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A California board of parole this week denied parole to Erik Menendez, who, after more than three decades in prison, was found to still “pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.”

The board’s decision came after nearly 10 hours of a parole hearing for Erik, who was convicted in 1993 with his brother, Lyle, in the murders of their parents in 1989. Prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office opposed his bid for parole, as did several family members who showed up to support his release. The board sided with prosecutors on Tuesday, citing Erik’s criminal past as a teen, the nature of the crime, and “serious violations” of prison rules.

The parole denial means Erik, now in his 50s, will not be up for parole for another three years. Parole Commissioner Robert Barton, who was joined by two others in the decision, explained the reasons behind it. He was not only speaking to Erik’s rehabilitation and conduct in prison, but also the heinousness of the original murders.

“One can be dangerous to public safety in many ways, by many forms of criminal conduct, including some of the ones you committed in prison,” Barton told Erik during the hearing, when he warned of further infractions. He also encouraged Erik to make greater use of his “great support network” to “mitigate your risk of future violations.”

In all, Erik has accumulated nine rule violations since arriving at prison. In one instance, he and another inmate smuggled drugs into the facility through an air vent, according to Barton. In another, they had contraband in the form of a cell phone and a lighter, “items you no doubt needed to communicate and prepare meals,” Barton said. He then recommended that Erik work on his behavior to be considered for parole. Erik, while acknowledging the infractions, said he started believing he could one day be free only last year and that that was when his “consequential thinking changed.”

Several family members, some crying, took the stand during the hearing and asked the board to grant Erik’s release, saying the murders had torn the family apart. “To say our family has experienced pain doesn’t even begin to describe what the last 35 years have been like,” said Tiffani Lucero-Pastor, the great-niece of the brothers’ mother, Kitty. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, said Kitty’s failure to step in when her sons complained of abuse in the home made her sons’ fear and “confusion” worse. Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, is the only family member known to have opposed parole. He died earlier this year.

In a statement following the decision, the family said it “respected” the parole board’s decision but remained hopeful for Erik’s eventual release. “Our belief in Erik remains unwavering,” the statement said. “His remorse, his growth, the positive impact he has had on those around him 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

While Erik Menendez was rejected by the parole board this week, his brother Lyle is to appear in front of it on Friday. He, too, will face a similar parole hearing before the board considers his record of rehabilitation in prison. His time in prison has been slightly better than his brother’s, though Lyle has more than a half-dozen disciplinary violations compared to Erik’s nine.

Lyle’s conduct during the crime, however, may be a stumbling block to his eventual release. At the brothers’ original trial in 1993, Lyle told the court that he had shot both parents at close range with a shotgun. “In fact,” Barton told Lyle this week, “your mother’s death was immediate and was by numerous shotgun blasts that were fired from a very short distance.” Lyle, Barton said, made no effort to ensure that both Erik and their parents were dead.

In his trial, Lyle also appeared to have different versions of their parents’ alleged abuse, which the brothers claimed led them to commit the murders. At one point, prosecutors said, Lyle asked his girlfriend to help him by saying their father had drugged and raped her.