okay, wave goodbye everybody 12 days later, kitty and her husband s murders were front-page news. it was a big story from the get-go because it happened in beverly hills, california. the big story became a big problem for carolco pictures. the company was getting beaten up in the media because all the media stories were, this was a mafia hit, somehow related to shady dealings that this company was doing. carolco hired a prominent publicist to help calm the media storm. sylvester stallone spoke warmly of jose. he was a true cornerstone of this company, which i love. and jose s memorial service was held at the directors guild of america headquarters on sunset boulevard. all of which might have led people to believe he was a beloved hollywood insider. but the reality was jose menendez was really not known in the hollywood community at all. and most of the people at this memorial probably had never heard of him.
decision turned a local l.a. story into an international sensation. how big was it? the menendez trial was the case that put an entire network, court tv, on the broadcast landscape. reporter: prosecutor pam bozanich knew all of america was watching her every move. how did you feel as you prepared to make your opening statement? as i walked down the hallway, all the cameras were there. and, you know, i just threw up. cause i thought, oh, god. you know, this is really stressful. so reporter: what s more, prosecutor bozanich was going up against two fierce opponents. leslie abramson defending erik. and jill lansing defending lyle. these are three very smart, strong women? definitely. engaged against each other over these boys? yes. i say boys. but they weren t really boys no, they were they? weren t boys at all. in fact, that s what the defense wanted everybody to hear, these
. real life details and the defense that shocked america. we would be in the bathroom, and he would put me on my knees. i m looking to see if he s telling the truth or not. lasted rather the center of it all, about truth. to this day, i m still dealing with the controversy of it. obviously, my own guilt. what s really happened? and why? so, to understand, where to begin? how about here, illinois, 1940s. everybody who knows the story, knows who is kitty, but that was an earlier name. no, it s mary louise. she was the baby of the family, said her older sister. it was one of their brothers who came up with the nickname,
speaks out about his father, his family and a killer script. that story was about a young man who murders his parents and inherits 157 million dollars.
erik killed their parents. nearly four years after the murders, july 1993. if convicted here, lyle and erik could face the death penalty. their judge was stanley weisberg. who had already presided over high profile cases, notably the rodney king beating case, whose result sparked the l.a. riots. judge weisberg ruled that each brother would have his own jury. and the electronic media that wants access to this court room. he allowed cameras in the courtroom. the idea that there was a camera in a courtroom in california was so new, so novel. reporter alan abrahamson, once an attorney himself, covered the trial for the la times. you weren t just playing to the jury. you were playing to all of america. the judge s decision turned a local l.a. story into an international sensation.