A former prisoner who lived with murderers Lyle and Erik Menendez revealed what they are really like.
The brothers were convicted of killing their parents in Beverly Hills in 1989 and are currently serving life sentences without parole since being convicted in 1996. Their trial was broadcasted around the world, making them household names. Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story premiered on September 19. Director Ryan Murphy re-told their story , but many viewers believed it was not portrayed the right way.
What happened behind prison walls , lies a far more complicated story, according to one of their former cellmates. Gerome Hendricks, now 56, spent two years living with the brothers at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, from 2022 to 2024, after he was jailed for domestic violence.
He shared a cell with both brothers and now - for the first time - he's sharing exclusive details about their personalities, prison life, and unresolved trauma.
Hendricks, from Rodeo, California, said: “Lyle doesn't have any regrets about anything. Not the murders or anything. He acted like it was nothing. And then I asked a question one time, I said, ‘Well, if your father was doing all this, why'd you kill your mother?’ You didn't really get no answer to that.”
According to Hendricks, Lyle remains as arrogant as ever. He described him as someone who manipulates Erik, despite being only three years his senior.
Hendricks said: “He still has control over Erik," noting that the younger brother will cover for Lyle in illegal prison activities. He continued: "He would kind of run the show. Erik would run behind him with certain things. But Lyle, he’s real arrogant … he would be what you consider, I guess, the alpha dog of the brothers.”
The former inmate added: "I mean, there's a story everybody on the prison yard knows how Lyle stuck a toothbrush up Erik’s butt when they were teenagers."
Hendricks explained that Lyle’s reputation as a high-profile inmate makes him a target.
He revealed: "He ain’t gonna fight nobody. You got guys in there that are pressing him, charging him, because they know who he is now. Nobody’s messing with him or picking on him, but they know if you deal with them, your cell is on the hot list. You’re gonna have the police coming to your cell."
Hendricks then detailed an incident where Lyle’s cell was raided by the prison’s investigative unit early in the morning on September 12, 2023. Hendricks claimed that they found "so many cell phones" and that the confiscated contraband was worth upwards of $10,000. Despite the severity of the consequences, Lyle always seemed to regain control.
He said: "It’s like how Donald Trump can get into stuff and nothing happens. That’s like Lyle.”
Hendricks said prisoners attend meetings to “get in touch with your feelings" - everything from domestic violence groups to anger management. But Lyle “doesn't go to any of those groups because he figures he has everything under control."
Hendricks said: "He's hoping that he'll get released through the courts, but nobody in there thinks he'll get released because he was the main dude. People feel Erik might get released because he’s younger. He's in the UC Irvine program that they have up there." He continued: "Both of them are, but Lyle will pay people to do his work. He cuts a lot of corners - real arrogance."
Hendricks also notes that Lyle drinks "gallons and gallons of alcohol" every night smuggled in by prison guards and visitors, adding: "Erik isn’t a big drinker but he loves that crystal meth.” He recalled a time when Lyle tried to involve him in contraband activities, offering him money in exchange for watching out for guards.
Hendricks said: “He [Lyle] said, ‘Why don’t you sit out here and watch for us, and I’ll pay you $150 a month just to let me know if the police are coming'."
Hendricks turned him down and it's the reason he lost respect for Lyle. He said that to Lyle, "people are expendable. Erik, on the other hand, has more empathy, more compassion."
Erik’s internal conflict became evident during late-night conversations in their shared cell. Hendricks recounted a night where Erik told him about an encounter with Jesus and that's what made Eric "turn his whole life around."
Hendricks said: "He said he couldn’t take it anymore — it was driving him crazy."
Hendricks notes both brothers struggle with the inability to face the horrors of their past and "can't stand to be in a room when it’s quiet."
He said: "They always want the room to have a lot of music or noise. Lyle said it’s the voices in his head."
Hendricks also recalled a celebrity visit to the prison — a “friend” of the Menendez brothers.
“Rosie O'Donnell came up to the prison yard in 2023 towards the end of summer. So, I want to say somewhere between August and September, Rosie came up there because she's a friend of the Menendez brothers. They have this project — they call it a beautification project — where they're trying to do a lot of painting on the yard to make it look nice, trying to get some artificial turf, turn the prison into looking like a park, so to say.”
Both brothers, however, still face the harsh reality of prison life. Hendricks says while Erik has shown more personal growth, Lyle is still the same man who murdered his parents.
“The only person I think might get out of this situation is Erik,” Hendricks said. “I don’t think Lyle will ever get out because he was the mastermind behind all this. He hasn’t done the work. He can’t outtalk the board of prison terms because they see through it. But with the courts, he can have a few attorneys, and maybe he can slick talk his way with a jury.”
Erik, however, might stand a better chance due to his visible remorse and participation in prison programs, he believes. "Lyle hasn’t done the groups or the work to show real change. Erik, on the other hand, has. He’s more sincere.”
Having lived with the brothers for two years, Hendricks speaks from experience, balancing between understanding and disillusionment.
“I ain’t got no bad feelings, but I know the truth. By living with him for two years, I know how they get down. Lyle will throw somebody under the bus in a heartbeat. Lyle loves the spotlight," he added.
Hendricks, who was paroled on June 23 of this year, went on: “He’s real greedy. But the truth is, he’s still the same person.”
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