Marriage, service, TikTok fame: How the Menendez brothers spent 34 years in prison
- If a judge resentences the Menendez brothers, their lives behind bars in the past 34 years will play a role on whether or not they are paroled.
- Rehabilitation officials praised the Menendez brothers for creating and leading programs to improve the lives of incarcerated people.
- A convicted murderer who has roomed with both brothers said they focus on helping others to generate hope.
- Some law enforcement officials do not believe the brothers should ever be released from prison.
For all the attention focused on Erik and Lyle Menendez — the TikTok freedom campaign, the multiple documentaries and docudramas — one fact gets easily lost: While their lives and actions have been chronicled exhaustively up to their trials for violently killing their parents, much less is known about their 34 years behind bars.
Now, with a judge mulling whether to resentence them, the two brothers could have their first chance at being released. A jury sentenced them to life without the possibility of parole, and it is only in recent years that momentum has built up about the possibility that they could be freed.
Shortly before he lost his bid for reelection, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón filed a motion seeking resentencing for the brothers. He also supported the brothers’ request for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom, highlighting what he said was the brothers’ dedication to rehabilitation during their time in prison.
But Newsom punted the decision back to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and its incoming district attorney, Nathan Hochman, who has said he wants to review the Menendez brothers’ case and their time in prison before making a decision.
“The methodology to study that case is the same whether it gets media attention or not,” Hochman said Saturday on Fox and Friends. “You got to speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, victim family members and the defense, and only then can you form an opinion on whether or not the resentencing is appropriate.”
At the core of the decision, Hochman said, will also be the question on whether the Menendez brothers have been rehabilitated, and whether their time and actions in prison during the past three decades reflect that. But Hochman has not said whether he would continue to move forward with the request to resentence the brothers; he’s said only that his office would review the case once he is sworn in.
“You have to look at thousands of pages of confidential prison files that the public doesn’t have access to,” Hochman said.
After more than three decades thinking they would spend their lives in prison, the Menendez brothers now face the possibility they could be freed. Whether or not they are could now hinge on how the two infamous brothers spent their day-to-day lives in prison.
Lyle is now 56 and Erik is now 53. They lived apart in separate prisons from 1996 to 2018, when they were reunited at a prison near San Diego. During those three decades, Lyle married Rebecca Sneed in 2003, and Erik married Tammi Saccoman in 1999.
(Sneed, an attorney, announced on Facebook last week that she and Lyle have separated but remain “best friends and family,” according to E! News. “I am forever committed to the enduring fight for Lyle and Erik’s freedom, as has been so evident over the years,” she wrote.)
Gascón, the brothers’ attorneys, and rehabilitation officials have said they’ve both been model prisoners with no behavior issues during their incarceration, but have instead taken leadership roles in rehabilitation programs for inmates and projects to improve prison life for inmates.
The Times spoke with rehabilitation program providers at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego who have worked closely with the brothers for years, as well as Lyle Menendez’s roommate at the prison, who described the brothers as “mentors.”
According to these people, the Menendez brothers have been intrinsically involved in rehabilitation programs and projects to care for disabled inmates and improve life inside for staff and convicts.
Lyle Menendez earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Irvine this year and is now working on a masters degree in urban development. Erik Menendez is set to graduate from UC Irvine with a degree in sociology this fall.
L.A. County Dist. Atty. Gascón’s decision to seek to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez is just the first step in what could be a lengthy process to get the brothers released from prison.
“[Erik] gave me a sense of purpose,” said Joel Baptiste Abreu, 47, an inmate at Richard. J. Donovan, who was also sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. “I’d ask him, how do you deal with this? And that’s when he told me, ‘Help other people. When you’re putting yourself in the position to help other people, it generates hope.’”
Abreu first met Erik Menendez in California State Prison, Sacramento. They were later transferred to Richard J. Donovan, and Abreu is now roommates with Lyle Menendez. He said he considers the two brothers his best friends.
Abreu was convicted for the 1997 killing of a Westminster man who got into an argument with one of Abreu’s friends. Abreu was suspected of driving the car the victim was shot in and helping get rid of the body.
He befriended Erik Menendez after he noticed his behavior in prison, he said.
“He was one of the most adjusted people in the yard,” he said. “He seemed to be very, I mean, Zen Buddhist.”
Eventually, Abreu ended up in the same yard as the brothers.
That’s when he and Lyle began the Rehabilitation through Beautification project, a program where inmates worked on upgrades for the prison, creating green space and painting a 1,000-foot mural.
L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced he would ask a judge to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez for the killing of their parents in 1989.
Abreu, Erik Menendez and two other inmates have done most of the artwork, and continue to work on murals throughout the prison.
“We’re both artists,” Baptiste said of Erik. “He’s been a great mentor.”
Baptiste said Erik and Lyle have been central to how he views his incarceration.
“You’re a convict, you’re a felon, you’ve done these horrible things, which is true,” he said. “But we want to transcend that. We’re trying to transform.”
In a 2005 interview with People magazine, before he was transferred to Richard J. Donovan, Erik Menendez described his life in prison as having to constantly be on guard, and having been involved in some fights. His high profile, he told the magazine, often made him a target of other inmates and guards.
“Most guys have treated me well, but I have been bullied. It’s like a small jungle,” he said in the People interview. “You have to stand up to them, but at the same time you have to be extremely respectful.”
At Pleasant Valley State Prison at the time, Erik Menendez said he spent his time reading, writing, meditating and trying to help other inmates there.
