LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik and Lyle Menendez have lived more time behind bars than free.
Since their arrest over 35 years ago for the double murder of their parents in their Beverly Hills, California, home, the brothers have gotten an education, participated in self-help classes and started various support groups for their fellow inmates.
Their attorneys plan to highlight their behavior during their time in prison when they argue before a Los Angeles judge on Thursday and Friday for a reduced sentence that could lead to their release.
The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 after killing their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez.
While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Former District Attorney George Gascón gave them another chance when he asked the court to consider a new sentence for the brothers, one that would make them immediately eligible for parole.
A resentencing petition filed by Gascón’s office gives a detailed view of their time locked up and their efforts at rehabilitation. Both brothers have received commendations and statements of support from correctional officers who have observed their behavior in prison.
Correctional Lieutenant Victor Cortes wrote of Lyle’s “exceptional conduct, a high degree of character and trustworthiness” in an April 2024 memo supporting his resentencing.
“As far as I can perceive from my professional training as a correctional peace officer, Erik Menendez is a rehabilitated man who humbly strives toward helping those in need,” Corrections Officer D. Rosario said in a March 2016 memo, according to the resentencing petition.
Gascón’s successor, Nathan Hochman, doesn't agree. He submitted a motion last month to withdraw the resentencing request, and prosecutors argued during last Friday’s hearing they could not support the brothers’ resentencing.
Lyle has not been in a single fight in the 30 years he has been in prison, according to prison records that noted that he had to be moved to a Special Needs Yard in 1997 because “he wouldn’t fight back when attacked."
Both brothers have the lowest possible risk assessment and raw security risk scores for inmates serving a life sentence, according to the resentencing petition.
Unlike his brother, Erik was cited for two fights among his eight violations in prison. Lyle has had five violations, according to the resentencing petition. Some of these violations include possessing a cellphone and contraband such as a lighter or Adidas shoes.
During the first few years of his time in prison, Erik completed numerous victim empathy, anger management and domestic violence programs.
Lyle became involved in leadership roles early on and served as Representative for Prisoners in Northern California prisons in 2003, according to associate warden B. Holmes in a 2017 memo cited in the resentencing petition.
“For over 10 years serving in that capacity, he has worked productively with the administration to foster a positive programming culture at Mule Creek State Prison," Holmes said.
Erik cofounded the Life Care and Hospice connections support group in 2016 with the goal of providing support for elderly and disabled inmates and developing more compassion and understanding between them and their able-bodied peers, the resentencing petition said.
“Because even behind bars, he believes in compassion and dignity,” his cousin Anamaria Baralt said at a news conference last month.
According to community resource manager Crystal Lopez, Erik authored the whole curriculum and eventually developed a new 126-page manual for the program in 2023.
Erik also started two meditation programs and has become the lead facilitator for Alternatives to Violence, an in-prison conflict resolution workshop. At one point, he was teaching five different classes a week, the resentencing petition said.
Lyle founded a program in 2016 that focuses on helping other inmates understand their childhood trauma and discuss topics like experiencing sex abuse as children as well as Youth LWOP Ally, a mentorship group of youth offenders with sentences of life without possibility of parole mentoring other youth working on their rehabilitation goals.
At the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, Lyle spearheaded the Green Space Project beginning in 2018, which aims to beautify prison yards to create an environment better suited for reducing violence and recidivism.
Their project was inspired by the Norwegian approach to incarceration that believes humane prison environments leads to more successful reintegration into society.
“Over 100 inmates participated, marking the first time prison administration entrusted an inmate to lead such a redesign,” Baralt said during a virtual news conference in February.
He worked with local businesses and all levels of prison administration to raise more than $250,000 for the project, and he partnered with Guide Dogs of America to raise $100,000 for artificial grass, according to the resentencing petition.
Erik is the lead painter for a massive mural that depicts San Diego landmarks.
The final product will include outdoor classrooms, rehabilitation-group meeting spaces and training areas for service dogs.
Lyle graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor of arts in sociology earlier this year and earned an associate degree in sociology previously. He is currently enrolled in a master’s program where he studies urban planning and recidivism, and the Green Space program is part of his capstone project.
Erik was accepted into UC Irvine for the fall 2023 term and will graduate in June with a bachelor of arts in sociology. Prior to that, he earned associate degrees in sociology and social and behavioral science, as well as a health care aide diploma.
“They've taken a really horrible situation and while they are still in prison, they took that deck of hards and made it a winning hand for themselves,” their cousin Tamara Goodall said.
FILE - This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Department of Corrections via AP, File)
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.
Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.
Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.
“No sentence can restore what was taken, but today’s outcome delivers a necessary measure of justice,” said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. “Wadee was an innocent child. He was targeted because of who he was—Muslim, Palestinian, and loved."
Czuba did not speak during the sentencing. Czuba's attorney, Lenard, declined comment. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office issued a statement calling Czuba a “morally reprehensible killer" and the impact of his actions “truly unfathomable.”
The boy's great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.
Yousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, prosecutors said during the trial.
Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.
The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.
Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.
Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.
“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.
The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.
Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.
Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
Yousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn’t understand what “fake news” Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.
“Some people are bringing this war to this country,” Yousef said. “We cannot do that. We can’t bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop.”
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of ‘Mahmoud.'
Odai Al Fayoumi, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Will County Prosecutor Christopher Koch exits the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Joseph Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
FILE - Wadee Alfayoumi's father, Oday Al Fayoume, seated right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadee at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
