Menendez brothers are ‘savage, murdering dogs’: Geraldo Rivera

(NewsNation) — One veteran journalist is not coy when asked whether Lyle and Erik Menendez should be granted parole after the pair has served decades in prison for killing their parents in 1989.

“I think that they are savage, murdering dogs who shotgunned their parents to death, blowing their faces off,” Geraldo Rivera told “NewsNation Now” on Thursday as Erik Menendez went before a California parole panel in a bid for potential freedom. “They not only wanted to kill them, they wanted to deface them. It was disgusting.”

Rivera, NewsNation correspondent-at-large, pushed back at arguments now made in defense of Erik, 54, and 57-year-old Lyle Menendez, that the brothers have redeemed themselves over the years by mentoring fellow inmates. The brothers claim they were abused by their father.

'No sympathy' for Menendez brothers, journalist says

“I have absolutely no sympathy for them. I remember the shopping spree they went on after they committed the murder — laughing, high-fiving each other, buying cars, jewelry, watches, all kinds of stuff,” said Rivera, who covered the case years ago.

Lyle Menendez was expected to go before California parole officials Friday. It's possible panel members could reach separate recommendations for each brother. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to have the final say if either sibling is recommended for release.

The brothers were convicted of fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. They became eligible for parole earlier this year after a judge reduced their sentences from life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life.

Rivera described the Menendez brothers this way: “Manipulative, evil, selfish, self-serving. Pick your adjective.”