In a surprising crime that later gripped the nation, Lyle and Erik Menendez gunned down their mother and father, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, in their Beverly Hills residence on August 20, 1989. The Menendez brothers had been arrested for their mother and father’ murders in March 1990. They have been behind bars ever since.
In their first trial, Lyle and Erik testified that their father had sexually abused them as two juries, one for every brother, listened on. They mentioned this abuse, which their mom had been conscious of, made them worry for their lives, and that’s why they killed their mother and father. That first trial resulted in a deadlocked jury for every brother.
Lyle and Erik’s second trial started in 1995, this time with only one jury for the each of them. In this joint trial, the decide restricted the protection’s means to introduce sexual abuse allegations. Ultimately, the brothers had been every convicted of first-degree homicide in 1996. Although the loss of life penalty was a risk, they every obtained two consecutive life sentences with out parole.
Lyle and Erik, who had been 21 and 18 years outdated after they dedicated the murders, are actually 56 and 53, older than their mother and father ever had been. After spending so a few years in jail, the 2 have tailored to the rhythms and guidelines of incarceration. They haven’t fully relinquished hope of sometime dwelling outdoors jail partitions however presently stay locked up. Here’s every thing it is advisable learn about the place the Menendez brothers are actually and what their life is like right this moment.
Where are the Menendez Brothers incarcerated?
Lyle and Erik requested to be housed in the identical jail when their sentences started in 1996. However, on the time, jail officers most well-liked to separate individuals who’d dedicated crimes collectively. In addition, a detective on their case warned that the brothers would possibly plan an escape.
Through the years, Lyle continued to request a placement nearer to his brother. On February 22, 2018, he was transferred from northern California’s Mule Creek State Prison to San Diego’s Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, the place Erik had been incarcerated since 2013.
Lyle initially lived in a distinct housing unit than Erik at Donovan. But on April 4, 2018, jail officers moved Erik to the identical unit as Lyle. According to Robert Rand, a journalist who retains involved with the Menendez brothers and members of their household, the 2 “burst into tears immediately” after they noticed one another for the primary time since 1996. Once solely in a position to talk through letters, now the brothers can meet throughout train, recreation, and meal durations.
What is life in jail like for the Menendez brothers?
The brothers’ notoriety has drawn consideration from different inmates. In 2005, Erik told People, “I have gotten into fights… many fights. But I never fight first. You have to learn to be smart. There is a perpetual state of fear that exists as background noise. You always have to be aware of who is around you. You have to continually hone your survival instincts.”
That mentioned, Lyle and Erik haven’t been common troublemakers behind bars. The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation tells Biography.com through electronic mail, “During his incarceration, Erik Menendez has incurred two serious rules violations. Joseph [Lyle] Menendez has incurred no rules violations.”
Watch the brand new Netflix sequence Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story or the documentary Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers
Thanks to their good habits and efforts in jail jobs and lessons, Erik and Lyle now stay in a “non-designated programming facility” at Donovan. This unit, often called Echo Yard, gives inmates extra freedom and rehabilitative and academic programming. Echo Yard prisoners take yoga and artwork lessons, research completely different tutorial topics, and be part of teams to deal with points like anger administration or alcoholism.
Although Echo Yard is much less restrictive, it's nonetheless half of a jail. Inmates should stand for normal formal counts. Lyle and Erik stay in several dorm rooms with different inmates, and these cells are locked in a single day, starting at 9 p.m.
What pursuits have the Menendez brothers developed in jail?
Erik has labored with terminally in poor health inmates. He’s additionally turn into inquisitive about meditation and has led lessons about faith. In 2018, his aunt told ABC News, “[Erik] was really making sure that the prisoners knew that there is a God that loves us. That was marvelous to me because he never got that at home.”
Erik has additionally frolicked portray in jail. Together, Erik and Lyle got here up with a plan to color a mural on the concrete partitions surrounding Echo Yard.
Lyle served in inmate authorities for 15 years at Mule Creek State Prison. According to Robert Rand, Lyle has labored on jail reform, an curiosity Erik additionally shares. Both brothers have provided help and steerage to individuals who skilled childhood sexual abuse.
How do the Menendez brothers preserve involved with buddies and household?
