Page 10 - Robert Rand News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Dialed 911. >> someone killed my parents! >> the news spread quickly. >> i got a phone call from my brother. and i remember putting the phone down on the table. and walking around the house screaming. >> reporter robert rand's phone also rang. it was a friend who had attended the las vegas trade show with him 10 days earlier. >> the friend had said, "hey, you remember that guy, jose menendez? you know, that you met briefly last week? " and i said, "sure." and he said, "well, he and his wife were blown away last night in beverly hills." >> now that, thought rand, was a story tailor made for the...

>> we didn't decide to do it. it was, we finally -- just kinda got overwhelmed with this panic and emotion and -- and made the decision to -- to run in that room. >> reporter: the outside world saw what they thought was evidence of a lot of premeditation -- using a friend's driver's license to, you know, hide the fact that you went to san diego and got weapons. >> i'd have to say, keith, that there's -- you know, it's just not really entirely accurate. i didn't have a california i.d. so there was no way to purchase a weapon other than my brother using this other kid's i.d. >> reporter: but, no...

Boys." >> poor boys? >> and, "these poor boys, these orphans. >> reporter: orphans, an impression the defense tried to play up. leslie abramson wrapped her arms around their shoulders. had them trade their dapper suits for preppy sweaters. >> everything that jill lansing and leslie abramson did was deliberate and calculated. >> reporter: prosecutor bozanich steeled herself, determined not to let the 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 t...

>> reporter: big deal? the prosecution thought so, but by then the jury had already heard many hours of tearful testimony about abuse, and that is when, in december 1993 they retired to consider a verdict. >> we made a mistake right off the bat. >> reporter: hazel thornton was on erik's jury. >> we took a show of hands as to what level of guilt we thought that they were, and it became immediate that it was men against women, murder versus manslaughter. >> reporter: the main issue, said hazel, was the brother's story of the abuse. the women believed them. the men did not. >> did discussions get...

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 while the prosecution tried to stick to a "just the facts, ma'am" narrative, the defense strategy was emotion, emotion, emotion, emotion. >> reporter: the defense called teachers, 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, yes ab...