Erik and Tammi
Getty Images / MegaErik MenéndezThe prison sentence in perpetuity did not prevent him from finding love with his wife Tammi.
Erik and his brother, Lyle Menéndez,, were arrested in 1990 on two charges Of first degree murder after their parents – José and Kitty – were found killed at their home in August 1989. Two trials led to the life sentence of Erik and Lyle without parole. The two argued that their mother and father were physically, emotionally and sexually.
After the trial, Erik Sexual orientation has become a subject conversation.
“No [I am not gay]. The prosecutor mentioned this because I was sexually assaulted and he felt in his own thought that if I was sodomized by my father, I had to appreciate it and therefore I must be gay, “said Erik in a whole with Barbara Walters From 1996. “And people who are gays must be sexually assaulted or would not be so overwhelming to hear, but I am not gay. But many homosexuals write and feel connected to me.”
Ted Soqui / Sygma via Getty Images Erik Mennendez and Lyle Menéndez both found partners while serving their individual life convictions following a high -level murder case. The Mennendez brothers were arrested in 1990 for two first degree murder leaders after their parents – José and Kitty – were found killed in their homes. Two […]
Tammi contacted Erik by mail in 1993, When he was in prison but not yet sentenced. At the time, she was still married to Chuck Saccoman. His link with Erik took his turn after the death of Saccoman in 1996, which led to a marriage ceremony in 1999 in prison. Tammi was asked later if she was initially “troubled” by Erik being responsible for the death of her parents.
“I know his soul and I know what happened that night,” she said NBC News In 2005. “And I understand. I think that in everyone has put in certain circumstances, you can, you know, kill someone. I mean, I think Erik is a very good person.”
The same year, Tammi explained why she was not embarrassed by the lack of domestic visits. (California prisons allow marital visits, but prisoners serving perpetuity without parole are prohibited from these privileges. The law was modified in 2016, but since Erik and Lyle have committed a violent offense against a family member, they are still not eligible for family visits.)
“Not having sex in my life is difficult, but it is not a problem for me. I must be physically detached, and I am emotionally attached to Erik, ”she explained to People In 2005, while Erik added a separate interview with the point of sale, “this is not the sex you are looking for, but the emotional connection. There is no makeup sex, only a 15 -minute phone call, so you really have to try to make things work.”
Erik’s brother Lyle also found the one when he was incarcerated. After his arrest, Lyle met Anna Eriksson by correspondence by mail and they exchanged wishes in 1996 in a marriage to which his lawyer attended Leslie Abramson And his aunt MARTA MENENDEZ. Lyle and Anna called him who left in 2001 and he was married to Rebecca Sneed Since 2003.
The two brothers and sisters of Ménéndez had the chance to find their wives after The Los Angeles district prosecutor recommended in October 2024 that the judge did not feel Erik and Lyle at 50. Erik, however, was denied parole during his August 2025 hearing.
Continue to scroll to relive the relationship of Erik and Tammi:
1993
Before Erik was sentenced in his case of high -level murder, he was connected to Tammi when she wrote a letter to him in prison. Tammi was still married to Chuck at the time and lived with him and his teenage daughter of a previous relationship when she started to follow the trial led.
“I said [Chuck] that I was going to write to Erik, ”recalls Tammi to People In 2005. “He said he was moving forward. I really didn’t know if Erik would come back to him.”
As for Erik, he said at the point of sale that Destiny had Tammi’s letter opened itAdding: “I saw Tammi’s letter and I felt something. I received thousands of letters, but I put it aside. I had a feeling. And I wrote it. Tammi and I continued to correspond. I liked to write to him. It was a slow friendship. It was special for me because it was not associated with the test and the media. Tammi was not someone.”
1996
Three years after his correspondence with Erik, Tammi I discovered that Chuck allegedly started raping her teenage daughter at the age of 15. Chuck, who shared a 9 -month -old girl Talia with Tammi, turned into police and died suicide two days later.
