Menendez brothers make rare public remarks on podcast

LOS ANGELES - Erik and Lyle Menendez are speaking out about the "bullying" and "trauma" they've endured while spending the last 35 years behind bars.

In a rare interview on the "2 Angry Men" podcast, Erik shared insights on his experience during nearly three decades in California's prison system. 

What we know:

Erik, currently serving a life sentence without parole at California's Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, described prison as a "dangerous environment" where he faced significant bullying. 

He noted that such treatment is common for inmates not affiliated with prison gangs. Despite these challenges, Erik has been praised for his good behavior over the years.

The 54-year-old opened up about his initial experience in prison and explained that while he has a positive outlook now, that wasn't always the case.

"I believe that [the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] is doing their best, and I want to work with them. I know Lyle is, at really changing that culture today," he said. "But 25 years ago, it was an even darker, more dangerous place."

Conditions have improved over time, he added.

What they're saying:

"Prison was hard for me," Erik told TMZ's Harvey Levin and their attorney, Mark Geragos, who were hosting the podcast. 

"I faced a lot of bullying and trauma – it was a dangerous environment." 

He said he did his best to avoid fighting back or engaging with aggressive prisoners.

"I was picked on [and] bullied violently, and it was traumatic, and it was continual, and you know, those are things that a lot of inmates in prison go through when they're not part of a gang structure, and they come in and they're basically lone wolf you know they just have to be by themselves," he remarked.

"I was separated from Lyle, and I remember the day that I was told Lyle just got assaulted and got his jaw broken…I'm thinking he's over there, I'm going through this over here, and at least we could protect each other, maybe, if we were together. We were not even allowed to be together."

The brothers were reunited in April 2018, after Lyle was transferred from Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California — where he was sent after they were convicted of the killings in 1996 — to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where his brother had been since 2013.

Lyle discussed his involvement in a prison-based green space project and expressed cautious optimism about their upcoming resentencing hearings.

"My brother and I are cautiously hopeful," he said. "We're in prayer with our family, and we're hopeful, and we're just trying not to go a little crazy in the interim."

The backstory:

The Menendez brothers were found guilty in 1996 of the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989, and were ordered to serve life behind bars without the possibility of parole. 

Erik and Lyle — who were 18 years old and 21 years old at the time of the murders — claimed they acted in self-defense after suffering years of physical and sexual abuse by their father. 

In October, then-LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced his recommendation that the brothers be resentenced after an investigation into new evidence presented to the DA's office - allegations that their father also molested Roy Rossello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, in the 1980s, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, which surfaced in 2015, years after Cano's death - was presented.

Their names were thrust back into the spotlight thanks to Netflix’s hit drama "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" and a documentary on the streaming service, "The Menendez Brothers."

The other side:

While many relatives have forgiven the Menendez brothers and support their release, their mother's brother, 90-year-old Milton Andersen, remains opposed to any leniency.

Andersen, through his attorney, has said he rejects the defense claims about child abuse and agrees with trial prosecutors, who showed the brothers went on a $700,000 spending spree in the wake of their parents' deaths.

"It’s Milton Andersen’s continued belief that the claims of molestation were made up, and they were false, and he believes that the correct verdict was issued by the jury and the correct sentence was also committed," his attorney, Kathleen Cady, told Fox News Digital.

What's next:

The Menendez brothers are scheduled for resentencing hearings on March 20 and 21 in Los Angeles. These hearings have been postponed multiple times due to various circumstances, including wildfires and Nathan Hochman taking over as DA.

Additionally, the brothers have a separate habeas petition in the courts that could potentially lead to their release.

A court would need to approve the resentencing for it to become official, and the parole board would then need to OK their release before they could go free.