News April 07, 2025
Lyle & Erik Menendez Say They Have ‘Hope for the Future’ in Prison Interview
Getty Images
In an exclusive 35 years in the making, Lyle and Erik Menendez are sitting down for a joint interview, speaking out about their last chance at freedom in “TMZ Presents: The Menendez Brothers: The Prison Interview.”
“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with Harvey Levin about the special, whether the brothers would be a threat if released, and their last chance at freedom heating up with a re-sentencing rapidly approaching later this month.
In the interview, Lyle shared, “Hope for the future is really kind of a new thing for us. I think Erik would probably agree with that. It’s not something we’ve spent a lot of time on.”
“You never know how long you’ve been blessed to be on the earth, so we don’t just sit around waiting for something,” Lyle emphasized.
After more than 30 years in prison, the brothers believe they have been rehabilitated.
Erik commented, “I’m striving to be a better person every day, and I want to be a person that my family can be proud of. Who I’ve evolved into, who I’ve seen Lyle evolve into, I’m beginning to like myself, be proud of myself, and find it’s okay to like myself.”
Levin shared how his views on the brothers have changed over time, saying, “I had a very different impression of them 35 years ago when I covered the trial and I thought they were spoiled brats and monsters. My interactions with them 35 years later, they are totally different people.”
In 1996, Erik and Lyle were convicted of killing their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989. They are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Erik and Lyle’s resentencing hearing is fast approaching, even though L.A. District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposes their release until they admit to what he says are lies they’ve been telling for 3 decades, including their claims of self-defense.
Will the brothers meet Hochman’s demands?
Harvey noted, “The way Eric and Lyle’s team sees it, they’ve already confessed to those lies… I don’t think Hochman matters that much at the parole board.”
The murder case has renewed interest thanks to Ryan Murphy’s sensational “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and the Netflix documentary “The Menendez Brothers.”
As for Lyle and Erik’s reaction to Murphy’s show, Harvey said, “They know about it and they say the benefit to them was that it got into what happens inside those four walls.”
