A rundown of the three wives Lyle and Erik Menendez have had in prison

Lyle married a model who divorced him because he was writing letters to other women

2 months ago

Despite serving life sentences for the murders of their parents, both Lyle and Erik Menendez have found wives and have got married whilst behind bars. The brothers have been locked up since 1990, but have had multiple relationships whilst in jail.

During the Netflix series Monsters, we saw Lyle in a relationship with a former girlfriend called Jamie. That came to an end, and after Lyle was sentenced to life he went on to marry two women, one of whom he is still with today. Erik was also shown in the series having interest from women from behind bars, and one of these women would go on to be his wife.

So here is a rundown of the wives Lyle and Erik Menendez have had, and all the times they have been married whilst in prison.

via Netflix

Lyle Menendez married Anna Eriksson in 1996

Lyle married his first wife Anna Eriksson in 1996, and they were together until 2001. She was a former salon receptionist turned model, and according to The Sun, Anna wrote a letter to Lyle during his and Erik’s first trial.

In 1994, Anna Eriksson moved to LA to be closer to Lyle in jail, and there she got a job at a record label. They married on July 2nd 1996 – the exact day Lyle was sentenced to life in prison. Menendez lawyer Leslie Abramson attended the ceremony, which took place over speakerphone.

In 2001, Anna Eriksson filed for divorce, and cited the reason as being that Lyle had cheated on her – she alleged he had been writing letters to other women without her knowing.

Erik Menendez married Tammi Saccoman in 1999

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In the Netflix series Monsters, we saw Erik receive a letter from a woman called Tammi. This did happen in real life, and Tammi would go on to become his wife.

Tammi started off as pen pal for Erik whilst he was in jail, and her first letter came to his cell whilst Erik was on trial for the first time. In an interview, Erik said he received “thousands” of letters, but he believes in soulmates and something about Tammi’s “stood out”.

He explained their relationship started as a friendship, as she was married. Tammi began writing to Erik with permission from her husband. They lost touch for a while after Erik’s conviction, and Erik later found out this was because Tammi’s husband had died by suicide. Her husband had allegedly raped their teenage daughter, before turning himself into police and taking his own life.

Erik then received a letter from Tammi explaining what had happened, and the pair “grew closer”. The couple first met in person in August 1997, after corresponding for multiple years. In 1998 Erik proposed, and a year later, the couple married in prison.

“Tammi’s love has propelled me to become a better person. I want to be the greatest possible husband to her,” Erik told PEOPLE in 2005. “And this affects the choices I make every day in prison. Tammi has taught me how to be a good husband.”

Lyle Menendez married Rebecca Sneed in 2003

Two years after getting divorced, Lyle married Rebecca Sneed. At the time, a prison spokesman told the Associated Press that Lyle had known his bride for around 10 years. About a dozen friends and family members were witnesses to the wedding, in a maximum security visiting area.

Rebecca was a journalist when she first started communications with Lyle, and their relationship started as letters. Since marrying Lyle, she has reportedly become an attorney, lives close to the prison, and visits her husband weekly in prison.

“Our interaction tends to be very free of distractions and we probably have more intimate conversations than most married spouses do, who are distracted by life’s events,” Lyle told PEOPLE in 2017. “We try and talk on the phone every day, sometimes several times a day. I have a very steady, involved marriage and that helps sustain me and brings a lot of peace and joy. It’s a counter to the unpredictable, very stressful environment here.”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.