For years, Lyle and Erik Menendez expected to live out the rest of their lives behind bars – now they could be walking free in a matter of weeks, with loving partners waiting for them on the outside.
The brothers are currently serving out life sentences without parole for the brutal 1989 murders of their parents – Jose and Kitty Menendez – in 1989. The siblings, who were 21 and 18 at the time of the crime, have never denied the killings, which they say were in self-defence following years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse from their mother and father.
Last month, prosecutors asserted that the brothers should be resentenced, with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon stating that Lyle and Erik could well be eligible for immediate parole immediately if a judge takes up the recommendation.
Now aged 56 and 53, Lyle and Erik will today be appearing in court for the first time in 28 years, with a hearing that could help determine whether or not a planned resentencing hearing will be held next month.
Although they’ve spent a large amount of their lives behind bars, both brothers have had eventful romances, including three marriages between them and a reported new romance with an English student…
Uni student romance
Last week, the Mail Online revealed that Lyle has allegedly embarked on a romance with a British uni student. Lyle met 21-year-old Milly Bucksey online, with the pair apparently hitting it off in spite of their 35-year age gap.
On November 21, the publication reported that Lyle was considering leaving his loyal wife, Rebecca Sneed, for his long-distance love, but Rebecca has since clarified that they’ve been separated for some time.
According to this source, Lyle first connected with University of Manchester student Milly through a Facebook group set up in his name, run by 55-year-old Rebecca.
Initially, Lyle chatted with Milly under an alias but has since revealed his true identity. Now things appear to have gotten serious. An insider revealed: “Lyle adores Milly. And she refers to him as her boyfriend even though he’s married.”
Milly, from Altrincham, Manchester, even made the 5,300-mile journey to the 5,300-mile journey to the high-security Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, where Lyle is incarcerated.
Photographs obtained by the Mail show the couple posing affectionately together in front of prison yard murals, believed to have been taken on Saturday, September 14.
And Lyle’s new relationship has reportedly gotten him into trouble, after he was caught using a banned mobile phone to keep in touch with his much younger girlfriend. This hasn’t deterred Lyle, however, and he’s since managed to get hold of a second phone.
Shock separation
After reports about Milly broke, Lyle’s wife Rebecca came forward to reveal they’d “separated for awhile [sic] now”, while declaring that she would “never stop fighting for him”.
Journalist Rebecca, who became an attorney after becoming Lyle’s wife, has clarified that their 20-year marriage didn’t end because of an affair. Taking to her official Facebook page on November 22, as verified by the Mendende brothers’ legal rep to NBC News, Rebecca stated: “This is NOT a cheating scandal.”
Addressing her followers, Rebecca wrote: “I continue to run his Facebook pages, with input from him, and I am forever committed to the enduring fight for Lyle and Erik’s freedom, as has been so evident over the years. I’ll continue to update you all on the progress of the case because I believe we all have the common goal of seeing the guys walk free! I will never stop fighting for them.”
Just a few short weeks ago, Lyle released a statement ahead of their 20th wedding anniversary, remarking upon the challenges that came with a marriage divided by prison walls. Lyle reflected: “This coming November will be my 20th wedding anniversary. Learning to be a husband and a partner from inside a prison has been challenging. It has also changed my life in so many positive ways.”
He added: “Her unwavering support and belief in me is something I am most grateful for and has played no small part in my journey to be a better person.”
KXTV-TV in Sacramento reports that the couple had said ‘I do’ at Mule Creek State Prison outside of Sacramento, California, with around dozen of friends and family members watching them exchange vows from a maximum security visiting area,.
Inmates serving life terms in California are not permitted conjugal visits, meaning intimacy will have been limited. However, for two decades, the couple found a way to connect without the physical closeness usually expected within long-term relationships.
Opening up about his “complicated” marriage with ABC News in 2017, Lyle said: “One thing I’ve learned is that your physical comfort is much less important than your connection with the people around you. I’ve found I can have a healthy marriage that is complicated and built around conversation and finding creative ways to communicate, sharing, without all the props that are normally there in marriage in terms of going out to dinner and having as much intimate time together and so on.”
