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How Erik, Lyle Menendez Will Celebrate Thanksgiving in Prison as They Inch Closer to Possible Release
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s Thanksgiving may be their last holiday behind bars — and In Touch has the details on the celebration inside their California prison.
In Touch obtained the menu for what will be served to inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.
The inmates will not be missing out despite being locked up. The Thanksgiving menu includes the option of turkey or ham for the main course.
The sides for the meal include green salad, fresh mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet corn, dinner rolls and cranberry sauce. Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, will get to select from assorted pies for dessert.
As In Touch previously reported, the brothers have been eating quite nicely while serving their time. The menus for October revealed lunch options of roasted chicken, lunch meat sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The dinner options included from cheese pizza, beef patties, chicken breast and fish. The inmates were even treated to a lemon cake on the weekend with their dinner.
Erik and Lyle have both been serving their respective life sentences at the same prison since 2018. Erik has been at the facility since 2013 and Lyle joined him in 2018.
The duo was convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. A judge sentenced them to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Erik and Lyle have claimed they were victims of their father’s abuse. The brothers filed a petition to have their conviction overturned after a former boy band member also spoke out against Jose.
In 2023, Roy Rosselló, who was in the band Menudo, came forward to accuse Jose of sexual abuse.
“Frankly, to be honest, I feel horrible. It’s sad to know there was another victim of my father,” Erik said. “I always hoped and believed that one day the truth about my dad would come out, but I never wished for it to come out like this — the result of trauma another child has suffered. It makes me very sad.”
Erik and Lyle used Roy’s accusations, along with a newly-discovered letter that Erik wrote to a relative describing the alleged abuse, in their petition. In October, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon announced his office’s decision to recommend Lyle and Erik be resentenced.
The District Attorney said at a press conference, “Today, as we move forward with the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who have spent 35 years behind bars after being convicted in 1996 for the killing of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, we must acknowledge the deep pain and suffering experienced by the victims’ families. For decades, they have navigated the grief of their unimaginable loss. We also acknowledge Erik and Lyle’s continuous rehabilitative efforts during their incarceration.”
Sources close to Lyle and Erik told In Touch that their family is desperate for the brothers to reunite with their elderly relatives before it’s too late.
An insider told In Touch the family hopes Lyle and Erik will be able to reunite their 92-year-old aunt, Joan Andersen VanderMolen. The source said the brothers also have an 85-year-old aunt, Terry Baralt, in the middle of a cancer battle.
“This could be the last chance,” the source said.
