When Erik and Lyle Menendez committed to ending their parents’ lives in 1989, they couldn’t possibly imagine how the next 35 years would play out for them. As displayed in the recently released second season of Netflix’s Monsters, the brothers shot their parents at point-blank range on Aug. 20. Afterward, they performatively called 911 claiming to have discovered the bodies of José and Kitty, their wealthy (and allegedly abusive) parents, whose bodies looked as though they had endured a run-in with the mafia. At first, the mob was the police’s prime suspect, but as People reports, “notes from the brothers’ therapist, a shotgun casing and a screenplay pointed to Lyle and Erik.” So, where are the Menendez brothers now? Read on to find out!
The Menendez Brothers Now: Lyle and Erik Reunited In-Person in 2018
It took a total of three attempts to successfully try the Menendez brothers, who consistently painted their late father as a domineering figure known for physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Some wondered how family matriarch Kitty could’ve allowed her children to endure such trauma, but according to Lyle and Erik, the former teacher enabled her husband and even abused them herself while battling addiction to drugs and alcohol. In March 1996, a jury convicted the Menendez brothers to two counts of first-degree murder, sentencing them to life in prison.
After years of being on trial together, the convicted killers spent over 20 years in separate prisons. Lyle was sent off to Mule Creek State in Ione, California while his younger sibling lived 500 miles away at Richard J. Donovan in San Diego County. They were unable to speak for years but kept in touch through letters during their time apart, even playing chess in the mail. In 2018, they finally had to chance to reunite when Lyle was transferred to a different housing unit in the same prison as his brother; later that year they were placed in the same unit and reportedly burst into tears while overcome with emotion.
Erik has spent his decades behind bars honing his creative skills (the 53-year-old even sent Kathy Griffin a portrait once), meanwhile, Lyle is living out his father’s dreams of a political career after all. He previously served as President of Inmate Government at Mule State Creek Prison and spent time working in a support group for prisoners who’ve also endured sexual abuse.
Who Is Erik Menendez’s Wife?
Erik Menendez’s sexuality is called into question several times throughout Monsters. While he admits to enjoying the company of a fellow inmate on-screen, the young man isn’t comfortable labeling himself. In his youth, Erik’s father forced him to publicly date girls who enhanced his image. Now that he’s his own man, the West Coast native has had the opportunity to find the perfect partner for him.
In 1999, Menendez married his longtime pen pal, Tammi Ruth Saccoman, making him the stepfather of her daughter, Talia. A few years into their union, she released a book called “They Said We’d Never Make It: My Life with Erik Menendez,” detailing their life together. Around the same time, the murderer told People, “Being arrested was such a relief. My life was over and I was glad. Once I was arrested and put into prison, that person who I was began to emerge again. I had to find it for myself.”
Who Is Lyle Menendez’s Wife?
Ever the ladies’ man, Lyle managed to tie the knot while in prison too – twice. His first marriage, to Anna Eriksson, lasted from 1996 to 2001. Just a few years later he connected with his current partner, Rebecca Sneed, who the true crime icon spoke about in 2017. “I have a very steady, involved marriage and that helps sustain me and brings a lot of peace and joy,” he shared. “It’s a counter to the unpredictable, very stressful environment in here.”
Public Opinion on the Siblings Has Been Changed Thanks to Recent Documentaries and TV Shows
As seen in Monsters, Lyle and Erik Menendez skyrocketed to fame in the early years of their double murder trial. Once they were found guilty, however, public opinion of the pair saw a major downturn, leaving them to quietly serve their life sentences. In the last decade, several documentaries and TV shows have revisited the troubling parricide case, such as A&E’s The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All in 2017.
“I wanted to go back in time. I wanted to take everything back that Lyle and I did,” the youngest member of the fractured family said at the time. Lyle echoed similar sentiments that year, telling People, “This tragedy will always be the most astounding and regrettable thing that has ever happened in my life. You can’t escape the memories and I long ago stopped trying.” In 2023, José’s alleged abuse of boy band Menudo was explored in a Peacock documentary, and along with Monsters in 2024, Fox Nation has shared their Menendez Brothers: Victims or Villains.
In the latter, Lyle reflects, “Looking back on the trials, Erik and I and our family thought we were going into a manslaughter case with a district attorney who understood the traumatic impact that sexual violence creates in a person. And we ended up with the same sentence as a serial killer.” These days there’s far less stigma around men being victims of abuse, which has helped garner sympathy in favor of the Menendez brothers now as they try to stay productive and cautiously optimistic in prison.
What Does the Future Hold for the Menendez Brothers?
Though they were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, lawyers representing Lyle and Erik are still set on freeing them. In May 2023, a petition was filed to vacate the Menendez brothers’ convictions over new evidence including a letter written by Erik eight months before the murders. It was found by José’s sister, Marta Cano, and addressed to her late son, Andy. “I’ve been trying to avoid Dad. It’s still happening Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it,” the former tennis player wrote to his cousin. “[He’s] so overweight that I can’t stand to see him. I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind.”
A second piece of new evidence also supports claims of the Menendez family patriarch’s relentless abuse. In the aforementioned Boys Betrayed documentary, former Menudo member Roy Rosselló claimed José drugged and assaulted him in the 80s. “The new evidence not only shows that José Menendez was very much a violent and brutal man who would sexually abuse children, but it strongly suggests that – in fact – he was still abusing Erik Menendez as late as 1988,” the filing says, as per the Los Angeles Times. “Instead, the crime was manslaughter, not murder. The killings occurred in imperfect self-defense, after a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse from their parents.”
The same court documents point out that Erik and Lyle’s second trial excluded evidence of their alleged sexual abuse as the prosecution accused the siblings of fabricating their claims. While they wait for more updates on that, the elder brother has been keeping his mind sharp, earning a Bachelor’s in Sociology from UC Irvine this past summer along with 23 other inmates. He’s now pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning to further his education.
“I just decided that even though I’m incarcerated and there isn’t hope of freedom, I still have a chance to feel proud of what I’m doing with my day. Education seemed like an obvious answer to that question,” he told the crowd at this year’s Nashville CrimeCon via the phone. As of September 2024, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has yet to decide if they’ll retry the Menendez brother’s case.
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