Where Are the Menendez Brothers Now? A Look at Erik and Lyle’s Lives in Prison — and the New Evidence That Could Get Them Out

The Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez, marked a dark anniversary on Aug. 20, 2024 — 35 years since they murdered their parents, José and Kitty Menendez.

While José, an entertainment executive, and Kitty, a former teacher, watched TV in their Beverly Hills home on Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik shot them at point-blank range with shotguns — then called 911 themselves, saying they came home from a night out and found their parents’ dead bodies. Intrigue in the case was almost immediate, with initial investigations looking into the mob as potential suspects.

But the notes from the brothers’ therapist, a shotgun casing and a screenplay pointed to Lyle and Erik, whom prosecutors claimed were privileged, spoiled and eager to cash in on their father’s $14 million fortune. Lyle and Erik were tried twice, during which they alleged that José was physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and that Kitty was addicted to drugs and alcohol, physically abusive and an enabler of José.

In March 1996, the brothers were each convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. They are now incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

However, in 2023, Lyle and Erik’s lawyers filed a petition to vacate the brothers’ convictions in light of new evidence — a letter Erik wrote eight months before the murders and Roy Rosselló’s claims that he was drugged and raped by José in the ’80s.

Lyle and Erik’s case and conviction have been the subject of several television projects over the years, from A&E’s The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All in 2017 to Peacock’s Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed in 2023. Their chilling true story is also the subject of Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix show Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the streaming service’s documentary The Menendez Brothers.

“Looking back on the trials, Erik and I and our family thought we were going into a manslaughter case with a district attorney that understood the traumatic impact that sexual violence creates in a person,” Lyle reflected in the 2024 Fox Nation docuseries Menendez Brothers: Victims or Villains. “And we ended up with the same sentence as a serial killer.”

From their time spent in prison to their marriages, here’s everything to know about the Menendez brothers and where they are now.

Where are the Menendez brothers now?

For more than 20 years, Lyle and Erik were imprisoned separately, with Lyle in Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., and Erik about 500 miles away at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County. The brothers didn’t speak for years, though they communicated in letters (and played chess through the mail).

“Our start to prison life was tremendously painful. My brother actually went on a hunger strike to try to keep us together,” Lyle told Barbara Walters in a 1996 interview.

In February 2018, Lyle was transferred to another housing unit at Richard J. Donovan — and in April of that same year, Erik moved into the same unit as Lyle.

When the Menendez brothers reunited, they burst into tears and Lyle whispered, “Finally,” he told DailyMailTV. “It was just a remarkable moment,” he added. “It was just something I wasn’t sure was ever going to happen.”

In 1999, Erik married his longtime pen pal, Tammi Ruth Saccoman, with whom he shares his stepdaughter, Talia. Tammi wrote a book, They Said We’d Never Make It: My Life with Erik Menendez, about their relationship and experiences. Erik also took up painting — and even gifted a portrait to comedian Kathy Griffin — and, with other inmates, made attempts at prison reform.

“Being arrested was such a relief. My life was over and I was glad,” Erik told PEOPLE in 2005, adding that he was never motivated by money. “Once I was arrested and put into prison, that person who I was began to emerge again. I had to find it for myself.”

Lyle served as president of inmate government at Mule State Creek Prison before being transferred and has worked in a support group for other prisoners who endured sexual abuse. From 1996 to 2001, he was married to Anna Eriksson. Two years later, he married Rebecca Sneed, with whom he has said he has a healthy relationship.

“I have a very steady, involved marriage and that helps sustain me and brings a lot of peace and joy,” Lyle said in 2017. “It’s a counter to the unpredictable, very stressful environment here.”

Will the Menendez brothers ever get out of prison?

The Menendez brothers are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, but there have been efforts to overturn their convictions. Attorneys for the brothers filed a petition with the court on May 3, 2023, citing Rosselló’s allegations against José featured in the Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed as well as a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to one of his cousins describing his father’s sexual abuse just months before the murders.

“The new evidence not only shows that Jose Menendez was very much a violent and brutal man who would sexually abuse children, but it strongly suggests that — in fact — he was still abusing Erik Menendez as late as 1988,” the filing read in part, according to documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. “Instead, the crime was manslaughter, not murder. The killings occurred in imperfect self-defense, after a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse from their parents.”

The filing also pointed out that in their second trial, evidence of the alleged sexual abuse they endured was excluded, with prosecutors accusing the brothers of fabricating the claims because they were never corroborated. Lyle and Erik’s attorneys requested an evidentiary hearing or to vacate the brothers’ convictions and sentences.

In September 2024, Kim Kardashian visited the Menendez brothers in prison. She later wrote an essay for NBC News expressing her support for Lyle and Erik’s release, stating that they did not receive a fair trial.

“Back then, there were limited resources for victims of sexual abuse, particularly for boys,” she wrote. “Can anyone honestly deny that the justice system would have treated the Menendez sisters more leniently? I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters.”

Kardashian added: “The killings are not excusable. I want to make that clear. Nor is their behavior before, during or after the crime. But we should not deny who they are today in their 50s. We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped or saved.” 

What new evidence was discovered relating to the Menendez brothers?

In April 2023, Rosselló, a former member of a popular Puerto Rican boy band called Menudo, seemingly corroborated Lyle and Erik’s stories of abuse when he came forward with his own story about José.

He alleged that the Hollywood executive drugged and raped him as a teen.

“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló said in Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. “That’s the pedophile,” he added, referring to a photo of José.

In addition to Rosselló’s statement, the brothers’ lawyers also provided a never-before-seen letter written by Erik in 1988. It was discovered by José’s sister Marta Cano and addressed to her late son Andy.

“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy, but it’s worse for me now,” the letter read. “I can’t explain it. He [sic] so overweight that I can’t stand to see him. I never know. When it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind.”

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has yet to decide if they will retry Lyle and Erik’s case based on the new evidence. However, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón is “keeping an open mind.”

“I’m not leaning in any direction right now,” he said during a press conference in October 2024. “We have people in the office that are looking at this very carefully, very experienced lawyers that are looking at this. Their recommendation will be presented to me, but the final decision will be mine.”

“We are reviewing the information, but I think it’s also important that we recognize that both men and women can be the victims of sexual assault,” Gascón added.

What have the Menendez brothers said about their crimes and incarceration?

Erik gave his first comprehensive interview in 2017 for A&E’s docuseries The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All. He shared explicit details about encounters with his abusive father, including one “overwhelming memory” of José pounding on his bedroom door.

“He would have me massage him, and he would have me perform oral sex on him. He would graphically describe to me how he would kill me if I ran away,” Erik recalled.

The younger Menendez brother also expressed regret for the murders, saying, “I wanted to go back in time. I wanted to take everything back that Lyle and I did.”

That same year, Lyle spoke with PEOPLE. He also admitted to still “carrying the guilt” over his parents’ slayings.

“This tragedy will always be the most astounding and regrettable thing that has ever happened in my life,” he said. “You can’t escape the memories and I long ago stopped trying.”

While incarcerated for the past three decades, the Menendez brothers have tried to be “productive” people. In June 2024, Lyle earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology at UC Irvine along with 23 of his fellow inmates, and he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning.

“I just decided even though I’m incarcerated and there isn’t hope of freedom, I still have a chance to feel proud of what I’m doing with my day,” Lyle said over the phone to a crowd at CrimeCon 2024 Nashville. “Education seemed like an obvious answer to that question.”