The long-awaited decision from the Board of Parole Hearings Thursday afternoon is a blow to the Menendez family and army of supporters.

In two hearings, California parole panels said the brothers should not be released from prison 36 years after they killed their parents.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted in 1996 for murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, were denied parole this week in California despite a wave of public sympathy fueled by documentaries, dramatizations and social media campaigns that cast new light on their case.