In another interview with People, held that same year, Lyle remarked upon how he and Rebecca have “more intimate conversations” than many married couples living in more conventional setups. Lyle explained: “Our interaction tends to be very free of distractions and we probably have more intimate conversations than most married spouses do, who are distracted by life’s events.
“We try and talk on the phone every day, sometimes several times a day. I have a very steady, involved marriage and that helps sustain me and brings a lot of peace and joy. It’s a counter to the unpredictable, very stressful environment here.”
Model first wife
Lyle was previously married to Anna Eriksson, who he married in 1996 – the very same year he and his brother were convicted. Ex-model Anna, first connected with Lyle after sending the prisoner a letter urging him to “hang tough” during his first trial.
In an interview with People magazine at the time, ‘Lyle’s lady’ opened up about the difficulties that came from having a “sweet and kind and generous” husband locked away from the world. Drawing comparisons with the situations she’s seen in her friends’ marriages, Chicago-born Anna reflected: “I have friends who are married to corporate types.
“They are constantly griping that work keeps them apart during the week and that on weekends, he goes off fishing. Whenever I watch a movie, I make popcorn for two. I wish I could reach over on the couch and hold him. But I can’t.”
And Anna also shed light on how they kept their passion alive without having ever shared a marital bed. She told the publication: “What’s the best sex organ? Your brain.”
A year after their wedding day, however, Lyle and Anna parted ways, with the Los Angeles Times reporting at the time that the California Department of Corrections did not “recognize the wedding”, which took place over the phone, and that their union was “not a legal marriage”.
Anna later filed for divorce in 2001, alleging that Lyle had cheated on her and exchanged letters with other women behind her back.
‘Unconditional’ love
Erik is married to Tammi Ruth Saccoman, who detailed their romance in the self-published memoir They Said We’d Never Make It: My Life with Erik Menendez. The couple, who appear to still be going strong, tied the knot in 1999 in the visiting room of Sacramento’s Folsom Prison. With none of the usual finery you’d expect from a wedding, the couple had to make do with a Twinkie in lieu of a tiered wedding cake.
Tammi has been vocal in her support of her incarcerated hubby, who she first connected with as a pen pal. Remembering their early days of courtship in an interview with MSNBC, Tammi said: “We did get very close through letters, and then, you know, the relationship moved forward when I did meet him.
“But it was the correspondence that he became a really good friend of mine and understood what I was going through and I understood what he was going through. And then after I met him, things, you know, got more and more intense, so it’s, you know, through letters, you know, your constraint to letter writing.”
The now-couple began exchanging letters in 1993, but things started to take a more “serious tone” in 1996, when Tammi learned that her then-husband had been abusing a loved one. In a separate interview with People, Tammi shared how her husband died by suicide just two days after turning himself into the police, leaving her to care for their nine-month-old alone.
It was at this dark time that Erik provided She remembered: “I reached out to Erik. He comforted me; our letters started taking on a more serious tone.”
Despite their connection, Tammi has endured moments of confusion over her unique situation, which has attracted a fair bit of criticism from pals. She admitted: “I question myself. Everybody questions me. You know, ‘Is she crazy? Is she nuts?’ It has been a very emotional experience.”
Erik has also previously shared the joy that Tammi has brought to his constricted life. Speaking with People in 2005, Erik shared: “Tammi’s love was a major step in my choosing life. Having someone who loves you unconditionally, who you can be completely open with, is good for anybody — to know that this person loves me as I am.”
In the same interview, Erik opened up about the transformative effects of Tammi’s ‘unconditional’ love, revealing: “You can’t imagine what it was like those first five years in prison never being told, ‘I love you.’ It makes you a colder, harder person. Tammi’s love has propelled me to become a better person. I want to be the greatest possible husband to her. And this affects the choices I make every day in prison.”
He added: “Tammi has taught me how to be a good husband. There is no makeup sex, only a 15-minute phone call, so you really have to try to make things work.”
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