In August 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez shot their parents so many times that police initially thought it was a mob attack. After months of lavishing their inheritance, the brothers were arrested and convicted of the murders in a widely publicized trial in 1996, despite their efforts to argue that the horrific attack was provoked by sexual abuse by their father and fear for their lives.

Now there’s a new season of the Ryan Murphy true-crime anthology, Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezhas once again drawn attention to their crimes.

The brothers have lived relatively quietly for the past three decades, at least compared to the media frenzy that enveloped them in the ’90s. But being locked up isn’t the end of their story: Since then, the pair have fought to get back together, found love with women through the prison mail system and uncovered new evidence that they hope will set them free.

After their convictions, the two were separated and sent to different prisons. In the intervening years, Lyle had repeatedly requested a transfer to join his brother. His request was finally granted in February 2018, when he was moved from Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where Erik had been since 2013.

The brothers were eventually moved to the same cell block on April 4, 2018, in what journalist Robert Rand reported was an emotional reunion for ABC News. When they saw each other, both brothers, who had previously communicated only by mail, “immediately burst into tears,” he said.

They can now see each other at meals and in the playground, Rand added.

They’ve also made friends in prison, like rapper and convicted murderer Anerae “X-Raided” Brown, who New York Post that Lyle and Erik became mentors to him. He said they encouraged him to take anger management classes and go to Narcotics Anonymous.

Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters’ Series: Were the Menendez Brothers Incestuous Lovers?

Not all inmates were charmed by the brothers’ personalities, however. Eugene Weems, who says he was friends with Lyle at Mule Creek State Prison, reportedly encouraged him to be more respectful toward other inmates.

“He’s a coward, he’s very disrespectful, he’s flamboyant and he thinks he’s better than everybody,” Weems told the After. “That’s how he is, this is the truth. I’ve been with him, we were friends.”

Besides friendship, the brothers also found love in prison.

Anna Eriksson, a Chicago-born model, first contacted Lyle during his trial, sending him a message saying, “Hang in there,” she reportedly told People from 1996.

“All I can say is that we have a connection, even though we never touched each other,” she also said.

Although the two married over the phone in 1996, but it was not official, their relationship ended in 2001 after Eriksson discovered that Lyle was having an affair with another woman.

That woman was Rebecca Sneed, a magazine editor turned lawyer. They had corresponded for nearly a decade before their November 2003 wedding, which took place in a prison visiting room.

“Our interactions are generally free of distractions, and we probably have more intimate conversations than most married couples,” Lyle said. People in 2017. “We try to talk on the phone every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I have a very stable, committed marriage that helps sustain me and brings me a lot of peace and joy. It’s a counterbalance to the unpredictable, very stressful environment here.”

Erik Menendez, like his brother, met his wife, Tammi Saccoman, through letters. The two quickly became close and married in 1999.

“You can’t imagine what it was like to never hear, ‘I love you,’ those first five years in prison. It makes you a colder, harder person,” Erik said. People in 2005. “Tammi’s love has pushed me to be a better person.”

Neither brother is eligible for conjugal visits.

While Erik and Lyle have long since adjusted to life behind bars, two new pieces of evidence have recently surfaced that breathe new life into their case.

One of these is a letter Erik reportedly wrote to his cousin Andy Cano in 1988, in which he appears to hint at his father’s abuse.

“I’ve tried to avoid Dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now… Every night I stay up thinking he might come in,” the letter reads. “I’m scared… He’s crazy. He’s warned me a hundred times not to tell anyone, especially Lyle.”

Cliff Gardner, one of the brothers’ attorneys, told CBS News that the new evidence supports the abuse allegations and lessens their culpability. He argues that the brothers should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder, which would have gotten them out of prison long ago.

The other piece of evidence is an affidavit from Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, in which he says he was also abused by the brothers’ father, José.

Both pieces of evidence were highlighted in a petition Gardner filed in May 2023 arguing that the brothers’ convictions should be overturned. CBS News reported that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the petition’s allegations.

Some with ties to the brothers are less than enthusiastic about their renewed quest for freedom.

Hector Bravo Ferrel, a former prison guard at the prison where the brothers are held, told the New York Post that he was not surprised by the move, saying it was in line with their “sense of entitlement.”

For Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez’s brother, the concern is more personal. “They don’t deserve to be walking this earth after killing my sister and brother-in-law,” he told the The New York Times.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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