Erik and Lyle are each categorized as Group A prisoners, who've probably the most privileges to obtain visits and make calls inside California’s corrections system. For most of their incarceration, making calls from jail was costly, however in January 2023 phone calls turned free for inmates and their households.
The state of California started offering tablets to prisoners in August 2021, however the units didn’t attain Donovan inmates till June 2023. The tablets don’t allow entry to social media or web browsers, although inmates can learn magazines and sustain with the information. Prisoners can keep in contact with accepted contacts through the tablets. In addition to electronic mail and free calls, they obtain a restricted quantity of video name minutes and textual content messages with the choice to pay for extra.
Both Lyle and Erik are married and met their wives whereas behind bars
Prison hasn’t stopped Lyle and Erik from discovering love.
Tammi Menendez, seen right here in June 1999, is the spouse of Erik Menendez.
Tammi Saccoman watched Erik’s first trial and wrote to him. The pen buddies met in individual in 1997 and obtained married at Folsom State Prison in 1999. Several years into their marriage, Tammi wrote a e book about their relationship titled They Said We’d Never Make It: My Life With Erik Menendez.
Lyle married Rebecca Sneed within the maximum-security visiting space at Mule Creek State Prison in 2003. It was his second jail marriage ceremony; his first marriage to former mannequin Anna Eriksson led to divorce.
California prisons allow inmates to have conjugal visits, that are formally often called household visits. Prisoners serving life sentences with out parole weren’t eligible for these visits till the regulation modified in 2016. However, the state continues to ban household visits for prisoners who dedicated a violent offense in opposition to a member of the family, which means Lyle and Erik stay ineligible for household visits.
Lyle told ABC News, “I’ve found I can have a healthy marriage that is complicated and built around conversation and finding creative ways to communicate, sharing, without all the props that are normally there in marriage in terms of going out to dinner and having as much intimate time together and so on.”
Could the Menendez brothers be launched from jail?
Erik and Lyle filed a number of appeals throughout their years in jail, however none succeeded, and it appeared that they had no viable path to freedom. Then in May 2023, attorneys for Lyle and Erik filed a habeas petition that requested for a brand new evidentiary listening to or for the Menendez brothers’ convictions to be vacated.
Menudo band member Roy Rosselló, seen right here round 1985, has mentioned file govt José Menendez sexually assaulted him as a youngster.
The petition was filed after Roy Rosselló, a former member of boy band Menudo, went public with an expertise of sexual assault he says he suffered by the hands of José Menendez within the Eighties. In the 2023 documentary sequence Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, Rosselló said José, then an govt at RCA Records, had drugged and raped him.
In addition, a letter Erik had despatched to a cousin eight months earlier than he shot his mother and father was present in 2018. Erik had written, “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. Its [sic] still happening Andy, but its worse for me now… I never know when its going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.”
The current petition included Erik’s letter and a signed declaration from Rosselló. However, overturning convictions is uncommon throughout the judicial system, and the Menendez brothers face an uphill battle to be retried or resentenced for the murders.
In 2019, Lyle told journalist Robert Rand the brothers are attempting to handle their expectations relating to freedom: “We’ve seen too many friends get their hopes up with appeal filings and commutation requests. They’ve marked the days off on calendars. In the end, they are turned down and sadly sink into a deep depression.”
The Menendez brothers’ story is now a significant Netflix present
More than three many years have handed since they killed their mother and father, however the Menendez brothers’ notoriety persists. Their first trial was broadcast on CourtTV and can still be viewed online. The brothers’ story has additionally impressed a number of motion pictures and TV reveals, together with the drama Menendez: Blood Brothers, Law & Order True Crime: the Menendez Murders on NBC, and the documentary Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers – American Sons, American Murders.
One week in the past, Netflix launched the second season of its runaway smash hit Monster that turns the lens on the Menendez brothers. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik, respectively. Academy Award winner Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny painting their mother and father, José and Kitty. The anthology sequence beforehand targeted on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in its first installment.
Lyle and Erik are additionally collaborating in a documentary for Netflix, arriving October 7.
Sara Kettler is a Connecticut-based freelance author who has written for Biography.com, History, and the A&E True Crime weblog. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America and additionally pens thriller novels. Outside of writing, she likes canine, Broadway reveals, and learning international languages.
