Lyle Menendez has a wife Rebecca Sneed by his side as he serves his life sentence for first-degree murder.

Before Lyle found love with Sneed, he made headlines after becoming a person of interest in the murder of his parents. Lyle and his brother, Eric Menendezwere indicted in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder.

Lyle started matching with the old model Anna Eriksson shortly after his arrest. Their whirlwind romance led the couple to marry almost a day before Erik and Lyle were sentenced. Ultimately, court and prison officials prevented the ceremony from taking place.

Two subsequent attempts were successful in the conviction of Erik and Lyle and a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Erik and Lyle, meanwhile, argued that their mother and father were physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and that their actions amounted to self-defense.

Related: Who are the Menendez brothers married to while in prison?

Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez both found partners while serving life sentences following a high-profile murder case. The Menéndez brothers were arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder after their parents – José and Kitty – were found shot to death in their home. Two (…)

On the day of his conviction in 1996Lyle secretly married Eriksson via conference call. The New York Times reported at the time that Lyle and Erik — who was his brother’s best man — made calls about the wedding while their defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, placed the ring on Eriksson’s finger for Lyle.

The California Department of Corrections, however, did not consider Lyle and Eriksson’s marriage legal. After five years of marriage, Eriksson filed for divorce in 2001 after discovering that Lyle was in contact with other women.

Sneed was one of the people Lyle wrote to after his arrest. They remained in touch and in 2003Lyle and Sneed were a married couple. Unlike Erik’s wife, Tammi MenendezSneed remained completely out of the public eye.

“People are judgmental and she has to put up with a lot,” Lyle said. People in 2017. “But she has the courage to face obstacles. It would be easier to leave, but I am deeply grateful that she doesn’t.

Sneed and Lyle now have a chance to reunite in person after the Los Angeles District Attorney recommended in October 2024 that a judge sentence Erik and Lyle to 50 years in prison, which could make them eligible for parole and release from prison.

Keep scrolling to relive Lyle and Sneed’s relationship:

1993

When Lyle first came into contact with her, Sneed was a magazine reporter who had written to her in prison. The couple became pen pals – and stayed in touch for 10 years – before they started dating and eventually exchanged vows.

2003

Lyle and Sneed got married two years after his divorce by Eriksson. Lyle was 35 and Sneed was 33 at the time of their wedding at Mule Creek State Prison. Over the years, Sneed moved from journalism to law. She is currently a lawyer and lives in California and visits Lyle every week.

2017

“Our interactions tend to be very distraction-free and we probably have more intimate conversations than most married spouses, who are distracted by life events,” Lyle said. People at the time about the lack of conjugal visits between him and Sneed. (California prisons allow conjugal visits, but prisoners serving life sentences without the possibility of parole do not enjoy such privileges. The law was changed in 2016, but since Erik and Lyle committed violent crime against a member of their family, they are still not eligible for the family visits program.)

Sneed, for his part, has not done any interviews and preferred to support Lyle while remaining out of public view.

Related: Erik and Lyle Menendez’s Family Guide: Who Supports Them and Who Doesn’t?

Most of Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez’s family stayed by their side after their high-profile murder case — but not everyone. Erik and Lyle’s parents, José Menéndez and Kitty Menéndez, were found dead in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. After Lyle called the police, authorities discovered that José had been shot six times and Kitty (… )

2017

While reflecting on his connection to Sneed, Lyle explained to ABC News how they manage to maintain their marriagesaying, “One thing I’ve learned is that your physical comfort is much less important than your connection with the people around you. I have discovered that I can have a healthy, complicated marriage built around conversation and finding creative ways to communicate, to share, without all the bells and whistles that are normally present in marriage, like going out to dinner and spending so much intimate time together. and so on.”

2024

While Erik and Lyle previous attempts to appeal their life sentences decision were refused, projects such as Ryan Murphythe controversial series of Monsters, The Menéndez brothers and others offered the brothers another chance at a possible resentencing.

One month after the release of MonstersLos Angeles District Attorney George Gascon announced in October 2024 that a new hearing had been scheduled due to new evidence in the Lyle and Erik murder case. Gascón provided the update late that same month when he recommended that Erik and Lyle’s sentences be reduced to 50 years, which could allow them to be released on parole if approved by a judge.