Erik Menendez wife – Erik Menendez has been a household name for decades, infamous for the 1989 murders of his parents. For decades Erik sat in prison. A prison sentence is all a prisoner would think to avoid love, and it does not because, in 1999, Erik married Tammi Saccoman; the most unlikely of marriages captured public fascination.
Today, at 63, Tammi entered Erik’s life at one of his lowest moments. In the early 1990s, Erik and his brother Lyle went on trial for killing their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. The media storm over the trial was quite the whirlwind that created attention when Tammi reached out to Erik through a letter of sympathy. She had no idea that would be the port of entry for a deep emotional connection that led her to marriage with him.
A Love Born Behind Bars
Tammi had personal tragedies of her own. She had just lost her husband to his own hands, having taken his life while awaiting trial for molesting their daughter. On what was probably the lowest point of Tammi’s life, she was flipping through channels on television and happened to catch bits and pieces of a new trial of the Menendez brothers. There was something about the way Erik spoke that caught her attention. She began to write to him. The letters flowed easily, and before long, an emotional tie was established between the two.
By 1997, Tammi had visited Folsom State Prison to meet Erik for the first time. According to Erik, meeting Tammi was one of the most meaningful moments he had ever lived. They got hitched two years later, in a relatively modest ceremony at the prison. As they sat eating cake on June 12th, 1999, it was the Twinkie. As Erik received a life term with no parole and his crime was horrific, he was not allowed to have any conjugal visits, so their marriage night never came.
25 Years of Marriage: Test of End
Now, Erik Menendez and Tammi Saccoman have been married for 25 years. Tammi has been with Erik for 30 years, and despite not being intimate sexually, she keeps on loving her husband. In interviews with various other media houses, she said that although the type of relationship that she shares with Erik may look a little odd, it is satisfying mentally. “Not having sex in my life is challenging, but it’s not a problem for me,” Tammi told People magazine. For her, emotional bonding is far more valuable than anything physical.
Marital life is sustained through short, chaperoned visits, letter writing, and calls. Tammi also wrote a memoir, They Said We’d Never Make It that elaborates all that had occurred in their relationship with Erik. While friends and family have always condemned her decision and stance, Tammi stands by choosing Erik because he has changed.
Role of Tammi in Erik’s Life
Erik Menendez attributes his survival of the emotional torture of life in prison to Tammi. In an interview in 2005, he hailed her as his “lifesaver,” stating, “Tammi’s love was a major step in my choosing life.” He often emphasizes how her unconditional love has pushed him to become a better person even while he serves out life without any possibility of parole.
The Menendez brothers’ case caught the public’s attention when Netflix released Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story. And then, as the campaign for re-sentence gains momentum, Tammi stays by Erik’s side to hold on to the future of their marriage behind no walls of prison.
Conclusion
Tammi Saccoman’s love for Erik Menendez became a very interesting public curiosity for decades in itself. The strength of a love affair would have truly been seen when actual physical proximity is impossible. Since Erik Menendez remains in prison serving life, Tammi stays with his wife and fellow struggle but also love, with the marriage filled with challenges as abnormal as they could be and intimacy.
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