“I stretched my hand to Erik. He comforted me,” said Tammi People. “Our letters began to take a more serious tone.”
1997
Erik and Tammi met in person after being found guilty of first degree murder. Tammi recalled Being “really nervous” to visit Erik in prison.
“I only sent him a tiny, 1 against 1 [inch] image, ”she recalls People. “But when he entered the room, he was so full of life, he jumped on the stairs. It was as if I met an old friend.”
Erik called his first meeting to Tammi the “most beautiful experience” of his life.
1999
Tammi’s initial plan was to move to Georgia, but after connecting Erik, she found a house much closer to her prison in Sacramento. She visited him four times a week and in 1998, Erik offered Tammi When he was 27 years old and she was 36 years old. The pair then had a marriage in prison with a Twinkie who served as a wedding cake.
The transfer of prison of Erik of Folsom prison to the state prison of Pleasant Valley made Tammi and Talia I have to drive 150 miles per week to visit him.
“Each time a parent said to me:” No, my daughter cannot stay at home “, I would wonder if the underlying reason was Erik”, admitted Tammi to people by referring to his youngest child who considers Erik his father. “There is always this question in my mind.”
Lyle and Erik Menéndez share their side of history – on crime, the consequences and their current life in prison – more than three decades after their very publicized murder caused a perpetuity imprisonment. The Brothers Mennendez, who began to broadcast on Monday October 7, on Netflix, present Audio of the Lyle interviews, 56, […]
2005
During an interview MSNBCTammi opened the way in which his relationship with Erik has evolved, saying, “We approached letters and then know that the relationship has advanced when I met him. But it is the correspondence that he became a very good friend of me and understood what I was going through and I understood what he was going through. ”
She continued. “And then after having encountered it, things have become more and more intense, so you know through letters and your constraint to writing letters.”
Erik also thought about his link with his wife despite unconventional barriers between them.
“Tammi is what makes me pass. I cannot think of the sentence. When I do it, I do it with great sadness and a primordial fear. I divide myself by sweat. People In 2005. “Tammi’s love was a major step in my life of choice. Having someone who loves you unconditionally, with whom you can be completely open, is good for anyone – to know that this person loves me like me.”
2024
Over the years, Tammi offered updates to those who have supported Erik and Lyle on their call process. Los Angeles District Prosecutor George Gascón Recommended in October 2024 that Erik and Lyle’s convictions were reduced to 50, which could allow them to be released in parole if it is approved by a judge.
“Yesterday was a difficult and emotional day. I am grateful to Da Gascon for his courage to ask for a referral to Erik,” wrote Tammi via X. “I am naturally disappointed that he did not go further and acts on his own conviction that Erik and Lyle served enough time in prison.”
2025
“When I arrived in prison for the first time, I did not only sentence to prison. I was sentenced to prison so that I never see my brother again, so that I no longer have hope for freedom,” was difficult for me.
Despite the challenges he faced, Erik was grateful for the presence of Tammi in his life. “I started to experience paternity and growth and I started to cure a lot of hatred and self-degree of self that I have treated with all my life,” he continued. “When I came to prison, I did not come to prison healed. I came to prison dealing with traumatic injuries of my past and the tragic crime that resulted. I had to face all these truths and travel through this dark place in prison. ”
He added: “A large part of my freedom came to understand that I am actually someone who is able to be loved and that I deserve love. I try to be a good person. I try to be a better person every day and I want to be a person whose family can be proud for the time. I want my daughter to be proud of me and my wife.”
2025
After Erik was hospitalized for kidney stones, Tammi made a rare declaration on his health, writing via X: “Today, Erik underwent a 2nd surgical intervention. This surgery has succeeded, it will need a 3rd surgical intervention which, hopefully, will occur soon. Because Erik is in prison, there are a lot of complications and delays with surgery. Tonight, there will be nauseous and in pain, there is however surgery. ”
