There have been very few criminal cases quite as compelling as that of the Menendez Brothers. Back in 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez made headlines when they reported that their father had been killed. But after they confessed to a psychologist that they had murdered their father, the psychologist’s girlfriend reported them to the police.
This led to two earth-shaking trials in which the public was split…some saw these brothers as coldhearted killers and others viewed them more sympathetically after they claimed that their father had sexually abused them. Eventually, both of them were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in prison.
The Menendez Brothers have spent decades behind bars, even as the explosion in true crime content has increased public fascination with their case. That got us to ask the big question: what has life in prison been like for these two men? If you’ve been asking the same thing, keep reading to finally find the answers!
A bleak, early report about life in prison
While more recent information about the Menendez Brothers’ life in prison has come to light recently (more on this soon), some of the first info they gave us dates back to 2005. That was when Erik opened up about his new life to People, and what he described painted a very bleak picture of his new life.
“The cell I live in is tiny … about 6′ by 4’,” he said. He didn’t have his own space, claiming that “Two people live in the cell.” And if the room measurements don’t make it clear how tiny his accommodations were, Erik elaborated on the conditions of his cell for curious readers. “The cell is so small that only one person can be up off the bunks at a time. There is a commode and a sink.”
Beyond how limited his space was, life in prison was a major adjustment for Erik in other ways as well. “The thing you have to get used to in prison are the violent noises,” he said. “It is very difficult to live with.” When this interview came out, some opened up their hearts to Erik, wringing their hands over the idea that nobody should have to live like this. The brothers’ fiercest critics, though, pointed out that he is a cold-blooded killer and, quite frankly, other prisoners were likely more frightened of him than he was of them!