Lyle and Erik Menendez - Life in Prison

Life in Prison

Since entering prison, both brothers have married, even though California does not allow conjugal visits for those convicted of murder or for those serving life sentences.

On July 2, 1996, Lyle married longtime pen pal Anna Eriksson, a former model. The marriage reportedly ended after less than a year after she reportedly discovered that Lyle was "cheating" on her by writing to another woman. In November 2003, Lyle, then 35, married Rebecca Sneed, a 33-year-old magazine editor from Sacramento, at a ceremony in a maximum security visiting area of Mule Creek State Prison. Lyle and Rebecca had reportedly known each other for approximately 10 years prior to their engagement.

In 1997, Erik was reportedly married through a telephone ceremony at Folsom State Prison. In June 1999, Erik, then 28, married Tammi Ruth Saccoman, 37, at Folsom State Prison in a prison waiting room. Tammi later stated that "Our wedding cake was a Twinkie. We improvised. It was a wonderful ceremony until I had to leave. That was a very lonely night." In an interview with ABC News in October 2005, Erik's wife Tammi stated that her relationship with Erik, her husband of six years, is "something that I've dreamed about for a long time. And it's just something very special that I never thought that I would ever have." Tammi Menendez also self-published a book in 2005 titled They Said We'd Never Make It - My Life With Erik Menendez, though Tammi said on the Larry King Live show that Erik had heavily edited the book. In an interview with People magazine, Tammi Menendez stated that "Not having sex in my life is difficult, but it's not a problem for me. I have to be physically detached, and I'm emotionally attached to Erik... My family does not understand. When it started to get serious, some of them just threw up their hands." Tammi also noted that she and her 10-year-old daughter drive the 150 miles every weekend to see Erik, whom her daughter refers to as her "Earth Dad."

Regarding his sentence of life without parole, Erik has stated: "Tammi is what gets me through. I can't think about the sentence. When I do, I do it with a great sadness and a primal fear. I break into a cold sweat. It's so frightening I just haven't come to terms with it."

Erik reportedly works as a night janitor and shares a 6-by-9-foot cell with another prisoner.

As of 2008, both were in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation system. Lyle was being held at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. Erik was incarcerated at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, the brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their lives in prison. According to Erik, on the same Larry King show, he and his older brother have not spoken to each other for more than ten years.

In 2010, A&E did a documentary on Tammi Menendez entitled "Mrs. Menendez."