“I wanted to be productive, to find some meaning by helping others,” he told the magazine.
According to Gascón’s letter to Newsom supporting clemency, Lyle has also started new programs such as Adverse Childhood Experience and Rehabilitation, and Youth LWOP Ally, to help young inmates improve their lives in prison after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Erik, according to Gascón’s letter, has also created programs such as The Life Care and Hospice Connection program, Victims Impact & Empathy for Vulnerable Populations, Twelve Step Meditation Class, Insight Meditation Workshops, and The Starlight Peace Project.
The mural at Richard J. Donovan, which depicts different landmarks across San Diego, has generated headlines and been pointed to as a model project in the prison system.
But both brothers have refused to be pictured or interviewed for the project, a decision they made to make sure attention to the project was not concentrated on them, Abreu said.
When the two brothers become involved in programs inside the prison, they also make sure they are not leading the same group.
“They want to make sure that only one of them is involved because people don’t think of it as a ‘Menendez brothers’ project,” Abreu said.
Kim Kardashian, who has successfully advocated for criminal justice reform, writes an essay calling for the Menendez brothers’ life sentences to be reconsidered.
But not everyone sees the brothers’ work in prison as sufficient reason for them to be released.
Tom Linehan, a former Beverly Hills police detective who investigated the double murders, told the TV show “Inside Edition” the brothers should spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
“They should not be back out on the street, period,” he told Inside Edition. “They are criminals. They murdered two people.”
During his announcement Thursday, Gascón admitted the decision has caused division in the District Attorney’s Office. He said he expects some prosecutors from the office to appear at the resentencing hearing in opposition.
“We have people in the office that strongly believe the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their lives and don’t believe they were molested,” Gascón said.
The brothers’ uncle, Milton Anderson, also opposes their release and has filed a motion against resentencing. More than 20 other relatives have appeared in press conferences supporting efforts for the brothers to be released.
It’s also unclear whether Newsom would block their release. Under state law, the governor could block a decision from the parole board if he finds the inmate to be an “unreasonable risk to the public.”
A spokesperson for Newsom declined to answer questions on the case.
In his weekly podcast, Politickin’, Newsom did not hint on whether or not he would block an approval for parole for the two brothers, but said he was well aware of the public swelling that’s occurred because of the recent documentaries and Netflix series about the Menendez brothers, and the conversations about sexual assault that it has sparked.
“I can’t even tell you how many times my kids, online, have said, ‘Hey what’s going on with the Menendez brothers?’” Newsom told his co-host, Doug Hendrickson. “I go, ‘How the hell do you know about the Menendez brothers?’”
Still, Newsom said his decision would be based on facts of the case, and would consider the fact several of their family members are supporting their release.
But the most significant factor to be reviewed, Newsom said, is how the Menendez brothers have spent their 34 years in prison.
“The thing that’s perhaps the most determinative when you come up to the parole board process is what kind of prisoner have you been?” Newsom said. “Have you been focused on your rehabilitation, have you taken responsibility for your crime, and whether you’re coming out more of a broken person, or you’re coming out as a better person and, all of that, is also determinative.”
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Jen Abreu, Joel Baptiste Abreu’s wife and a rehabilitation provider at the prison through her program, Redemption Row California, has also worked closely with the two brothers.
Despite how the two brothers have been depicted in countless true crime series, documentaries and television adaptations, she said the Lyle and Erik Menendez she knows, now 56 and 53 respectively, are not the same people they were when the killed their parents in 1989.
The brother’s lives have focused on those around them. They’ve sat with staff, she said, to talk about burnout and how staff could also provide input on how to improve the prison’s surroundings.
The two are aware of their notoriety, she said, but have tried to use their time in prison positively.
For the past few years, she said, Erik has organized a secret Santa for some of the inmates during Christmas.
“They understand that their lives have been put on a stage and, because of that, there are no secrets,” she said. “They understand they have to pull strength through that vulnerability and they use that to empower others.”
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Erik Menendez created and leads meditation groups, and has also led groups on conflict resolution, and care and education for inmates in hospice care.
Dr. Chandrika Kelso, founder of Helping Without Prejudice, a nonprofit that provides inmates with education and rehabilitation programs, told The Times in an interview last year that Erik Menendez initiated the meditation program at Richard. J. Donovan after seeing the benefits.
“He started doing it himself,” she said. “Now he runs his own class.”
Erik worked as a type of “ambassador,” helping inmates who use wheelchairs, were terminally ill or in hospice care, she said.
In the Victim Impact & Victim Empathy for Vulnerable Populations group, inmates confront their childhood traumas, as well as the traumas they caused to their victims, Kelso said.
Lyle has also worked as chair of the inmate advisory council, a group that works with prison leadership about the needs of the prison population.
“Their motivation is that this is where they live,” Kelso said in a previous interview. “I see two individuals who have not just adapted positively to the prison environment, but have been creating positive pathways for other inmates.”
If Hochman doesn’t rescind the request to resentence the brothers, Superior Court Judge Michael V. Jesic will ultimately decide whether to resentence the Menendez brothers and make them eligible for parole. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11, just a few days after Hochman is sworn in. If the brothers are resentenced, the two would then be set to appear before the parole board, which would scrutinize their lives at the prison and the programs they’ve been involved with as it decides whether they should be released.
“These two individuals were kids, and they’ve grown up now,” Joel Baptiste Abreu said. “I think society is going to be really surprised when they come out there.”
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