LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lyle and Erik Menendez were 21 and 18 when they killed their parents. Now, at 57 and 54, the brothers are eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge Tuesday reduced their sentences from life in prison without parole to 50 years to life.
In August 1989, the brothers killed their father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said they killed their parents for a substantial inheritance.
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FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez leave a courtroom in Santa Monica, Calif., Aug. 6, 1990, after a judge ruled that conversations between the brothers and their psychologist after their parents were slain were not privileged and could be used as evidence. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Galen Menendez sit in Beverly Hills, Calif., courtroom, May 14, 1990 as a judge postponed their preliminary hearing on charges of murdering their parents last August. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Family and supporters of Erik and Lyle Menendez leave court for a lunch break during a hearing in the brothers' case Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Anamaria Baralt, left, cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez, left, gets a hug as she leaves the courthouse after the brothers' resentencing hearing Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP, File)
The saga has captured the public’s attention over the decades, spawning documentaries and television specials, as the brothers have lived out their adult years in incarceration.
Here's what to know about their lives and what lies ahead:
After moving from New Jersey, the family settled into a multi-million dollar Spanish-style mansion in the wealthy Beverly Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Jose Menendez, was a powerful entertainment executive, and his wife, Kitty, a former beauty queen he met in college.
At the time, Lyle was attending Princeton University but struggling academically, and Erik was a young tennis star.
In the aftermath of the killings, the family discovered Jose Menendez's 1981 will, which left everything to the two brothers. An opinion from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals details the spending spree that Erik and Lyle went on, thinking they were poised to inherit millions.
Lyle bought three Rolex watches, a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, and a restaurant in Princeton, New Jersey, while Erik purchased a Jeep Wrangler and hired a full-time tennis coach, according to the court document.
The brothers addressed the lavish spending in a Netflix documentary, “The Menendez Brothers,” that came out last October.
“The idea that I was having a good time is absurd,” Erik said in a recorded phone call from prison. “Everything was to cover up this horrible pain of not wanting to be alive.”
The family said that in reality there was no inheritance — whatever assets Jose had were gobbled up by legal fees and taxes, and both of his properties were sold at a loss.
Lyle Menendez was transferred to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County in 2018, reuniting him with Erik Menendez, who was brought there in 2013.
Before that Lyle spent decades housed at Mule Creek State Prison in northern California, while Erik was at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California. They could only keep in touch through letters.
Anerae Brown, who spent time at both facilities as an inmate, described Pleasant Valley as a segregated and “hyperviolent environment" while testifying at the brothers' resentencing hearing. There was one instance where Brown was attacked by five men with weapons.
Doing the things that Erik participated in, such as school and self-help classes, would put a target on one's back, Brown said.
Lyle Menendez first married Anna Erickson, a former model, in 1996 before he surrendered to prison. They divorced in 2001.
In 2008, he married attorney Rebecca Sneed. She announced on Facebook last November that the two had separated but “remain best friends and family.”
She continues to run his Facebook page, where she has posted updates on the brothers' resentencing case.
Erik Menendez married Tammi Menendez in 1999 after corresponding with her as a pen pal for years. She has a daughter from her first marriage, and both were at court Tuesday for the brothers' resentencing hearing.
Conjugal visits are prohibited for those sentenced to life without parole under California law.
If the brothers are released from prison, their cousin, Diane Hernandez, and several family members said they would welcome the brothers into their homes.
They also would immediately visit their aging aunts, Hernandez said.
Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez's sister, is now 93 and has been calling for Erik and Lyle's release since last fall. Her health has deteriorated since then, Hernandez said.
Terry Baralt, Jose Menendez's sister, has been battling cancer and was recently hospitalized after attending a hearing in April. Her cancer recently advanced to Stage 4, her daughter said in court.
Lyle Menendez said at his resentencing hearing Tuesday that he longs to reunite with his relatives.
“I look forward to be able to reunite with my extended family and continue the journey of healing that has sustained me through my incarceration,” he said.
The brothers have also indicated they would continue the work they started in prison that has supported fellow inmates to help others in society. Lyle said he hoped to advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and serve the incarcerated community.
Tamara Goodell, another cousin, said in court that Lyle was excited to expand the Green Space Project he had started at the Richard J. Donovan facility to other prisons. The project was inspired by the Norwegian approach to incarceration that believes humane prison environments leads to more successful reintegration into society.
Erik Menendez has said he would like to expand the Life Care and Hospice program he co-founded, which connects elderly and disabled inmates with younger inmates to serve as aids.
“At a certain point, something shifted in me," Erik said. "I started living with purpose.”
FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez leave a courtroom in Santa Monica, Calif., Aug. 6, 1990, after a judge ruled that conversations between the brothers and their psychologist after their parents were slain were not privileged and could be used as evidence. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Galen Menendez sit in Beverly Hills, Calif., courtroom, May 14, 1990 as a judge postponed their preliminary hearing on charges of murdering their parents last August. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Family and supporters of Erik and Lyle Menendez leave court for a lunch break during a hearing in the brothers' case Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Anamaria Baralt, left, cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez, left, gets a hug as she leaves the courthouse after the brothers' resentencing hearing Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, starting in his first term, but hasn't followed through. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
