by Lynette Alice

Created on: March 30, 2010

Erik Menendez, who along with his brother Lyle, were convicted of the brutal shotgun murder of their parents has made the news again - and it could not be for a less deserved “achievement.” For reasons unknown to logic, the usually sharp programmers at A&E chose to base a reality show around the jailhouse bride of Erik Menendez, Tammi Saccoman. Finally the world will get a chance to peek at the challenges of her life and maybe get some idea as to what the hell she was thinking when she married a man convicted of putting a shotgun to his parents and killing them because his financial needs at age 18 weren’t being sufficiently met,

The murders carried out by Lyle and Erik Menendez were particularly grisly. The placed the business end of a 12 gauge shotgun to the back of their father’s head and pulled the trigger. When their mother woke up after hearing the shot, she tried to escape but was shot in the lag which was either broken due to that or the resultant fall. When she tried to run again, she slipped in a pool of her own blood and then was shot enough times all over her body and face to be completely unrecognizable. As one investigator related, she looked like a hunk of flesh, not even truly human. After the shooting, the boys went to the movies and watched Batman.

It took several months to pin the murders on Lyle and Erik Menendez, but they occupied themselves blowing through more cash than a sex addict in a Reno speakeasy with an unlimited Amex card. The led a jet set lifestyle visiting London, the Caribbean, and pretty much anywhere they felt like going - sometimes dragging friends or even their private tennis coaches along because you never know when you might need to work on your backhand.

It all ended when Erik confessed the crime to his psychiatrist thinking he had doctor patient confidentiality, Obviously he wasn’t bright enough to realize that if a patient poses a threat to the doctor or the general public all bets are off and the doctor is bound to report him. The brothers were indicted and their high profile case was broadcast on Court TV in 1993. After exhausting appeals, the verdict of two counts of first degree murder along with conspiracy to commit murder were upheld. Somehow they escaped the death sentence and were let off with life with no possibility of parole.

In 1997 Erik Menendez wed Tammi Ssaccoman in the Folsom State Prison waiting room. Saccoman told ABC News six years after that ceremony that being

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