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The Menendez brothers, who have been incarcerated for more than 30 years after fatally shooting their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion, claim they were brutally attacked behind bars.
Erik Menendez, now 54, revealed that he and his brother Lyle, 57, were assaulted by other inmates shortly after their 1989 arrest for the shotgun murders of José and Kitty Menendez.
Erik described his prison experience as extremely difficult, saying, “Prison was hard for me. I faced a lot of bullying and trauma. It was a dangerous environment. I was picked on, violently bullied, and it was a continual, traumatic experience.”
The brothers are currently serving life sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa, California. Though they do not share a cell, they are assigned to the same cell block, and staff report that they often socialize during lunch.
For the first 21 years of their incarceration, the Menendez brothers were housed in separate facilities. Erik recounted the moment he learned of his older brother Lyle’s assault, saying, “I was told, ‘Lyle just got assaulted and had his jaw broken.’ I thought, ‘He’s over there, I’m going through this over here, and at least we could protect each other if we were together.’ But we weren’t even allowed to be together.”
Erik described enduring relentless attacks in prison but chose not to retaliate, silently vowing, “I’m not gonna fight back, I’m not going to engage.” He further explained, “I had no one to turn to for help, and I was separated from Lyle.”
The Menendez brothers have consistently maintained that they killed their parents in self-defense, citing years of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. However, prosecutors argued that the brothers, aged 18 and 21 at the time of the murders, orchestrated the killings to inherit a $14 million fortune, leading to their convictions.
Despite their sentences, the brothers have never ceased appealing their case. Their legal team has presented new evidence, including a letter Erik wrote to a cousin before the murders, which they claim supports their allegations of abuse by their father.
In October, former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón recommended that the Menendez brothers be resentenced, possibly making them eligible for parole.
A judge was set to hear their case on March 20, with the potential for the brothers to be released from prison. However, new Los Angeles DA Nathan Hochman recently filed a response opposing their petition to vacate their convictions or seek a retrial. Hochman argued that the brothers have a history of “lies, deceit, and fabricating stories,” casting doubt on their claims.
