Lyle Menéndez and Erik Menéndez have been behind bars since 1996 for the murder of their parents, José Menéndez and Kitty Menéndez. The brothers’ story and trials have resurfaced amid the release of Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. After their final trial ended, Lyle and Erik were separated and placed into separate prisons. So, where are they now?
Lyle and Erik are currently serving their prison sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. The two were initially separated and placed into separate prisons following their 1996 conviction. Lyle was in custody at the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California, and Erik spent time at both Folsom State Prison and Pleasant Valley Prison in California.
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.”
In 2018, the Menéndez brothers were placed at RJD but housed in separate units. Later that year, Lyle was reportedly moved into the same housing unit as his brother, and he and Erik were reunited for the first time in more than 20 years. The siblings have been behind bars together since then.
Throughout their individual incarcerations, the Menéndezes married their respective wives. Lyle wed his first wife, Anna Eriksson, in 1996, shortly before he and Erik received their sentencing. Anna and Lyle eventually divorced, and he married his second wife, Rebecca Sneed, in 2003. For Erik’s part, he married his wife, Tammi Saccoman, in 1999.
Erik and Lyle were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, the brothers’ defense attorney, Cliff Gardner, is trying to secure their release from prison, Forbes reported. A letter resurfaced in recent years, and it could support Lyle and Erik’s claim that they killed their parents out of self-defense. Additionally, musician Roy Rosselló alleged that José sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager. As a result, Cliff submitted both the letter and Roy’s affidavit as new evidence to argue that Lyle and Erik’s convictions should be overturned.
