Convicted assassin Lyle Menendez tied the knot behind bars with high mannequin Anna Eriksson in a shock “proxy marriage ceremony” — however their union wasn’t love fortunately ever after.
Now, RadarOnline.com can reveal the couple’s love fell imploded over a scandalous extramarital affair.
Lyle and his brother, Erik, are each serving life sentences for the brutal 1989 murders of their rich dad and mom, Kitty and Jose Menendez, on the household’s sprawling Beverly Hills mansion.
The brothers shot their dad and mom at point-blank vary in what prosecutors argued was a cold-blooded try to inherit their dad and mom’ fortune.
Regardless of their claims of self-defense, citing years of alleged abuse, the nation watched the trials unfold on tv, captivated by the grotesque particulars and the brothers’ courtroom demeanor.
Because the trial gained nationwide consideration, the Menendez brothers grew to become the article of admiration from some viewers. Letters poured in, and for Lyle, one word would change every little thing.
Enter Anna Eriksson, a surprising mannequin from Chicago who reached out to Lyle throughout his first trial, providing phrases of consolation. In a heartfelt missive, she merely instructed him: “Dangle powerful.”
Eriksson, who began modeling at 14, had seen Lyle’s televised trial and, feeling sympathy for the eye he lacked in comparison with his brother, started writing to him. What began as a easy alternate of letters shortly blossomed into an unlikely romance.
Eriksson quickly moved to Los Angeles, working as a contract administrator for a document firm, all whereas her connection to Lyle deepened — regardless of the bars between them.
In a weird flip of occasions, the pair married in a secret “proxy marriage ceremony” on July 2, 1996, the identical day Lyle and Erik have been sentenced to life in jail.
Witnessed by Erik’s legal professional, Leslie Abramson, and the brothers’ aunt, the distant ceremony befell over the cellphone. The wedding, nevertheless, was instantly disputed by jail officers, who claimed it was not legitimate.
The connection didn’t final, and by 2001, Eriksson filed for divorce, citing Lyle’s unfaithfulness.
Regardless of being locked away, Lyle had been exchanging letters with different girls, and Eriksson wasn’t having it. She vanished from the general public eye after the divorce, whereas Lyle shortly moved on.
Not one to remain single for lengthy, Lyle began one other relationship with Rebecca Sneed, a former journal editor who had been writing to him for years. The pair married in 2003, simply two years after his break up from Eriksson, this time at Mule Creek State Jail in Ione, California. They have been collectively ever since.
Whereas Lyle has navigated two marriages from behind bars, his brother Erik has remained dedicated to the identical lady he met in the beginning of his trial in 1993.
However each brothers’ marriages have been removed from conventional, as California legislation prohibits conjugal visits for inmates serving life sentences.
The Menendez brothers have not too long ago been again within the highlight because of Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Not everyone seems to be thrilled with the eye. Erik Menendez not too long ago voiced his disappointment, criticizing the sequence for perpetuating falsehoods about their lives.