Lyle Menendez’s secret prison wedding ends in a cheating scandal
Convicted murderer Lyle Menendez married top model Anna Eriksson behind bars in a surprise ‘proxy wedding’ – but their union was not happily ever after love.
Now, RadarOnline.com can reveal that the couple’s love has imploded due to a scandalous extramarital affair.
Lyle and his brother Erik are both serving life sentences for the brutal 1989 murders of their wealthy parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, at the family’s sprawling Beverly Hills mansion.
The brothers shot their parents at point-blank range in what prosecutors say was a cold-blooded attempt to inherit their parents’ fortune.
Despite their claims of self-defense, citing years of alleged abuse, the nation watched the trials on television, fascinated by the gruesome details and the brothers’ behavior in the courtroom.
As the trial gained national attention, the Menendez brothers became the object of admiration from some viewers. The letters poured in and for Lyle, one note would change everything.
Enter Anna Eriksson, a beautiful model from Chicago who reached out to Lyle during his first trial and offered words of comfort. In a heartfelt letter, she simply told him, “Hang in there.”
Eriksson, who started modeling at the age of 14, had seen Lyle’s trial on television and, feeling sympathy for the attention he was missing compared to his brother, he began writing to him. What started as a simple exchange of letters quickly grew into an unlikely romance.
Eriksson soon moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a contract manager for a record company while her bond with Lyle deepened – despite the bars between them.
In a bizarre turn of events, the couple married in a secret “proxy wedding” on July 2, 1996, the same day Lyle and Erik were sentenced to life in prison.
In the presence of Erik’s attorney, Leslie Abramson, and the brothers’ aunt, the ceremony took place remotely via telephone. However, the marriage was immediately challenged by prison officials, who claimed it was not valid.
The relationship did not last long and in 2001, Eriksson filed for divorce, citing Lyle’s infidelity.
Despite being locked up, Lyle had been exchanging letters with other women, and Eriksson wasn’t having it. She disappeared from the public eye after the divorce, while Lyle quickly moved on.
Not one to stay single for long, Lyle began a new relationship with Rebecca Sneed, a former magazine editor who had written to him for years. The couple married in 2003, just two years after his divorce from Eriksson, this time at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California. They have been together ever since.
While Lyle has endured two marriages behind bars, his brother Erik has remained faithful to the same woman he met at the start of his trial in 1993.
But both brothers’ weddings were far from traditional, as California law prohibits conjugal visits for prisoners serving life sentences.
The Menendez brothers have recently been back in the spotlight thanks to Ryan Murphys new Netflix drama Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.
Not everyone is happy with the attention. Erik Menendez recently expressed his disappointment and criticized the series for perpetuating untruths about their lives.
