Erik Menendez, a focus of Netflix's 'Monsters' season two, got married in prison. What to know about this wife.
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- In 1996, Lyle and Erik Menéndez were convicted for the 1989 murder of their parents.
- The case is the focus of Netflix's "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story."
- Here's what to know about Erik Menendez's wife, Tammi Menendez.
"Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" examines the lives of two brothers who in 1996 were convicted of murdering their parents.
The series mainly focuses on the events as they happened, but it has reignited interest in the case and those with ties to the brothers.
Lyle and Erik Menéndez are serving prison sentences for shooting their parents, Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez. Both brothers got married while incarcerated.
Here's what to know about Erik Menendez's wife, Tammi Menendez, née Tammi Ruth Saccoman.
Erik Menendez married Tammi Menendez in 1999.
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Erik Menendez married Tammi Menendez in 1999 in the visiting room of the Folsom prison in Sacramento. He was 28, and she was 37.
The relationship started when they became penpals, and in 2005 Tammi told MSNBC that they were friends before they got married.
"We did get very close through letters and then you know the relationship moved forward when I did meet him. But it was the correspondence that he became a really good friend of mine and understood what I was going through and I understood what he was going through," she explained. "And then after I met him things you know got more and more intense, so it's you know through letters, you know, your constraint to letter writing."
In 2005, Tammi told People how she learned in 1996 that her husband, Chuck Saccoman, had been sexually abusing her daughter from her previous marriage since she was 15. Saccoman handed himself in to the police and died by suicide two days later. Tammi Menendez, who went by Saccoman at the time, was left as a single parent to their daughter, Talia Saccoman.
After the incident, Tammi Menendez's connection with Erik grew deeper. She said: "I reached out to Erik. He comforted me; our letters started taking on a more serious tone."
In a separate 2005 interview with People, Erik Menendez said that he worked hard to make their relationship work because of the lack of intimacy.
"Tammi has taught me how to be a good husband. There is no makeup sex, only a 15-minute phone call, so you really have to try to make things work," he said.