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A California parole board this week denied Erik Menendez’s bid for freedom after more than three decades in prison. Erik and his brother, Lyle, were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison, but they became eligible for parole in May for the first time.

Erik, who now faces the prospect of another three years before his next parole hearing, was ruled to still pose “an unreasonable risk to public safety” by the three-member board.

The more than nine-hour-long hearing earlier this week considered Erik’s rehabilitation in prison and behavior behind bars, as well as arguments from the defense and prosecution over his parole eligibility. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office had asked the panel to deny his bid, while more than a dozen relatives, friends, and supporters argued for his release. Erik, for his part, spoke briefly and reflected on the murders that “forever changed our lives.”

In a 2-1 decision, the panel sided with the prosecutors’ side of the argument, in part over Erik’s juvenile record, the violent nature of the crime, and “serious violations” in prison, as board member Robert Barton noted.

Erik, now in his 50s, will have to wait three more years for another shot at parole, and Barton, in his ruling this week, noted that the decision “was not based on the underlying crime” but on his behavior in prison.

“One can pose a risk to public safety in many ways and by many types of criminal behavior, including the ones you were guilty of in prison,” Barton said in his ruling. He then told Erik to rely more on his “great support network” to avoid future prison violations.

Erik has nine disciplinary infractions in prison for offenses including illegal possession of drugs, pornography, and other contraband like a cell phone and lighter. While several prison staff members wrote letters in his favor, calling him a “model inmate,” Barton noted that he had “serious questions” as to whether the label fit someone with his violation history. Erik told the board that it wasn’t until last year that he started to believe he might get released and that his “consequential thinking changed.”

Supporters, including relatives of both Erik and his parents, were tearful in their own testimonies, with most discussing the grief the killings have caused over three decades, but also 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 the brothers’ mother, Kitty. “It has divided us. It has caused us panic and anxiety.”

Karen Mae Vandermolen-Copley, Kitty’s niece, and Kitty’s brother, Milton Andersen, were also listed to speak on the matter but did not show up at the parole hearing. Andersen died earlier this year. Vandermolen-Copley told the board that her aunt’s “absence of protection deepened their fear and confusion.” Andersen, the only relative known to have opposed Erik’s parole, was among the several family members who were tearful in their support of the decision.

The family later issued a statement on the decision saying that while they were disappointed, they accepted the panel’s decision with “gratitude and respect.”

“Our belief in Erik remains unwavering. His remorse, his growth, and the lives he’s touched speak for themselves,” the statement read. “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 older of the two, Lyle Menendez, will have a similar parole hearing on Friday in which the parole board will also hear testimony and arguments over his time in prison and behavior behind bars. Lyle has fewer disciplinary actions on his record, though his actions during the murders, according to his own testimony at their 1993 trial, may come back to haunt him.

Lyle, then in his early 20s, claimed during the trial that he shot both parents at close range with a sawed-off shotgun and that Erik had also used a second gun to shoot both parents as well. Barton told Erik in his ruling that the way Erik’s mother died was “devoid of human compassion.”

Lyle has also faced criticism for inconsistencies in his descriptions of the alleged abuse by their father. At times, prosecutors noted, Lyle had asked his girlfriend to lie that their father had drugged and raped her. While many relatives are also expected to show up on Lyle’s behalf on Friday, these points in his past may also weigh against him.

Both brothers were resentenced this year in May to terms of 50 years to life from life without parole under state law and are now eligible for parole for the first time.

The high-profile case of the Menendez brothers, two sons of wealthy parents, quickly became one of the most notorious murder trials in California in the 1990s over the brutality of the killing and the brothers’ claims that they acted out of fear of abuse. Prosecutors during the trial suggested the murders were committed for financial reasons, as their father was a wealthy businessman.