Lyle and Erik Menendez continue to serve life sentences in prison for the brutal murders of their parents on August 20, 1989. Thirty-five years later, the case of the Menendez brothers has garnered renewed attention, largely due to Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, followed by a Netflix documentary that included previously unreleased phone call recordings between the brothers and director Alejandro Hartmann.
With growing public interest in the case and the allegations of sexual abuse that Judge Stanley Weisberg had barred from the trial, the Menendez brothers are seeing a potential path to freedom. In early October 2024, former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office was reviewing the case after the brothers’ attorneys requested prosecutors to recommend a resentencing, which could potentially lead to their release. However, with the transition to new DA Nathan Hochman, the review process has experienced a slight delay.
As news about the Menendez brothers’ case continues to unfold, here’s a look back at the brothers at the time of the incident, how old they are now, and more.
Lyle and Erik were 21 and 18 years old, respectively, when they shot and killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their family’s Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. The couple was in their 40s at the time of their deaths.
In 1996, the Menendez brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents. At that time, Lyle was 28 and Erik was 25.
In February 2025, Erik shared his experience behind bars during an appearance on TMZ’s podcast, “2 Angry Men.” Reflecting on his time in prison at around 29 years old, he explained, “I was picked on, bullied violently, and it was traumatic and it was continual. Those are things that a lot of inmates in prison go through when they’re not part of a gang structure and they come in and they’re basically lone wolves, they just have to be by themselves. Prison can be hard, and there’s a lot of suffering in prison…I’m not gonna fight back, I’m not going to engage, and I had no one really to turn to for help, and I was separated from Lyle.”
As of 2025, Lyle is 57 years old, born on January 10, and Erik is 54, with his birthday on November 27.
