‘Monsters’ Star Cooper Koch Says He Spoke With Erik Menendez After Life Sentence Reduction: He Wants to Make ‘A Lot of Change in the Prison System’

Koch went on to say that “the most inspiring” thing he heard from Erik Menendez was his passion for what he plans to do after he gets out, which includes working towards “a lot of change in the prison system.”

“He is going to be an advocate for other people who have L.W.O.P, which is life without parole,” Koch explained. “His life is going to surround making change in the prison system, and I just think that is so beautiful.”

Koch shared that Erik Menendez hopes that if he and his brother are released from prison, that in “10 years, people look back and they say, ‘We really made the right decision. Thank God we let them out.'”

The ruling gives Erik and Lyle hope for being released from prison after serving 35 years for murdering their parents in 1989.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic moved to reduce the Menendez brothers’ original sentences of life without parole to 50 years to life. Because they were under the age of 26 at the time of their crime, they now have a shot at parole under California’s Youthful Offender law. However, the brothers must still receive the nod from the state parole board before they are released.

Public interest in the case heightened after release of Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters” series about the murder and trial in September 2024.

District Attorney George Gascón came out in favor of reducing their sentences to 50 years to life in October. However, he lost re-election to Nathan Hochman, who withdrew the office’s request to reduce the sentencings.

Gascón, a criminal justice reformer, found that the brothers had been rehabilitated after 35 years behind bars. The Menendez family has argued that new evidence supports the claim that the brothers were sexually abused by their father, and that attitudes about abuse have evolved over the last three decades.

Hochman has said the brothers have failed to acknowledge that their claim of self-defense was “fabricated,” and thus have not taken responsibility for the crimes.

Koch visited the brothers in prison with Kim Kardashian in September. “We just looked at each other, and immediately embraced,” the actor said of Erik said shortly after that visit. “He was so kind. Lyle, too, I got to hug both of them and just be in their presence. They’re such upstanding individuals. They’ve done so much work in their prison. Erik teaches meditation and speech classes, and they’re doing this Greenspace project to improve the prison grounds. It was just amazing.”

Koch also previously said that he first talked to Erik the night before “Monsters” premiered on Netflix.

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