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optics distract the jury. >> based upon this evidence, it will become apparent that this murder was unlawful, unjustified, and wholly premeditated. >> in basic english, the prosecution's case was this. just the facts, ma'am. >> fact number one. lyle and erik driving down to san diego two days before the murders, to buy shotguns and with a stolen i.d. >> why are you using the fake i.d.? cause you know you're going to be using the gun to do something you shouldn't be doing. that is evidence of intent. >> after the murders, the prosecution showed the brothers lied to the police, for months, starting from the very moment lyle called 911. >> someone killed my parents. >> and they did it all for the family fortune, the state said. remember, lyle and erik had searched for the will, just days after their parents'murders. and went on a lavish, multi-state spending spree. >> they were very aggressive about spending money, as soon as possible. >> yeah. >> which i thought was very strange. >> it was pretty obvious, said the prosecutor, first-degree murder, and they did it for the money. >> at the end of the prosecution case, i was like, okay. these -- these two brothers are so guilty, it's not even funny. >> but then, there was her. >> ms. abramson for the defense. >> thank you. >> we had a joke.

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portrait of jose and mary louise menendez, as parents, that will make understandable to you, how they could have died at the hands of their children. what they did to their children to bring this about. >> the parents were as much on trial as lyle and erik menendez were on trial. and -- and while the prosecution tried to -- to stick to a just-the-facts-ma'am narrative, the defense strategy was emotion, emotion, emotion, emotion. >> the defense called teachers and coaches and family members to testify about emotional and physical abuse. one of them was cousin, alan. >> and would you see bruises on the boys after that? >> yes. and above their -- above their thigh area where about would be hit. >> and then, cousin, diane, took the stand. and here came the most explosive issue of the trial. diane testified that the abuse jose inflicted on his sons was not just physical, but sexual. >> he and his dad have been touching each other, and he indicated that it was in his genital area. >> and diane told us she observed even more.

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>> the woman invited rand in to tour the house. >> and immediately in front of me is the room. the room where jose and kitty menendez were killed. and -- i ha -- i had a chill up my spine. i felt creeped out. >> he waited. they arrived, eventually. >> erik and lyle came bouncing in the house wearing tennis whites and looking tan. and they were laughing and joking. and i'm as -- >> as if nothing had happened. >> -- as if nothing had happened. and i'm kind of torn up inside.

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shotguns for protection, they said. two days later, said lyle, he and his father had another argument about the abuse. after which, lyle said his parents went into the den and shut the door. and? >> i thought they were going ahead with their plan to kill us. >> remember, jose and kitty kept two rifles in the house. >> so, what did you do? >> i ran upstairs to tell my brother that it was happening now. >> they ran out to the car, loaded their guns, and burst through the den door. >> i was just firing as i went into the room. i just started firing. >> in what direction? >> in front of me. >> what was in front of you? >> my parents. >> at some point, was your gun empty? >> yes. i could see somebody moving.

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perfect crime. he killed, he ran, he was caught by tenacious law. yazeed essa we will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years. >> that is all for this edition of dateline, i'm natalie morales, thank you for watching. this was a gruesome murder, a high profile executive and his wife shot to death in beverly hills. we don't really think that children can murder their parents. you have to have a lot of evil in you to shoot your mom and dad. >> young. rich. handsome. in a case made for hollywood, they were ready for the cameras -- >> it was the first televised courtroom drama that captivated the united states, it was a huge deal. >> erik and lyle menendez -- convicted of murdering their own parents. >> i ran around and shot my mom! >> it wasn't real.

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lyle, for 14. and remember, erik had said both he and his brother wanted to pursue careers in politics. in a highly unusual way, they've done it. sort of. erik started a life care and hospice program for inmates at the richard donovan correctional facility near san diego. and 500 miles north, lyle was president of the inmate government at mule creek state prison. >> i know it's going to be a suffering for me. but i feel like i can find some purpose here. >> then, in february 2018, a reunion, of sorts. lyle was moved to the same facility where erik was serving his sentence. they were even housed in the same unit.

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while he met with erik on october 31st, 1989. >> she also told zoeller that from the waiting room, she overheard erik tell dr. oziel the very thing investigators had suspected for months, but couldn't prove. >> erik said that they shot their parents. >> and dr. oziel immediately says, "we need to call your brother and have him come over here right away." >> lyle menendez, who had been at the elm drive home, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, rushed over to dr. oziel's office. >> and lyle burst into the room. >> judalon smyth told zoeller she

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Dateline-20211206-07:05:00

had fled communist cuba at 16 with bold dreams of striking it big in business. just the kind of man kitty was searching for. and so they married in 1963. >> they were stars, in -- in our family, kitty and jose. >> reporter: diane hernandez was kitty's niece and lived with kitty and jose for a few years. >> reporter: i bet you idolized kitty. >> oh i did from the very beginning. and i was known as the k-- daughter kitty never had. >> reporter: of course, as the world would come to know, kitty and jose had sons. lyle and erik. >> reporter: did they seem to get along? did they like each other-- >> oh yeah. absolutely. >> reporter: very close? >> yeah. i think erik dependent on lyle a lot. >> erik was quite introverted. >> reporter: alan andersen was kitty's nephew. he spent a couple summers with the menendez family and bonded with lyle. >> he was a mischievous boy, to say the least. he liked to smile and laugh and giggle. oh, he loved to laugh and giggle. >> reporter: but what the menendez brothers did most -- said alan, was practice. and practice. and practice --

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Dateline-20211206-07:06:00

>> jose wanted his kids to be the best, and especially in sports, i noticed immediately. >> reporter: swimming, soccer, tennis. jose pushed his sons to excel at everything. as his own career skyrocketed. in the '70s, jose was the general manager at hertz, and impressed his sons by bringing the company's famous spokesman home to dinner. >> jose was, of course, living the american dream and he wanted his boys to continue that american dream that he had set forth for not only himself, for his family. >> reporter: in 1986, jose took a job with carolco pictures in los angeles. the company that produced megahits like "basic instinct" and the rambo series. carolco had just bought a video distribution company from a man named noel bloom. and they gave jose the job of running it. >> so we think 1989 will be a tremendous year, we think we will be very happy with the growth of the company. >> reporter: that was the year,

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1989, when robert rand, then a reporter for the miami herald, went to las vegas to cover a trade show for the home video business. and happened to meet jose menendez. >> reporter: what was your impression of the guy? >> talked to him for maybe two or three minutes. seemed professional, dynamic. >> reporter: a high powered career. a beautiful family. and finally the one missing piece of jose's american dream -- the perfect home. jose moved his family from calabasas, then pre-kardashian and a relatively unknown enclave outside of los angeles, to a more tony address. joan was with her sister the day the realtor called kitty. >> they had accepted jose's offer, and kitty, you got your zip code. and that made her so happy. >> uh-huh. absolutely. >> reporter: 722 north elm drive. a six-bedroom mediterranean-style home. swimming pool. guest house. tennis court. elton john once lived in this very house.

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