Lyle and Erik Menendez pictured in 1994. Photo: Ted Soqui/Getty
After spending 35 years behind bars, Erik Menendez is shedding light on the trauma and hardships he and his brother, Lyle, have endured in prison. In a candid interview on TMZ’s 2 Angry Men podcast, Erik, now 54, described prison as an unforgiving place, recalling years of bullying, violence, and isolation.
Erik and Lyle, 57, have been incarcerated since 1996 for the 1989 murders of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. The brothers have always claimed they acted in self-defense after suffering years of physical, mental, and sexual abuse.
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During the podcast, Erik opened up about his early years in prison, calling it a “dangerous environment.” He revealed that he was relentlessly bullied and had no gang affiliation to protect him. “I was picked on, violently bullied—it was traumatic and continual,” he admitted. “Prison can be hard, and there’s a lot of suffering in here.”
One of the toughest challenges was being separated from Lyle for decades. The two were finally reunited in 2018 when Lyle was transferred to the same facility, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California. Before that, Erik had suffered alone in various prisons. “I remember the day I heard Lyle had been assaulted and had his jaw broken,” Erik recalled. “I thought, ‘At least if we were together, we could protect each other.’ But we weren’t allowed to be.”
Now, the Menendez brothers are facing a possible turning point. They are scheduled for a court hearing on March 20, where a judge will determine if their sentences should be reconsidered. Public opinion has shifted in recent years, with many now recognizing the psychological toll of childhood abuse. The case has also gained renewed attention through Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and a related documentary.
In October 2024, former L.A. District Attorney George Gascón filed a resentencing request that could have led to the brothers’ release. However, Gascón lost re-election, and his successor, Nathan Hochman, has not yet made a public statement on the case.
If the court decides to resentence them to 50 years to life, Erik and Lyle would immediately qualify for parole under California’s “youthful offender” law, since they were 18 and 21 at the time of the crime.
Their fate now rests in the hands of the legal system—will they finally get a second chance?
