'I befriended Menendez brothers in prison - here's real reason they deserve a second chance'
Former mob boss Michael Franzese has told how he was locked up in the same prison block as Erik and Lyle Menendez, and says they were 'scared' and 'looking for advice'
Former mob boss Michael Franzese has claimed that the Menendez brothers were "100%" abused by their father and should have faced manslaughter rather than murder charges.
The one-time Colombo crime family heavyweight shared his insights from prison encounters with the siblings, describing them as "scared" and "looking for advice", and now believes they "deserve a break".
Erik and Lyle Menendez, who became household names following the Netflix drama Monsters, have been behind bars for 35 years after being convicted for the 1989 killing of their parents, Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez. As the district attorney re-examines their case, relatives are expected to rally outside a Los Angeles courthouse today.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on the broadcaster's YouTube channel, Franzese recounted: "They were young guys, I think Lyle was 20 and Erik was 18 at that time. They were pretty scared about the situation that they were facing. And understand, we were in lockdown, we were in solitary and some solitary confinements you have a steel door, some you have bars. And in LA County we had bars and we had a kind of mirror reflection. So I could see them, they were in the cell next to me. Lyle was in the cell next to me and Erik was one cell down from that. You could see each other because of the reflection in the glass."
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Chatting with the former Good Morning Britain anchor on tonight's programme, he went on to say: "They sought advice. I was with Lyle for 11 months and Erik for two months. They moved Erik out due to an alleged escape plan between them. You'd have to be Houdini to break out of there. I reckon they just wanted to split them up.
"I had numerous chats with Lyle during those 11 months. I'm fully convinced, 100%, that he was abused. I mean, he confided in me about his dad and how brutal he was. Yet, the irony is, he still deeply loved his dad. He spoke about him. He even admitted to me at times, he didn't know how he would cope without him."
Discussing the brothers' mother, he added: "They were more upset that their mum did nothing to protect them when this abuse was happening for so long and that's what I gathered from it. I'm sure their lawyer warned them, be careful who you talk to in a situation like that because any cellmate could potentially turn informant against you but I was with them for such a long time and I think they looked up to me a bit, Lyle did. So he trusted me."
Commenting on the pair's crime, he said: "Look, you can never justify a murder like that. It was quite savage but I do understand what pushed them to do something like that. I also asked Lyle, I said 'Why didn't you just go to your relatives and report it? He said, 'Micheal you didn't understand, my dad ruled the family and for any reason it got back to him, things would have been worse'. I said to him, 'What about the police? ' 'My dad was a very powerful guy in the industry, you know, people knew him and I was afraid if it didn't work out what he might do to retaliate'. They were kind of in their own box, their own prison, dealing with this."
On whether they should have been charged with manslaughter and with their rape and abuse claims taken into account, he said: "Yeah, I think the proper charge, or proper conviction should have been manslaughter." On a potential release for the pair, he concluded: "I think the whole family is supportive of them. They all want these men to be released. The two of them got married, I think Erik has a 15 year old daughter. They have done over 30 years in prison. They have been model prisoners, model inmates, from what I understand and I think they deserve a break here."
*Piers Morgan Uncensored, YouTube
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