CONVICTED killers Lyle and Erik Menendez have reflected on their lives while in prison and shed light on what their future may look like if they are freed.

The brothers, who have been holed up for three decades, admitted they’re not talking about leaving prison.

The Menendez brothers were given sentences of life in prison without parole after being convicted over killing their parents, and their fate is in the hands of California officials.

Erik gave the author Robert Rand an insight into their future plans during a sit-down at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego. 

The interview featured in the show TMZ Presents: The Menendez Brothers: The Prison Interview, which aired on Monday.

“Lyle and I aren’t talking about leaving prison, should we be able to get out, and not looking back,” Erik said.

“Our lives will be spent working with the prison and doing the work we’re doing in here out there.”

Lyle, 57, echoed his brother’s thoughts as he added: “It’s not something we’ve spent a lot of time on.”

While incarcerated, the brothers have taught classes on trauma healing and meditation. 

And, they’ve led rehabilitation programs for disabled inmates.

“Our best moments are the ones that are not spoken about, and we just help somebody, or we help an animal, or we make somebody smile that’s feeling down that might have gone and harmed themselves if we weren’t there,” Erik, the younger sibling, said.

Erik revealed he wants to be a better person. 

“I’m beginning to like myself, be proud of myself, and find it’s okay to like myself,” he said.

The interview aired on Monday night and Rand claimed he was among the first journalists to see the brothers since 1996.

In an Instagram post, he described the visit as very emotional, and revealed the brothers were in great shape. 

“It was obvious to us that both brothers worked out daily because they were muscular and in great shape.”

The interview aired just days before the Menendez brothers’ sentencing hearing takes place. 

Timeline of the Menendez brothers case

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s case dates back more than three decades since their parents were found shot to death at their Beverly Hills mansion.

Below is a timeline of the brothers’ case, starting at the gruesome crime scene:

August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are found dead from multiple shotgun wounds.

March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested outside his parents’ Beverly Hills mansion.

March 11, 1990 – Erik surrenders to police after flying back into Los Angeles from Israel.

December 1992 – Murder charges against the brothers are officially filed.

July 20, 1993 – The murder trial, highly publicized on Court TV, begins in Los Angeles with Erik and Lyle each having a separate jury.

January 28, 1994 – The first trial ends with two deadlocked juries.

October 11, 1995 – Lyle and Erik’s second trial begins with one jury.

March 20, 1996 – The Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

July 2, 1996 – Lyle and Erik are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons.

February 22, 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison, where Erik is held.

April 4, 2018 – Lyle was moved into the same housing unit as Erik – the first time the brothers were reunited in over 20 years.

May 2023 – Lyle and Erik’s attorney files a habeas corpus petition after Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, made sexual abuse allegations against Jose Menendez in a Peacock docuseries.

September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story releases on Netflix.

October 3, 2024 – Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in connection with Lyle and Erik’s convictions.

October 7, 2024 – The Menendez Brothers documentary film comes out on Netflix.

October 16, 2024 – Family members of the Menendez brothers hold a press conference begging for the siblings to be released from prison.

October 24, 2024 – Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommends the brothers be resentenced.

November 25, 2024 – The Menendez brothers appear in court for a status hearing to learn their resentencing hearing is pushed back from December 11 to allow new DA Nathan Hochman more time to review the case.

January 30-31, 2025 – Erik and Lyle’s resentencing hearing was initially set but had to be rescheduled due to the California wildfires.

February 21, 2025 – Hochman officially opposes a new trial for the brothers.

February 26, 2025 – California Governor Gavin Newsom orders the parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” of the Menendez brothers.

It was due to take place on March 20, but it was delayed to April 11.

It’s possible that a resentencing hearing could take place on April 17 or 18 depending on the judge’s verdict, per the ABC affiliate KABC-TV.

Lyle admitted that he was “cautiously hopeful” ahead of the hearing.

Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, admitted his perception of the brothers has changed over the decades. 

He claimed that Erik and Lyle deserved their sentences, labeling the pair “monsters.”

But, Levin told Fox News that the Menendez brothers are now “thoughtful and remorseful.”

In October 2024, George Gascón, the former Los Angeles District Attorney, recommended that the brothers be resentenced. 

But, his successor, Nathan Hochman has taken a much harder line. 

Hochman warned the brothers should come clean about killing their parents.

He claimed the pair never made the admission and lied in the context of their self-defense argument.

The brothers have argued they killed their parents, Kitty and Jose, after years of alleged abuse.

“The self-defense defense was a fabrication,” Hochman scoffed.

Lyle and I aren’t talking about leaving prison.

Erik Menendez

Kitty and Jose were found dead in their luxury Beverly Hills home in August 1989 after being shot 13 times.

Lyle was 21 at time of their deaths and called 911 shouting that someone had killed his parents.

Investigators initially suspected that the killings may have been a mob attack, or linked to business.

Jose was working for a film studio at the time.

GRISLY KILLINGS

The brothers were arrested in March 1990 – almost eight months after the shootings.

The Menendez brothers’ first murder trial ended with deadlocked juries, but they were convicted of murder in their second trial.

In their first trial, the brothers claimed they were sexually abused by their dad.

Erik wrote a letter to his cousin Andy Cano, detailing the allegations.

The letter was sent just eight months before the murders.

“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it,” it said.

“He so overweight that I can’t stand to see him.

“I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.

“I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy!

The duo were held at separate prisons before Lyle was moved to the same lockup as Erik.

Documentaries and Netflix series have sparked a renewed interest in the case surrounding the Menendez brothers.

California governor, Gavin Newsom, revealed the brothers will face independent parole board hearings on June 13.

The board is considering whether the duo would pose a risk to the public if they are freed.

Erik Menendez’s letter to his cousin

A hand written letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin about his dad’s alleged abuse has sparked a review of the case that could set him and his brother free from jail.

Erik’s letter was written in December 1988, eight months before the double murders in August 1989.

The letter reads in full:

“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. He so overweight that I can’t stand to see him.

“I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.

“I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy!

“He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle.

“Am I a serious whimpus? I don’t know I’ll make it through this. I can handle it, Andy. I need to stop thinking about it.”