Lyle and Erik Menendez have been serving life sentences for the brutal murders of their dad and mom on August 20, 1989, when the brothers — then 21 and 18 — shot and killed José and Kitty Menendez inside their Beverly Hills mansion.
Greater than three a long time later, the Menendez brothers have been thrown again within the highlight as the main focus of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The ten-episode sequence reexamines the central query on the coronary heart of their case: have been they cold-blooded killers motivated by greed, as prosecutors claimed, or victims of years of bodily, emotional, and sexual abuse, because the protection argued — and because the brothers nonetheless keep?
On Could 13, 2025, Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Michael Jesic resentenced Lyle and Erik to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole after serving greater than 35 years. Their parole hearings have been scheduled for August 2025, and Erik was denied parole, whereas Lyle nonetheless awaits his destiny as of August 22, 2025.
Right here’s what to know concerning the Menendez brothers and their notorious case.
Lyle & Erik Menendez Had Promising Futures
On the time of their dad and mom’ murders on Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle was a scholar at Princeton, and Erik was an incoming freshman at UCLA. The brothers had grown up in Beverly Hills, having fun with a privileged life due to their rich dad and mom — Jose, a Hollywood government, and Kitty, a former magnificence queen.
Lyle and Erik Have been Arrested Seven Months After Their Mother and father’ Murders
After Jose and Kitty have been discovered brutally shot to dying of their Beverly Hills mansion, Lyle and Erik spent cash recklessly, burning by an estimated $700,000 of their dad and mom’ wealth on vehicles, jewellery, and even buying eating places and cafes. However their eventual downfall occurred when Erik confessed to his psychiatrist, Jerome Oziel, who then shared the knowledge along with his mistress, Judalon Smyth. Smyth knowledgeable the police, revealing that Erik had confessed to the murders in remedy and that there have been audiotaped recordings of the confession. The brothers have been subsequently arrested in March 1990, sparking a multi-year authorized battle over the admissibility of Oziel’s recordings.
“I by no means thought I believed in evil, however once I heard these boys communicate, I did,” Smyth instructed investigative journalist Dominic Dunne in 1990.
Lyle & Erik Have been Convicted of First-Diploma Homicide
The brothers claimed at trial that their father — who was practically decapitated by a point-blank blast from a 12-gauge shotgun — was a violent pedophile. These allegations have been backed by testimony from two of the brothers’ cousins, Andy Cano and Diane Vander Molen, who stated Lyle and Erik had confided in them concerning the sexual abuse after they have been youngsters. As for his or her mom, who was shot 14 occasions, the brothers stated she was an alcoholic and enabled and inspired her husband’s abuse.
Their first trial, which started in 1993, resulted in a deadlocked jury. Within the second trial, the decide restricted testimony concerning the alleged abuse and barred the jury from contemplating manslaughter prices as an alternative of homicide. Each brothers have been convicted on two counts of first-degree homicide and sentenced to life in jail with out the potential of parole.
“Erik and Lyle Menendez have been incarcerated for 34 years and 6 months, and I imagine that they’re in jail for killing their lifelong abusers,” stated Robert Rand, who has spent appreciable time with the brothers for the reason that crime and is the creator of The Menendez Murders: The Stunning Untold Story of the Menendez Household and the Killings that Shocked the Nation.
“The right verdict for the Menendez brothers’ trial ought to have been manslaughter, not homicide.”
Lyle & Erik Each Married Whereas in Jail
Regardless of their brutal crime and life behind bars, there was no scarcity of girls within the Menendez brothers. Lyle married Anna Eriksson on July 2, 1996, however they divorced on April 1, 2001, after she found he was “dishonest” on her with one other girl by a pen pal relationship (as conjugal visits will not be allowed). In November 2003, Lyle married Rebecca Sneed, a former journal editor turned lawyer. They’d been in touch for practically a decade earlier than marrying in a ceremony at Mule Creek State Jail. Regardless of their 2024 separation, Sneed continues to help Lyle and advocates for his and Erik’s launch.
Erik additionally discovered love, marrying spouse Tammi Ruth Saccoman on June 12, 1999, at Folsom State Jail.
Lyle & Erik Menendez Have Amassed a Large Following
Almost 35 years after murdering their dad and mom, a major variety of teenagers are calling the brothers’ sentence unfair and unjust. The account menendezsupporterrr—which calls for “Justice for the Menendez brothers”—has over 12.9M likes and 258.1K followers. One other account, ..menendezbrothers, states in its bio, “They’re victims. don’t sexualize them,” and has 109.1K followers and 9.6M likes.
