In that chaotic moment, Erik Menendez wasn’t sure what was happening.
It was September 1996 and he and his brother, Lyle Menendez, had been convicted for the 1989 shooting deaths of their Hollywood music executive father, Jose Menendez, 45, and their mother, homemaker Kitty Menendez, 47.
Since their March 1990 arrests, the two had been housed in Los Angeles County Jail. Sentenced on July 2, 1996, to two consecutive life sentences without parole, the day had come for them to be transferred to the California correctional facility where they would be sent to live out the rest of their days.
“We thought we were going to go to the same prison,” Erik, now 53, says in the new Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers, which is now streaming.
“They put him in one van and I didn’t understand why they were putting me in another van,” Erik says in the documentary. “I started screaming out to Lyle and they shut the door. It was the last time I saw him.”
On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle, 21, and Erik, 18, shot their parents at close range while the victims were sitting on the couch in the TV room of their $5 million Beverly Hills mansion.
During their first trial that began in 1993, jurors heard raw, emotionally-charged testimony from the two about the years of sexual abuse and torment they alleged they suffered at the hands of their father.
Their father, they claim, had threatened to kill them if they uttered a word about their ugly family secret.
Their mother, they claim, turned a blind eye to the abuse and sided with their father.
When Jose found out that Erik had told Lyle about the alleged abuse, the brothers said they feared for their lives and killed their parents.
Their first trial ended with a deadlocked jury, which couldn’t decide whether to find the brothers guilty of first-degree murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter because of the abuse claims.
Ultimately, they were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Subsequently, they begged to be housed in the same correctional facility. But that didn’t happen.
In 1996, Lyle was sent to Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California. Erik served time in various institutions before ultimately being transferred to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Southern California in 2013.
Over the years, Lyle fought to be transferred to Erik’s San Diego prison.
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Lyle, now 56, says in the documentary that he missed his brother’s support and companionship. He adds, “I feared that I could not protect him. I just felt no peace. Like a part of me was just across the state. I fought for decades to be reunited with my brother.”
Finally, in April 2018, Lyle was granted his wish.
“I felt like it was finally a chance to heal,” says Lyle in the documentary. “And I was starting on that day.”
Erik, who went on a hunger strike when he and Lyle were first separated, was equally elated.
“When suddenly this prayer of being able to see my brother again was being answered, the joy of seeing him again, of being able to wrap my arms around him and give him a hug was overwhelming,” he says in the documentary. “It was just happiness.
Today, says Lyle, “I see him every day and we talk and we are very close. It took 21 years.”
Even that may change.
For years, the brothers tried unsuccessfully to appeal their convictions. But on Thursday, Oct. 3, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that he would review new evidence his office had received supporting their abuse allegations for possible resentencing.
The Menendez Brothers is now streaming on Netflix.
The Menendez Brothers Official Podcast, a 3-part companion podcast featuring unheard audio interviews with the Menendez brothers not featured in the documentary, debuts Oct. 9 on Netflix’s ‘You Can’t Make This Up.’
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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