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Lyle and Erik Menendez have been serving life sentences for the brutal murders of their parents on August 20, 1989, when the brothers — then 21 and 18 — shot and killed José and Kitty Menendez inside their Beverly Hills mansion.
More than three decades later, the Menendez brothers were thrown back in the spotlight as the focus of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The 10-episode series reexamines the central question at the heart of their case: were they cold-blooded killers motivated by greed, as prosecutors claimed, or victims of years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as the defense argued — and as the brothers still maintain?
On May 13, 2025, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic resentenced Lyle and Erik to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole after serving more than 35 years. Their parole hearings were scheduled for August 2025, and Erik was denied parole, while Lyle still awaits his fate as of August 22, 2025.
Here’s what to know about the Menendez brothers and their infamous case.
Lyle & Erik Menendez Had Promising Futures
At the time of their parents’ murders on Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle was a student at Princeton, and Erik was an incoming freshman at UCLA. The brothers had grown up in Beverly Hills, enjoying a privileged life thanks to their wealthy parents — Jose, a Hollywood executive, and Kitty, a former beauty queen.
Lyle and Erik Were Arrested Seven Months After Their Parents’ Murders
After Jose and Kitty were found brutally shot to death in their Beverly Hills mansion, Lyle and Erik spent money recklessly, burning through an estimated $700,000 of their parents’ wealth on cars, jewelry, and even purchasing restaurants and cafes. But their eventual downfall occurred when Erik confessed to his psychiatrist, Jerome Oziel, who then shared the information with his mistress, Judalon Smyth. Smyth informed the police, revealing that Erik had confessed to the murders in therapy and that there were audiotaped recordings of the confession. The brothers were subsequently arrested in March 1990, sparking a multi-year legal battle over the admissibility of Oziel’s recordings.
“I never thought I believed in evil, but when I heard those boys speak, I did,” Smyth told investigative journalist Dominic Dunne in 1990.
Lyle & Erik Were Convicted of First-Degree Murder
The brothers claimed at trial that their father — who was nearly decapitated by a point-blank blast from a 12-gauge shotgun — was a violent pedophile. These allegations were backed by testimony from two of the brothers’ cousins, Andy Cano and Diane Vander Molen, who said Lyle and Erik had confided in them about the sexual abuse when they were children. As for their mother, who was shot 14 times, the brothers said she was an alcoholic and enabled and encouraged her husband’s abuse.
Their first trial, which began in 1993, ended in a deadlocked jury. In the second trial, the judge limited testimony about the alleged abuse and barred the jury from considering manslaughter charges instead of murder. Both brothers were convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“Erik and Lyle Menendez have been incarcerated for 34 years and six months, and I believe that they are in prison for killing their lifelong abusers,” said Robert Rand, who has spent considerable time with the brothers since the crime and is the author of The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation.
“The correct verdict for the Menendez brothers’ trial should have been manslaughter, not murder.”
Lyle & Erik Both Married While in Prison
Despite their brutal crime and life behind bars, there was no shortage of women interested in the Menendez brothers. Lyle married Anna Eriksson on July 2, 1996, but they divorced on April 1, 2001, after she discovered he was “cheating” on her with another woman through a pen pal relationship (as conjugal visits are not allowed). In November 2003, Lyle married Rebecca Sneed, a former magazine editor turned attorney. They had been in contact for nearly a decade before marrying in a ceremony at Mule Creek State Prison. Despite their 2024 separation, Sneed continues to support Lyle and advocates for his and Erik’s release.
Erik also found love, marrying wife Tammi Ruth Saccoman on June 12, 1999, at Folsom State Prison.
Lyle & Erik Menendez Have Amassed a Huge Following
Nearly 35 years after murdering their parents, a significant number of teens are calling the brothers’ sentence unfair and unjust. The account menendezsupporterrr—which demands “Justice for the Menendez brothers”—has over 12.9M likes and 258.1K followers. Another account, ..menendezbrothers, states in its bio, “They are victims. don’t sexualize them,” and has 109.1K followers and 9.6M likes.
