Not Only Are the Menendez Brothers Married, but One Has Gotten Hitched Twice

As the saying goes, there's a lid for every pot. If that doesn't help someone feel better about not being in a relationship, perhaps the marital statuses of Erik and Lyle Menendez will. The infamous Menendez brothers were both handed two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of murdering their parents in August 1989. Since then, countless books, documentaries, podcasts, and series have told their story from various angles.

We have learned much about Erik and Lyle, whose trial helped launch Court TV, but what about their personal lives behind bars? Believe it or not, the California penal system is very accommodating when it comes to facilitating relationships between prisoners and non-prisoners. Erik and Lyle have even been able to date, despite their violent histories. This begs the question, are the Menendez brothers married? Let's get into it.

As of this writing, both Erik and Lyle Menendez are married. Erik has been married to his wife, Tammi Menendez, since 1997, per NBC News. When Erik first got to prison, he was receiving thousands of letters, but for some reason Tammi's stood out. She told NBC's Dan Abrams in 2005 that "I didn‘t set out to have a relationship with Erik, but it‘s something that happened."

Per California state law there are no conjugal visits for Erik or Lyle, but Tammi said she gets plenty of emotional support from Erik. "He‘s my best friend," she told Abrams. It's difficult at times, and Tammi admitted to questioning herself often, but ultimately she and Erik are in love. When asked about the murders, Tammi said she's troubled by them, but knows that Erik is a good person. She believes many people in his and Lyle's position might have done the same.

According to The U.S. Sun, Lyle's future first wife decided to write him a letter after noticing how much attention Erik was getting. Anna Erikkson said she felt sorry for them. "I was watching the lawyers thanking people for all these letters of support Erik got. I thought to myself, 'What about Lyle?'" Like Erik, a relationship grew by way of exchanging letters, and the two were married in 1996 on the day Erik was sentenced. They divorced five years later when Erikkson discovered Erik was writing to other women.

One of those women is Rebecca Sneed, who Erik met in 1993. At the time she was a magazine editor and the two remained friends for a decade until they married in 2003. She eventually became a defense attorney and briefly lived with Tammi, but according to Bustle, the two didn't like each other. Sneed has been far more private about her relationship than Tammi. Perhaps that's why the two of them didn't get along. Still they have one thing in common, and that's being married to a Menendez brother.