Erik Menendez Details Alleged ‘Bullying & Trauma’ in Prison

Erik and Lyle Menendez have been in prison for 35 years, and they say they have faced some trauma behind bars.

In a phone interview with TMZ’s podcast “2 Angry Men,” Erik opened up on the alleged abuse that they allegedly endured while in prison.

Erik told his lawyer Mark Geragos and Harvey Levin, who are co-hosting the podcast, “Prison was hard for me. I faced a lot of bullying and trauma. It was a dangerous environment."

“I was picked on, bullied violently, and it was traumatic and it was continual. Those are things that a lot of inmates in prison go through when they're not part of a gang structure and they come in and they're basically lone wolves — they just have to be by themselves,” Menendez elaborated. 

Once they were convicted for the murders of their parents in 1996, the brothers were separated from each other in prison.

Erik noted, “Prison can be hard, and there's a lot of suffering in prison. I'm not gonna fight back, I'm not going to engage, and I had no one really to turn to for help, and I was separated from Lyle.”

Recalling their time apart, Erik shared, “I remember the day that I was told, 'Lyle just got assaulted and got his jaw broken.' I'm thinking, 'He's over there, I'm going through this over here, and at least we could protect each other maybe if we were together,' but we were not even allowed to be together. So, it was difficult.”

Erik and Lyle couldn’t reunite until 2018 when they were both housed at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.

While Erik described prison as a “dark, more dangerous place” 25 years ago, he noted that conditions have gotten better, saying, “I believe that [the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] is doing their best, and I want to work with them. I know Lyle is, at really changing that culture today.”

In March, Erik and Lyle will be back in court for a resentencing hearing, which could determine their future in prison.

While former DA George Gascon recommended resentencing, newly elected L.A. DA Nathan Hochman wants to do his own review of the case.

Lyle also appeared on the podcast, who discussed their potential resentencing and release from prison.

He said, “My brother and I are cautiously hopeful. We're in prayer with our family, and we're hopeful, and we're just trying not to go a little crazy in the interim."