’s behavior in prison, any evidence of rehabilitation, and other factors in favor of or against parole. Erik is now in his 50s and will be eligible to ask for parole once more in three years. While the board’s decision was expected by some who have followed the case for decades, Parole Commissioner Robert Barton explained that the decision also came in light of Erik’s actions and behavior behind bars.

“One can be dangerous in many ways and through several forms of criminal conduct, including the two for which you were found guilty in prison,” he told Erik. Barton called on the inmate to “utilize to a much greater extent” his “great support network” and avoid any more serious violations.

Erik’s nine rule violations in prison include “drugs, alcohol, and possession of contraband items such as a cell phone and lighter,” among others. He has, however, been lauded by several correctional workers in letters as a “model inmate.” While Barto and the rest of the parole board acknowledged their input, he cast doubt on that assessment, considering Erik’s disciplinary record.

Erik had responded that it was only last year that he felt the possibility of release for the first time, and that “meaningful change” to his “consequential thinking” followed.

Family members, some sobbing throughout their testimonies, painted a more sympathetic picture of Erik. Many had described the pain that the murders had brought to their family over the last 35 years, but others had also focused on the concept of forgiveness. “To say that our family has experienced pain does not quite capture what the last 35 years have been like,” Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of the brothers’ mother, Kitty Menendez, said through tears. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty Menendez’s niece, described her aunt’s seeming “absence of protection” that led to the fear and confusion both brothers had expressed at the time. “I don’t know whether it was disregard or simply missed opportunities,” she said. “But it deepened their fear and confusion.” Erik’s uncle, the only member of the family known to have opposed his parole, died earlier this year. Kitty Menendez’s brother, Milton Andersen, also passed away in January.

In a statement issued after the ruling, the family described the decision as a “devastating blow to all who know and love Erik,” while vowing to continue to support the 51-year-old. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement read. “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

The Menendez family is not alone in their despair. Erik’s older brother, Lyle, will face his own parole board hearing this Friday. During the board’s hearing, Lyle’s attorney, Allen Roberts, said his client would “honor” their decision, though he expressed his own confidence as well in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying that his “hunch” was that Lyle “will get parole.”

Lyle, like Erik, will be under the scrutiny of the board’s assessment of his rehabilitation record and behavior in prison. While Lyle’s record is slightly less marred with disciplinary violations than his brother’s, Barton noted during Erik’s hearing this week that Lyle’s own behavior during the killings was “devoid of human compassion.”

During his trial in 1993, Lyle had testified that he fired “at least four blasts” at each of his parents at close range. Lyle has also raised some red flags during his time in prison by making statements that have not aligned with accounts of abuse. The AP noted that prosecutors said he asked his girlfriend to lie about their father by claiming that the older Menendez had drugged and raped her. That accusation may factor into his hearing, though he has also received support from a number of relatives who plan to speak during the hearing.

The parole hearings were made possible by both of the brothers being resentenced in May from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life. As of now, both Erik and Lyle will be considered for parole for the first time, though it is unclear when exactly that will be.