The Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik, are living in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murder of their parents at their home.
After 22 years of separation following their conviction for the murders, the infamous pair were transferred to the same California prison in February 2018, allowing them to be reunited.
Erik and Lyle Menendez in 2016 and 2018, respectively
Kitty and José Menendez Handout with Erik and Lyle
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s Beverly Hills residence, where they fatally shot their parents.
The murder trial of Lyle and Erik, which took place in 1990 (AP), took place in Beverly Hills Municipal Court.
After confessing to the 1996 murders of José and Kitty Menendez at their Beverly Hills estate, Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, were each given two consecutive life sentences.
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s star-studded Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has refocused public attention on the terrible case thirty years later.
On August 20, 1989, while watching television, the boys shot their parents, a successful music executive and a former beauty queen, more than twelve times with shotguns that they had purchased days earlier.
The murderers said they came home from the movies to discover their parents dead; they were 21 and 18 years old, respectively.
The murders were initially thought to be a mob hit, but as their parents’ money ran out, Lyle and Erik embarked on a spending binge.
Erik spent $50,000 on a private tennis instructor, while Lyle splashed out on a Rolex and a Porsche.
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In the two months following the passing of their parents, the two frivolously spent about $700,000—a portion of José’s $14 million fortune—on automobiles, jewelry, and other finery.
In 1990, the brothers were apprehended as investigators began to focus on them as potential killers.
During their trial, the brothers admitted to the killings, but they justified their actions by saying they were protecting themselves from their abusive parents.
In the widely covered and broadcast trial, prosecutors claimed the boys killed their parents for the million-dollar wealth. Court TV aired the trial nationwide.
The brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder in their 1996 re-trial, which followed a mistrial. They were then sentenced to life in prison without parole.
CONCLUSION ON EMOTION
Lyle and Erik were each transferred to a different California prison following their punishment. Erik was transferred to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, while Lyle was sent to Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.
After Lyle’s brother spent 22 years behind bars, he was moved to the same jail in San Diego in February 2018.
Upon Lyle’s initial move to prohibit them from socializing, the two were placed in separate portions of the prison, according to ABC News at the time.
The case of the Menendez brothers and its timeline
After being convicted of the murder of their parents more than three decades ago, Erik and Lyle Menendez are currently serving life terms without the possibility of parole.
The Menendez twins, José and Kitty, are fatally shot on August 20, 1989.
The arrest of Lyle for the killings takes place on March 8, 1990.
Erik surrenders to authorities on March 11, 1990.
Trial begins on July 20, 1993, and finishes in a mistrial weeks later; the case received extensive media coverage.
The second trial begins on October 11, 1995.
On March 20, 1996 – Both counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder were found guilty by the Menendez brothers.
Day of July 2, 1996 – The brothers Menendez are each given a life sentence without parole and transported to different prisons.
January 2018 – Erik is being imprisoned in the San Diego prison, and Lyle is moved there.
Day of April 4, 2018 – Reunited are Erik and Lyle.
In May of 2023, the menendez brothers’ attorney filed a habeas petition.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story premieres on Netflix on September 19, 2024.
Inmates are permitted to socialize with one another in the same housing unit, and the brothers were transferred to that facility a few months later.
The brothers reportedly “burst into tears immediately” when they saw each other, according to a relative of the brothers who spoke with journalist Robert Rand, who reported the story to ABC News.
In the exercise yard and during dinner times, the brothers are supposedly now able to see each other.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been contacted by the U.S. Sun for comment.
Prison Life
After exchanging vows while incarcerated, the two brothers have been happily married for quite some time.
Rebecca Sneed was a magazine editor and Lyle’s pen-friend; they were married in 2003.
On the same day as his sentencing, Lyle wed Anna Eriksson, a former model, before he married Rebecca.
When Erik met and married Tammi Ruth Saccoman in 1999, they were pen pals. Before their marriage, she had a daughter from an earlier relationship.
The brothers are supposedly confined in Echo Yard, where offenders supposedly have a looser regime, according to former detainees who spoke with the New York Post last year.
Erik and Lyle were in charge of an inmate-led group that worked on creative projects, according to an Instagram post last year by Redemption Row California, a prison group.
The pair’s lawyers requested a new trial in May 2023 in light of further evidence, which included a letter Erik wrote to his cousin that exposed the cruelty his parents had endured.
Who knows if the brothers will get a second chance at trial?
