Erik Menendez Gives Rare Comments on Wife Tammi, ‘Precious’ Daughter In Prison Interview

Erik exchanged vows with Tammi Saccoman in 1999, while serving time for the murder of his parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez. In the years since, he has taken on a stepfather role to his wife’s daughter, Talia, who was just two when Erik and Tammi tied the knot.

Listen to the full interview with both brothers below:

Tammi first came up during the interview as Erik detailed his early days in prison, before sharing how his life has changed since.

“When I first came to prison, I wasn’t just sentenced to prison. I was sentenced to prison to never see my brother again, to never have a hope for freedom. I had to fend for myself in a very violent Level 4 — which is considered a maximum security prison — where I didn’t know anyone and I’m 600 miles away from any place that I’d ever really been to,” he explained.

“So I was very alone, afraid and prison was hard for me. I faced a lot of bullying, trauma. It was a dangerous environment,” he added. “And, fortunately, I had the love of a woman that came into my life and brought a little precious daughter.”

“I began to experience fatherhood and growth and begin to heal a lot of the self-hate and self-loathing that I dealt with all of my life,” shared Menendez, who, along with his brother, has long claimed they were the victims of abuse at the hands of their father.

“I didn’t come to prison healed, I came to prison dealing with the traumatic wounds of my past, the tragic crime that resulted, that I committed, I had to face all of those truths, somehow journey through that dark place of prison and try to figure out my traumas,” Erik continued in the interview, saying it was a “very, very difficult” journey with “a lot of starts and stops.”

“Frankly, it was very difficult. When I began to really work on myself and realize that I’m not flawed, that I’m not defective, there isn’t something inherently wrong with me, then the light began to open up really and I began to love myself again,” he said. “That frankly is what has given me hope. For people that are victims of severe childhood trauma, we live in the shadows and in this inner pain and in this silence where we have self-humiliation, self-condemnation and self-loathing.”

Over time, Erik said he was able to see himself as someone who is not only “capable of being loved,” but someone who “[deserves] love” as well. “Who I’ve evolved into, who I’ve seen Lyle evolve into, I’m beginning to like myself and be proud of myself and find it okay to like myself,” he continued.

“I’m striving to be a good person. I’m striving to be a better person every day and I want to be a person that my family can be proud of, for certain,” said Erik. “I want my daughter to be proud of me and my wife to be proud of me and my extended family to be proud of me and my brother to be proud of me. That’s who I am today.”

Ahead of their resentencing hearing next month — which could result in them being free men — Erik was asked what he hopes to do if released. For him, family is the main priority.

“I have a wife that stood by me for 25 years and she deserves me home. A daughter and my extended family,” he answered. “That’s the first thing I wanna do, is try to bring about love and healing in our family through just me being home and sitting down and spending time with the people that I love.”

On August 20, 1989, the Menendez Brothers brutally murdered their parents with two 12-gauge shotguns. They were both found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole.

Now, they have a shot at freedom, as former L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón requested back in October that they be resentenced after serving nearly 35 years behind bars. He recommended having their sentences changed to 50 years to life — which means, if the judge agrees, they would be eligible for parole immediately since they were under 26 at the time of the crimes.

The resentencing hearing has been set for March 20.