Erik Menendez’ wife Tammi looks downcast as she’s seen for 1st time since brothers’ bid for freedom dealt crushing blow

ERIK Menendez’s wife appeared downcast and forlorn in exclusive pictures taken just days after the killer brothers and their families suffered a potential setback in their bid for freedom. 

Tammi Saccoman, who married the convicted killer in June 1999, has been outspoken about how she believes Erik should be released from jail before the end of his current sentence for killing parents Jose and Kitty with his brother Lyle.

The U.S. SunTammi Menendez was photographed in Las Vegas earlier this month[/caption]

The U.S. SunTammi Saccoman is pictured leaving work just days before her husband’s resentencing hearing[/caption]

ABC NewsTammi and Erik married in June 1999[/caption]

In pictures exclusive to The U.S. Sun, Tammi was seen looking solemn as she walked out of her red Tesla in Las Vegas.

The 62-year-old wore a black and purple quarter-zip top advertising her business with her bleach-blonde hair tucked behind her ears.

Erik and his brother Lyle were convicted of fatally shooting their parents with shotguns in their Los Angeles home on August 20, 1989. 

The brothers alleged that their father, famed RCA Records executive Jose Menendez, sexually abused both of them for years while their mother ignored the situation, leading them to kill their parents out of self-defense.

The duo’s initial 1993 trial was declared a mistrial, but when they were retried in 1995, the brothers were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Both Erik and Lyle were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate jails.

For years, the case seemed like a done deal until evidence resurfaced a year before a massive resurgence of public interest in the brothers’ case with thanks to Netflix.

In 2023, the Menendez brothers’ lawyer filed a habeas corpus petition, questioning whether the pair were being detained legally. 

The petition included a shocking letter from Erik to his cousin Andy Cano, which lawyers claims had the power to potentially free the brothers.

In the letter, which was allegedly sent eight months before the murders, Erik details the horrific abuse from his father.

“It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now,” he wrote. 

Although the letter was allegedly written months before the murder, it was not used as evidence in the second trial when the brothers were convicted.

The brothers and Tammi have publicly pushed the state to reconsider their sentence since the letter resurfaced, and since the Netflix show about Erik and Lyle sparked a furious interest in their case. 

Just last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom revealed he had ordered the state parole board to complete a comprehensive risk assessment investigation on the duo.

He said it would determine if the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk to public safety,” Fox News reported.

It came just days after California District Attorney Nathan Hochman called Erik’s letter into question in a stunning and unexpected takedown of the alleged evidence of abuse the family had been so reliant on.

Tammi was among the family members who slammed Hochman after they were blindsided by his resistance to resentencing the brothers in a sudden press conference last month.  

“We looked again at the credibility of the letters, particularly this Andy Cano 1988 supposed letter weighed in the continuum of lies, and it calls into drastic question whether this is in fact a 1988 letter written by Erik Menendez to Andy Cano about this sexual abuse,” Hochman said in the news conference. 

“If they had evidence that sex abuse had been communicated not just six years before the events, but nine months before the 1989 killings, it would absolutely have come out during one or both of the testimonies.”

The U.S. SunThe 62-year-old was seen in public for the first time since the California District Attorney announced his thoughts on new evidence in the Menendez case[/caption]

Hochman recommended that the judge in the Menendez brothers resentencing hearing – scheduled for March 20 – does not allow for a new trial and rejects the habeas petition.

He said he had not yet made a decision on whether he would recommend resentencing.

Tammi, who has always vehemently defended her husband, called out Hochman for his “misrepresentation of the truth.”

“Hochman is appearing on every news channel that will have him to discuss the Menendez case, insisting he’s treating it like any other case in his office,” she wrote on X. 

“Just another misrepresentation of the truth!”

MONSTERS CONTROVERSY

A massive wave of renewed interest in the Menendez brothers’ case emerged following the release of Ryan Murphy’s crime drama Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story earlier this year.

In the nine-episode series, the story of Erik and Lyle is portrayed by Cooper Koch and Nicholas Chavez. 

In the series, Murphy shows both the story of sexual abuse that the brothers told the court and the evidence that the prosecution brought to the table.

However, The Menendez brothers were not too pleased with how Murphy depicted them.

Tammi shared Erik’s belief that the show was a “dishonest portrayal” of the crimes.

Despite not having seen the show, Erik called it “a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episode nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations.”

Murphy replied to the long statement saying it must have been “hard” to watch his life played back. 

“I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show,” he said. 

“It’s really, really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up onscreen.”

HOW TAMMI MET ERIK

Despite being locked up, both brothers married, and Tammi has stood by her man for many years, even though they are not allowed conjugal visits.

Their contact began when she wrote to him in prison and they married on June 12, 1999, in the waiting room at Folsom State Prison, with a twinkie as their wedding cake.

They share a daughter, Talia, who considers Erik her father, although they aren’t biologically related.

Tammi has faced a lot of criticism throughout the relationship but has always defended the killer, even writing a book in 2005, They Said We’d Never Make It.

In an interview with NBC to promote the book, she admitted she has questioned herself over the years but called Erik her “best friend.”

She said, “Everybody questions me. You know, is she crazy? Is she nuts? You know I get all that and so it has been a very emotional experience. 

“The only one that supports me is my mother, and his family is supportive.  But other than that, it is very difficult…”

It is not known how often Tammi now visits her husband at the jail. 

The U.S. Sun understands Tammi runs a pet grooming business nearby and generally keeps a low profile.

Tammi has also launched a Discord channel called ‘The Menendez Hideaway’ in which Erik can communicate with his supporters with audio messages and live calls from prison.

The U.S. SunTammi has consistently defended her husband, Erik[/caption]

ABC NewsThe two share a daughter, Talia, together although Erik is not her biological father[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]