More details about Erik Menéndez‘s life behind bars have been revealed — starting with how he celebrates the holidays with his roommates.
Erik’s wife, Tammi Menéndez, took to X earlier this month to address an article that claimed the inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility created Halloween candy bowls. Tammi, 62, denied the report before sharing how Erik, 53, has honored the Christmas season while behind bars.
“What is true is that Erik has played Secret Santa for his roommates for the past five years!” she wrote before adding in a separate post, “Let’s not allow him to spend another birthday, Thanksgiving or Christmas behind bars. It’s time for someone to step up and do what’s right!”
Tammi has been outspoken about Erik and brother Lyle Menéndez‘s attempts to appeal their life sentence. The siblings were arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder after their parents, Kitty and José Menéndez, were found shot in their home.
Timeline of Erik, Lyle Menendez’s Murder Case: From Arrest to Resentencing
Erik and Lyle, 56, admitted to killing their parents following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. They were ultimately found guilty of and sentenced to life without parole in 1996 after two high-profile trials. While their prior attempts to appeal the decision were denied, recent high-profile TV projects, such as Monsters and The Menéndez Brothers, offered Erik and Lyle a chance at freedom.
In October, the Los Angeles District Attorney recommended that a judge resentence Erik and Lyle to 50 years, which could make them eligible for parole and prison release.
“I won’t speak to whether [Erik and Lyle] have a plan [after their potential prison release]. I just think that in order to get through each day, you’ve got to just ground yourself,” their attorney Mark Geragos exclusively told Us Weekly at a press conference that same month. “It’s a long road from life without [parole] for almost 17 years to being hopeful.”
Inside the Menendez Brothers’ Lives in Prison: Restrictions, No Conjugal Visits
While serving out his sentence, Erik got married to Tammi in 1999. The couple met when she started writing letters to him in prison and Tammi has remained by Erik’s side amid his incarceration.
“Tammi is what gets me through,” Erik explained to People in 2005. “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.”
He continued: “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.”
Erik Menendez, Wife Tammi’s Relationship Timeline: From Pen Pals to Marriage
Lyle, meanwhile, found love with Rebecca Sneed, and they got married in 2003 after corresponding via letters for nearly a decade.
“People are judgmental, and she has to put up with a lot,” Lyle shared with People in 2017 about how he felt “guilty” for what his wife has endured because of their marriage. “But she has the courage to deal with the obstacles. It would be easier to leave, but I’m profoundly grateful that she doesn’t.”
